CLUBS DESIGN NEW AID FOR KIDS.

Byline: Cecilia Chan Staff Writer

CALABASAS - For latchkey kids, coming home to an empty house or hanging out on the streets with the potential for getting into trouble could become a thing of the past.

The year-old Boys & Girls Clubs of Conejo and Las Virgenes have the ambitious plan to build a 10,000-square-foot facility for homework and recreational activities at middle schools in the well-to-do communities of Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, Agoura Hills, Oak Park and Calabasas.

``Kids who live in upscale communities can get into as much trouble as any other kid,'' said Cal Johnston, chairman of the club's headquarters in Calabasas and national trustee for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

``Right now we do have a problem of 8,000 to 9,000 kids that really have very little to do from the time they get out of school to the time their parents get home. Once kids get off on the wrong road, you might say it leads to other problems.''

Johnston cited statistics from the Los Angeles County sheriff's Malibu/Lost Hills station that showed 65 percent of the crime in the area is committed by juveniles.

``In my work on the national level I saw a big void in the community here and that is what prompted the effort to start the clubs here,'' Johnston said.

The organization first needs to raise $12 million from the community and plans to do so in two phases, building three of the first six clubs in Thousand Oaks, Agoura/Westlake Village area and Calabasas, said Johnston, who lives in Thousand Oaks. Up to nine clubs may be built. The goal is to have the first three clubs finished by mid-2003.

``I think it's a great idea,'' said Chief Keith Parks of the Thousand Oaks Police Department. ``We do have kids who get into trouble after school.''

Parks said unsupervised children sometimes commit after-school crimes such as vandalism and petty theft. And without parental oversight, these children could fall victim to such negative influences as alcohol or drug use or gang involvement.

``What Boys & Girls Clubs is going to really do is give some of those kids the opportunity to never get into a situation like that,'' he said. ``Boys & Girls Clubs provide a means for a selected segment of the population to engage in after-school activities that are supervised, that focus on helping kids stay out of trouble, learn their homework.

``The key is supervised recreation and activities,'' said Parks, who is a coach for the Boys & Girls Clubs' basketball team in Moorpark, where he lives. ``(A) lot of the kids who take advantage of Boys & Girls Clubs typically come from homes where both parents work.''

Parks also said the clubs help build a child's self-esteem and self confidence by helping them improve their school grades.

Johnston said each staffed club would have a homework room, a tutoring room, a computer lab, an arts and crafts area and recreation room.

``We expect to have a membership of 1,000 to 1,200 per club,'' he said. ``At any one time we would have maybe 300 kids at the club.

``I think it's a really exciting opportunity in the community to get something going for the kids,'' he said.

Membership fees generally are $15 a year.

The 141-year-old Boys and Girls Clubs of America has 2,850 clubs and serves some 3.3 million children. Some notable alumni of the club include actor Denzel Washington, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Jack Kemp, basketball star Shaquille O'Neal and CNN anchor Bernard Shaw.