On a spring-like day last week, Lowell Bartels wandered the campus at the Montana Developmental Center in Boulder, greeting the clients like a pastor welcomes his congregation on Sunday mornings.

Bartels knows many of the residents by name, including "Wayne," whose disability and behavioral problems make it hard for him to live in a community setting.

Wayne says his mother comes to see him every day, yet it's not true. Without the center's staff to care for him, Wayne is alone in the world. He admits to disobeying the rules, yet he can't say why he's here or how long it has been since he first arrived.

"Wayne is here because he elopes," said Gin Krause, a training program specialist at MDC. "He's a risk to himself and others when he runs away."

The facility, run by the Department of Public Health and Human Services, helps prepare disabled clients to re-enter the community. Krause provides work training to residents in the center's vocational program, and today she's watching Wayne unload cardboard boxes from the back of a truck.

Later, she takes him to buy a soda at the campus store and says he gets paid for his work, which even Wayne says he enjoys.

"I've got my own room all by myself, and my own church is right there," Wayne said, pointing to the campus chapel. "I had a mom. She comes to see me every day."

Wayne sports a GPS tracking device around his ankle. The device helps the center's staff find him when he wanders off. He lifts his pant leg to show the device, as if it's a badge he's both proud and ashamed to wear.

Despite Wayne's problems, he's taking classes to help him integrate into society. Two other men named "Jimmy" and "Spencer" are also working to modify their behavior, though they appear to communicate at a higher level than does Wayne.

Spencer, with his shaved head and threadbare T-shirt, looks like many other men his age. He works several jobs at MDC, including store clerk and janitor.

"This is better than prison," says Spencer. "You don't get locked up here. There's no fence around us."

Spencer has, in fact, spent time in prison, though he says he doesn't want to talk about why. He admits to breaking his parole "several times" and says he's getting help for drugs and alcohol.

"I've been an alcoholic for a long time," he says. "I really need help. I need help communicating with other people without drinking. I need to learn how to live in a community better."

Spencer's friend, Jimmy, says he got into trouble stealing weapons. Guns and knives, he said.

At MDC, he's getting help with his anger issues.

"They help you here," he said. "They teach me to not get into other people's hoop."

Reporter Martin Kidston can be reached at 447-4086, or at mkidston@helenair.com