I was tired of throwing kids in prison. So I built a place to help keep them out of it.

[brer cat]

This article is by a California superior court judge who started a program to benefit at-risk youth, and while it is a drop in the bucket, it does appear to be successful. Key quote: "The costs of our prevention and intervention programs amount to approximately 10 percent of the cost of incarceration." Why, oh why, can't we work to provide opportunities rather than incarcerate our young people?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/08/07/i-was-tired-of-throwing-kids-in-prison-so-i-built-a-place-to-help-keep-them-out-of-it/?hpid=z9

snip

A few decades ago, though, I was more likely to be prosecuting a teenager than attending his or her graduation ceremony, and the Rancho Cielo Youth Campus consisted of nothing but an unsightly 100-acre dumpsite in the foothills of Salinas. Today, Rancho Cielo is a comprehensive program to educate and train young people in Monterey County for job opportunities — and keep them out of incarceration facilities like the Natividad Boys Ranch that once occupied the site.

snip

I had learned there was one strategy that actually worked to engage disenfranchised young people: the combination of education, job training and, eventually, employment. These critical three experiences allow youths to reconnect with communities from which they feel alienated and help build the self-esteem and self-confidence that many lack.

snip

When you provide young people with an encouraging environment and the opportunity to rediscover themselves, they begin to hold their heads up high and start thinking, often for the first time, about their future. The model works. We’ve reduced recidivism 80 percent among students in the program, and the rate of our students staying out of trouble is twice that of young people exiting incarceration without the benefit of our program. The costs of our prevention and intervention programs amount to approximately 10 percent of the cost of incarceration.

[Arkansas Granny]

1. That old adage about an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure comes to mind.

[brer cat]

2. Indeed.

Maybe this is the type of place where youth can actually acquire those bootstraps the republicans tell them to pull up.

[Live and Learn]

4. LOL That is a great argument.

"We can't even afford the friggen boot straps you want us to pull up."

And where do you purchase them anyway? They sound like a great product if they can turn your life around and get you a much needed job.

[Live and Learn]

3. A very important part of the argument (for those cost sensitive people)

There was also a bit of economic irony. Very few services were provided for young people involved in criminal activity before they got in trouble. But once the trigger was pulled, all sorts of resources were directed to them — police, prosecutors, a defense attorney, the judge, the judicial system, probation officers, and of course, prison incarceration.

[brer cat]

5. Solutions that provide opportunity instead of punishment instinctively appeal to liberals.

But since we must also deal with conservatives, I think the only way to have such programs enacted is to reach the cost-sensitive people.

[Live and Learn]

6. So (sadly) true. nt

[Duppers]

7. A big K & R.

[madamvlb]

8. WOW.

[aikoaiko]

9. Very good stuff, but a word of caution on success numbers

I worked at a similar program in the early 90s and it was wonderful experience. I think those kids ended up teaching me more than I taught them.

Things to remember about comparing alt program stats with prison/youth detention stats.

1. Alt programs are highly selective whereas prisons take all.

2. Alt programs don't include kids who runaway or are kicked out in their program success stats - only graduates.

Good alt programs are still worth it, but I thought I'd add a word of caution about success stats

[brer cat]

10. Thanks for adding that, aikoaiko.

I had googled to see if they had received any bad press before I posted the article. I didn't point out that they were selective in who was admitted, and your points are certainly correct.

You must have had some interesting and heartwarming experiences working with those kids.

[aikoaiko]

11. Yes. Many heartwarming experiences , but many heartbreaking.

Some kids really grow up in the worst conditions possible for establishing any self worth.

[rurallib]

12. sorry i can only rec this once