Tuesday, June 1^st

Lighthouse Youth Center Helps Young Offenders Escape Life of Crime

Shawn Johnson's attitude - the world owed him what he wanted, when he wanted it - caused his juvenile life of crime.

The Avondale youth was on the run from police for three armed robberies even as he turned 17 in January 2009.

His luck then ran out. An older man in the neighborhood insulted Johnson, an unmarried high-school dropout with a baby son. Johnson confronted the man.

"People don't fight any more," Johnson said. "We shoot." Read More

Back to top

The Secret to Stopping a Bully?

After decades of research, no one has yet found a way to reduce bullying in US schools. But in the shadows, you just might find the solution.

"There's been lots of talk lately about anti-bullying programs...And there will be lots more talk now that the Massachusetts Legislature has approved a bullying bill requiring schools to implement prevention and intervention programs. The available programs vary widely, as do the people behind them...But here's what has gotten lost amid all the legislation and finger-pointing: None of the current anti-bullying programs, despite their fanfare, have been successful in reducing actual bullying among American students in any meaningful way." Read More

Back to top

San Jose's Gang Prevention Program Could Be a Model

Representatives from the US Attorney General's office are stopping by to check out San Jose's gang prevention task force to possibly use as a national model.

Gang violence has been steadily dropping in San Jose since 2007, after the city invested even more in the Mayor's Gang Prevention Task Force, and that has attracted the attention of federal officials in Washington who were touring sites related to the program Monday.

Mario Maciel with the task force says unlike some other cities, San Jose takes a three-pronged approach to gang activity, with enforcement as well as prevention and intervention. This has made San Jose's one of the safest large cities in the country, he said.

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed says the feds could use their efforts as part of a national model.

"We're very proud of our model and happy to get a chance to talk about it," he said. Read More

Back to top

Young Children Bear Consequences When Parents Are Imprisoned

Until two years ago, Shawnta Jones experienced bitter pain, resentment, and insecurity after her father, Earvin, was imprisoned for life.

She was nine and her sister, Jasmine, just four at the time, but since that day in Los Angeles, phone call by phone call, memory by memory, the 23-year-old has reclaimed the trusting little girl that she buried by her rage.

"I was angry and nothing mattered because I felt the world would take it all away from me anyway so I just didn't care. Nothing meant anything to me and that led me not to go to school," Shawnta said. Read More

Back to top

Prisoners Face To Face With Youth

Scared straight. Thursday night youth across Mid-Michigan will be looking into the eyes of convicted criminals and talk with them. It's part of the state's prisoner re-entry initiative to show young people the results of bad choices and help them break the cycle of incarceration.

"I wanted attention and I wanted to be part of what everyone talked about. I wanted to feel important," said Dion Evans.

At 15-years-old Dion was on the wrong path.

"He was involved in drugs, involved in gangs, involved in alcohol," said Dion's father, Darryl.

His father grew up around drugs and crime and knew that wasn't the lifestyle he wanted for his son.

"He didn't want me in the street life or at the end of a bullet," said Dion.

"What I want him to see and hear is someone who regrets those choices and wishes they could go back in time," said Darryl Evans.

On Thursday Dion will have an up close and personal look at just where life could lead if he makes bad choices. Read More

Back to top

Making Second Chances Work Conference

The first national conference for Second Chance Act grantees, Making Second Chances Work: A Conference for Grantees Committed to Successful Reentry, took place on Wednesday and Thursday, May 26 and 27, 2010, at the Fairmont, 2401 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20037.

With support from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice, this conference was convened to help front-line professionals learn from experts and peers about approaches in housing, employment, mental health and substance abuse treatment, community supervision, and other areas that help support a person's transition from a correctional facility to the community.

The conference was designed to build the knowledge base of what works to reduce crime. Many sessions focused on ensuring grantees make the most of the federal investment in their programs by highlighting accountability issues and key practices such as assessing an individual's risk for committing future crimes, designing data-driven programs, and effectively allocating the limited resources available for people returning from prisons and jails. Special attention was being dedicated to sharing strategies on meeting the unique needs of youth returning to schools and families following a period of detention in a secure facility in an effort to implement programs that interrupt the costly cycle of crime and incarceration. Read More

Back to top

Houston Engaging Parents and Youth in Dropout Prevention

The Houston/Harris County Featured Communities Collaborative conducted its local Dropout Prevention Summit titled, Parent Engagement Summit in April. The focus was to engage parents and youth in a specific school feeder pattern in order to hear voices that are often left out of the conversations around dropout prevention. In a community the size of Houston/Harris County where there are 26 school districts and 1.9 million children and youth, it was important to capture the needs and voices of a single feeder pattern community. Read More

Back to top