Troubled juveniles can get fresh start
by Elise Kaplan / Mountain View Telegraph | Jun 12, 2014 | Filed under: News
When Dante Severini moved to Moriarty from the suburbs of Denver, Colo., last year he had a hard time adjusting and began getting into trouble at school, leading to his referral to the Tri-County Juvenile Justice Board. A couple months in, he said he's participated in a youth-to-work program and is more likely to graduate.
"Out here this helps me a lot to get through a lot of my problems," said Severini, a rising senior. "It benefits a lot of the kids."
The Tri-County Juvenile Justice Board existed in a slightly different form for several years but lapsed as the company running it opted out of renewing the contract. In January the board hired Marti Stacy as a service provider and the program has been doubling in participants each month until the start of summer.
Stacy has a long history of working with troubled youth from her 25 years as a foster parent and running a New Mexico Boys and Girls Ranch with her husband, and said working with troubled youth was the next logical step.
"Even when I was young, I always loved kids," she said. "It just built from there. I've had to deal with all sorts of kids and issues and learned a lot too. Like not to judge parents because we all have our moments. I want to support families as a whole — the goal is for the family to be okay."
When teenagers ages 12 to 18 get into trouble at school, with the law, or at home they can be referred to the Tri-County Juvenile Justice Board for help. Stacy then administers the Juvenile Inventory for Functioning — a hands-on computerized assessment tool — to determine where the teen is struggling and then recommends counseling, youth-to-work programs or other avenues. The student can also be referred to Scoutreach, a high-level diversion program run by the Boy Scouts of America.
"The Tri-County Juvenile Justice Board's task is to provide diversion services to youth in the tri-county area," explained Kathy Swope, the board's coordinator. "The goal is to keep them out of detention centers."
Swope said the program focuses on teens who are otherwise good kids but ran slightly afoul of the law or are having truancy issues. The kids then get a chance to turn their lives around rather than entering the detention system. If the teenager is referred by a juvenile probation officer the program is mandatory; however, there is little Stacy can do to ensure attendance if they're referred by a parent. The tri-county area includes all of Torrance County, Edgewood and the East Mountains.
The youth-to-work program Severini participated helped the kids prepare for getting and keeping a job. The kids visited the Aveda Institute, Central New Mexico Community College and a mall in Albuquerque, were instructed on the proper attitude, apparel and materials to bring to an interview and took an assessment to evaluate the type of jobs right for their personality.
"I learned … I shouldn't be behind a desk,"Severini said.
by Elise Kaplan / Mountain View Telegraph | Jun 12, 2014 | Filed under: News
When Dante Severini moved to Moriarty from the suburbs of Denver, Colo., last year he had a hard time adjusting and began getting into trouble at school, leading to his referral to the Tri-County Juvenile Justice Board. A couple months in, he said he's participated in a youth-to-work program and is more likely to graduate.
"Out here this helps me a lot to get through a lot of my problems," said Severini, a rising senior. "It benefits a lot of the kids."
The Tri-County Juvenile Justice Board existed in a slightly different form for several years but lapsed as the company running it opted out of renewing the contract. In January the board hired Marti Stacy as a service provider and the program has been doubling in participants each month until the start of summer.
Stacy has a long history of working with troubled youth from her 25 years as a foster parent and running a New Mexico Boys and Girls Ranch with her husband, and said working with troubled youth was the next logical step.
"Even when I was young, I always loved kids," she said. "It just built from there. I've had to deal with all sorts of kids and issues and learned a lot too. Like not to judge parents because we all have our moments. I want to support families as a whole — the goal is for the family to be okay."
When teenagers ages 12 to 18 get into trouble at school, with the law, or at home they can be referred to the Tri-County Juvenile Justice Board for help. Stacy then administers the Juvenile Inventory for Functioning — a hands-on computerized assessment tool — to determine where the teen is struggling and then recommends counseling, youth-to-work programs or other avenues. The student can also be referred to Scoutreach, a high-level diversion program run by the Boy Scouts of America.
"The Tri-County Juvenile Justice Board's task is to provide diversion services to youth in the tri-county area," explained Kathy Swope, the board's coordinator. "The goal is to keep them out of detention centers."
Swope said the program focuses on teens who are otherwise good kids but ran slightly afoul of the law or are having truancy issues. The kids then get a chance to turn their lives around rather than entering the detention system. If the teenager is referred by a juvenile probation officer the program is mandatory; however, there is little Stacy can do to ensure attendance if they're referred by a parent. The tri-county area includes all of Torrance County, Edgewood and the East Mountains.
The youth-to-work program Severini participated helped the kids prepare for getting and keeping a job. The kids visited the Aveda Institute, Central New Mexico Community College and a mall in Albuquerque, were instructed on the proper attitude, apparel and materials to bring to an interview and took an assessment to evaluate the type of jobs right for their personality.
"I learned … I shouldn't be behind a desk,"Severini said.