How incarcerated people are helping at-risk youth avoid prison [wagingnonviolence.org]

^{A screenshot from “Cared Straight,” a documentary about the Youth Deterrent Program in Detroit. (Kickstarter)}

By Ricardo Ferrell, Waging NonVioloence, November 22, 2023

In many inner cities and suburbs across America our youth are losing their way, as they drop out of school and start hanging in the streets with the wrong crowd. These teens are drawn to negative influences and lose interest in their academics. They become bored with the idea of learning and obtaining an education and more inclined with chasing an illusion that’s bound to lead them down a dark and destructive path — one that is too often a dead-end-road to prison.

So, how can everyone collectively help break the cycle impacting at-risk youth? I’ve witnessed a solution: Help youth set themselves on a better path by learning from incarcerated people. After all, who knows the trials of a troubled teen better than someone who has actually experienced firsthand the ramifications of a system designed to ensnare them?

I first saw how effective this solution could be with the Youth Deterrent Program at the Ryan Correctional Facility in Detroit, which I co-founded with 11 other lifers in 2008. After our proposal was accepted by Michigan’s then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm, we accepted teens from around the state who were at-risk, in some instances facing serious charges and hard time in prison.

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