Leave the Black and Latino Boys in Jail *UPDATE*
Several weeks ago, I squabbled with the administrators at the group home where my client lived (See my previous blog post about it here). While my client sat in jail, I couldn’t get in touch with his social worker and the group home gave me the run-around. After a few days of phone tag, my client’s social worker got in touch with me, we met, and together we negotiated my client’s release. Without divulging more than allowable, I felt that through our combined efforts, justice was served. The results of my investigation, the social worker’s insight and the assigned prosecutor’s willingness to listen ended the case with the “victim” getting the stay-away order he needed to feel protected, and a clean record for my client. This I call a “win-win” situation. I just hope that over time, my teenage client’s wounds are healed of the minutes, hours, days he spent incarcerated. I still believe that police or correctional custody is no place for growing boys and girls. If they are too young to drink, they are too young to be locked up without counseling or other reformative care.
I left you an interesting formspring comment. Did you delete yours before I could see the answer?
Hello, I have yet to finish answering all the questions in my formspring inbox. I’ll get to it today. What was your question/comment about? I received a couple of really interesting and challenging questions recently. Thanks for peeking into my blog!
I asked you about entitlement.
And your blog is a really good read.
Thanks 🙂
I am a HS guidance counselor and I agree w/ you. Being placed into the system at such young ages desensitizes them. Most are still their developmental stages and instead of using their mistakes as teachable moments by providing them opportunities to truly rehabilitate themselves and start anew, we simply lock them up. I guess its cheaper to throw them over to ‘the dark side’instead of investing in programs that will guide them towards the light.
I’m not naïve enough to think that ALL of them will make better choices in the future if they are provided with an alternative to incarceration. But I’ve seen too many good kids over the years that were pushed over to the point of no return after their experience in the system.