I am the step-mother of 3 teenage boys. One of them is a 17 year old that has been lead down the wrong path. Last year, he came to live with us, by his choice. He had bad grades in the school that he was in, and was hanging around the wrong kids. We enrolled him in school where we live, and prayed that he would turn his grades around since he was not hanging out with friends all the time. Unfortunately, that wasn't meant to be. His grades continued to fail, and numerous times we were told by teachers that he was falling asleep in class. He just didn't care. It didn't matter that we had taken most privileges away, he just kept getting worse.
We had found out about a program that is offered here in the state of Indiana. It is called The Hoosier Youth Challenge Academy. Basically, it is a boot camp for at-risk teens, boys and girls. They live on campus for 5 1/2 months and do physical training. They are put through a GED program and offered GED testing at the end of the program. The last week of the program involves meeting with colleges, military recruiters, and they have a job fair. The program is 100% funded by our state and federal government. The facility that we have here in Indiana is at Camp Atterbury which is run by the Army National Guard.
This program only takes in 150 cadets every 6 months. We went through an entire process to get our son into this program. It started with an informational seminar where we turned in the application. He was then chosen to be interviewed. Then we got some bad news.
It wasn't that our son was not chosen, it was that he had gotten into some trouble while visiting his grandmother. He was left at her house alone, though we had told her that he was grounded and not to hang out with any of his friends that live near her. He decided that since he was alone, he would have some friends over. One, or more, of his friends brought alcohol to the party. He made a bad choice and decided to drink with his friends. The party got a little loud and the landlord came over to investigate. The landlord that lives in the apartment attached to this one that these kids were partying in. The landlord that is also a town cop. Yes, stupid teenagers!
Now, we all have been there. You want to be cool. You don't want your friends to call you a pussy, so you partake in the drinking. That is what he did, and he got caught. He got caught so bad that while the landlord was calling for on duty officers to show up and break up the party, all of his friends took off and left him there to take the punishment alone. Great friends, huh? However, he has decided not to be a snitch. He will not give up the names of any of his friends that were there with him. He was taken to the police station, and the landlord called his grandmother to come pick him up. My husband and I were not notified until the next morning. Why? I have no idea. Seeing as we had custody of him, we should have been called before the grandmother, but what do I know?
So, charges were filed and a date in court was set. First, he had to meet with the probation office. By the time his probation meeting came around, we had gotten word that he was accepted into the program. However, one of the rules is that there are not to be any pending court cases when you go into the program. So, we had our work cut out for us to get this court thing resolved. We went to the probation meeting with paperwork in hand. The paperwork outlined the program so we could show them the opportunity that our son was given to turn his life around. You would think that they would take one look at what this program is all about and use it to their advantage that they do not have to put this boy through the judicial system, should he make it through the program. Nope! They still set a court date. January 19th.
Our son was set to start the academy on January 10th. We contacted our lawyer to see what we could do. Time was not on our side. The probation meeting was just a few days before the academy start date. We sent all of the paperwork to our lawyer and he said he would contact the court and see what he can do to get things postponed until our son graduates the program. Great! That is what we want. We aren't asking them not to punish him their way, we just want to give him a chance to go through this program that is not easy to get into.
The date was getting closer, and after numerous calls to the lawyers office with no return calls, we had to make a decision. We decided to take him to the academy. Again, if we have to pull him out, we will. We got him signed in, they whisked him away and got in his face right away. It was like watching day 1 of basic training. Drill Sergeants yelling in the kids' faces as they were trying to enter the building. Kids yelling, "Sir, yes, Sir". It was a breath of fresh air to see our son getting the discipline that he needed. It was also quite humorous to see the moms walking away with tears in their eyes knowing that their son/daughter was getting yelled at and being made to do the right thing like they should have been all along. Mom's wanting to turn around and hug their children and tell them it is going to be okay. No, Mom, it isn't. Your son is about to be made a man. He is about to see that the world is not something he can just spit on and feel like he can get his own way. That is not why you put him in this program. You put him there to make him a better person. Deal with it and walk away. Come back on family day.
So, now our son is in the academy, we are getting letters from him every day. We are still waiting to find something out. Court day arrives and we decided we were going to show up on our son's behalf. We still had not heard back from our lawyer. Apparently they do not approve of this in Hendricks County Indiana. If you do not show up with a lawyer, they don't even want to talk to you. If you do not show up with the accused, they really don't want to talk to you. We gave them the paperwork and neither the judge or the prosecutor wanted to hear about it. They said that they had never heard of such a program and they didn't even believe us that he was actually there. The boys that went before his name was called received, at most, 6 months probation. One of the boys was on his second offense. So, was this going to be the same recommendation that was made for our son's punishment? 6 months probation? We have him in a program that is 10 times that punishment! The judge and the prosecutor weren't hearing it. They gave us 48 hours to produce our son in court or warrants would be issued for our son, and my husband! What?
So, we again try to contact our lawyer....success this time. A little late, but we were able to go meet him in his office. He said that he had tried many times to contact the prosecutor and the probation office but no one was calling him back. The reason we hadn't heard from him......my husband was giving him the wrong number to call back. He had his cell number backwards. Damnit!
So, what do we do now? Our lawyer went to the courthouse this morning to try to talk to the prosecutor again. Again, he was told that we have to produce our son in front of the judge. He has to have his day in court. They will not postpone this case. Now we have to call someone at the academy and let them know that we have to pick him up. But, first, my husband decides that he is going to try to see if we can get him back in after he goes to court. According to the rules, once you leave the academy, you are not allowed back. The director of the academy was very understanding. He said that our son is doing very well in the program and he is willing to work with us. The court's recommendation is 6 months probation. If we can get them to set the probation up so that he does not have to go to weekly meetings with his probation officer, instead have the academy check him in to say that he is still there, then he can go back.
So, what we have here is a program that is out there that works with these kids to keep them on the right track to becoming productive citizens. On the other hand, we have a judicial system that wants to slap him on the wrist and take away his chance at bettering himself. Making him just another high school drop out working at McDonald's, or even scrounging off the system collecting welfare! What seems like the better choice to you?
No wonder these kids that get into trouble are not getting better. There is no guidance from the courts. They just want you to do what they want you to do and that is that. My husband put it best when he said that the judge is just trying to show the world how big his pecker is.
We were never asking that the courts not punish our son, we were only asking that they postpone their punishment until he returns from the academy. Give him 6 months probation, but do it after he returns. He is basically in jail as it is! Stuck in the middle of nowhere Indiana on a military base with someone screaming at him to wake up at 5am everyday, then he has to have lights out at 9:30 every night. All day long they eat what they are told to eat, they do the physical activity they are told to do, they go to class when they are told to. Argh! It pisses me off that the courts do not see this as the better option for him!!!!
Below is a video showing what this program is about. I think more states need something like this, and they need to get the funding to put more kids through it.
For more information on the National Guard Youth Challenge Program, click here.
States that currently have a program in place: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California has 2 facilities, Florida, Georgia has 2 facilities, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Puerto Rico
States that currently do not have a program in place: Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont
If your state is on the list of those that do not currently have this program, I suggest that you write as many letters as you can to as many government officials as you can. Try your best to get this program in place for your children. For their children. For your friends' children. This is a program that should be nationwide.
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