AmeriCorps Restoring Youth and Communities
By
Sarah Tucker, ICP
intern
All
across the country, incarcerated youth have
traditionally been regarded as
burdens on society, and as threats to the
community once they are released from
prison. However, Chuck
Supple, former
Commissioner to California's Juvenile Parole
Board, sees these youth as
equipped to solve the most pressing problems in
their communities.
During
his time with the California Juvenile Parole
Board, Supple said that the "greatest moments
of inspiration came when I met young people who
appeared for 'early honorable discharge'
hearings."
He was moved by youth who had been
actively engaged in their communities
trying to help others avoid the paths that had
led themselves to prison.
Hearing their stories and granting them
parole was rewarding, but Supple wanted to do
more to access the untapped
capacity for positive action within
incarcerated youth.
Before
his position with the Juvenile Parole Board,
Supple had worked extensively with
issues of service and volunteerism as the CEO
of Public Allies and director of
the Governor's Office on Service and
Volunteerism in California, among other
positions. He decided to
utilize his
past experience to create a program that would
give incarcerated youth a new
opportunity to renew themselves and their
relationship to their communities,
and thus AmeriCorps Restoring Youth
and
Communities was
born.
AmeriCorps
Restoring Youth and Communities calls on youth
applying for parole to assess
needs in their community, connect with
organizations and people that engage
them in learning more about the issues, and
take action through service.
After their time spent in active
service, youth
have the opportunity to reflect on their
contribution, what they have learned,
and their future plans for education, service,
and careers.
There
is already a parole requirement of 80 hours of
community service, and Supple
says that "youth on parole are encouraged to
'get the community service over
with' during the first two weeks on parole so
they can get on with their
lives." In Supple's
opinion, community
service needs to be an integral part of youth's
lives if they are to
succeed in re-integration back into their
communities.
"Feeling
part of something bigger than themselves,"
Supple says, "and understanding and
experiencing that they can make a positive
difference, these aren't just nice
outcomes, for this population they are absolute
lifelines."
Civic
engagement and community service serve as
vehicles for incarcerated youth to
re-integrate into society with a positive
self-image and a proactive mindset,
as well as gain respect from fellow community
members, connect with supportive
adults and peers, and serve as role models for
other youth.
Restoring
Youth and Communities employs 34 full time
AmeriCorps Members, the majority of
whom have successfully improved their lives
after being discharged from the
Juvenile Justice system.
The Members
work directly with incarcerated and paroled
youth, coaching them individually
through a program of six "Discovery Steps"
developed by Supple. The
steps guide youth to highlight needs
within their community, take action through a
partner organization, and to
reflect on their experience and on future
plans. The final step of
the process is a
presentation that they prepare themselves, and
which they present to leaders in
the community.
Funded
by a planning grant from California Volunteers
and a matching grant from the
California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation, and developed through
extensive interviews with incarcerated youth,
AmeriCorps Restoring Youth and
Communities is now in its second year and
experiencing great success. Though officials
were at first skeptical about having former
offenders work side by side with
corrections officials, Supple notes that "by
the end of the year, the skeptics
were asking if they could keep their AmeriCorps
Members from last year and how
they could get more." The
youth proved
themselves to be willing and able to provide a
positive contribution to their
communities. As Supple
puts it: "Their
passion and actions spoke for them."
Currently,
AmeriCorps Restoring Youth and Communities is
available only to those within
the Department of Juvenile Justice, who are the
most serious and violent
offenders but make up less than 1% of
incarcerated youth in California. The Serve America Act, passed
by the Senate
on March 26th, 2009, and now
awaiting President Obama's signature,
will greatly expand the capacity of AmeriCorps,
and hopefully will subsequently
enhance Supple's new program. "With the
expansion of AmeriCorps," Supple says, "I would
like to expand this program into the county
probation system, which
deals with the majority of California's
adjudicated youth."
For
more information about AmeriCorps Restoring
Youth and Communities, visit
their
website or contact Program Director Lori
Lee