Echo - Every Child Has Options

Every Child Has Options

Elizabeth Kaman

Crime Prevention – Unit 9 Final

November 19, 2013ElizabethKaman_Unit9_FinalAssignment

Juveniles locked up in detention centers all across the country are coming together. They formed an alliance – to keep troubled kids out of the juvenile justice system.

Provides at-risk kids with positive and consistent peer contact to promote healthy development and positive decision making by giving each child options.

Organized by juveniles who chose not to make the right choices, these incarcerated teens are helping other’s see that they have the ability to make a difference before it’s too late.

The most successful programs are those that prevent kids from engaging in criminal activity in the first place.

ElizabethKaman_Unit9_FinalAssignment

Mission

The Mission of the Every Child Has

Options (E C H O) program is to

connect with at risk youths before

they become part of the juvenile

justice system. Conducted by kids

already incarcerated in a juvenile

detention facility.

Vision

The vision these kids has is clear;

they want to reach other kids before

they engage in criminal activity and

let them know their lives have

meaning – that they are important

and can accomplish anything. They

don’t want to end up behind bars.


20% of all children are considered delinquent at some point during their adolescence.

A large number of kids are pressured into delinquency due to some type of social disadvantage.

Doing poorly in academics is also another large contributor to juvenile delinquency (tjjd.gov, 2013).


Delinquency

Bad Company

Inner Conflicts

Need for Adventure

No Interest in

School

No Physical Activity

Street Life

There are many reasons for needing to prevent juveniles from becoming delinquents. One of the most recognized concerns is that criminal activity puts these kids at an elevated risk for drug and alcohol abuse, dropping out of school, injuring themselves or others, early pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases, or even incarceration at an early age.

Most adult criminals started their illegal activities when they were adolescents (tjjd.gov, 2013).

Saving kids from early criminal habits, saves them from a wasted, non-productive life.


Behavior change through cordial interaction,role modeling, and by role-playing positive, new behaviors with other teens who they can relate to.

Addresses current issues the high risk teen is currently experiencing in his/her life. Real life problems.

Building trusting relationships for more effective behavior change.

Making the out of control kid understand that you have also been where they are now –letting them know, “You Don’t Want to Come Here”! (Gingrich, P., 2011).


Assemblies are set up at specified juvenile detention centers that are run by the incarcerated children; average age 16 years, known as The First Team.

After successfully completing their course with The First Team, the high-risk kids are then placed in a continuation program run by volunteers, according to their specific needs.


Two weeks will be spent with the ECHO First Team, interacting individually and in groups with the troubled teens, focusing on real-life events, attitude, behavior, choices and what life is really like once you get convicted of a crime as a juvenile. The continuation program follows:

Individual and/or Family Counseling

Aggression Replacement Training

Drug and Alcohol Abuse Treatment

Education and Truancy Interventions

Mentoring – Personal or Academic Levels


Children learn what they live. If a child is having issues at home, or at

school and have no one to confide in, this program can give them the opportunity to express their feelings and concerns with kids their own age who they feel understand what they’re going through. They will feel safe.

They will gain the confidence to enable them to make sound, reasonable decisions that will help them succeed as an adult.



D.A.R.E GREATScared Straight

The DARE program, founded in 1983, has been found to be ineffective in keeping kids off drugs.

The program has not shown to prevent drug use in elementary, middle or even high school students.

DARE has actually been associated with elevated drug use.

Kids who have graduated from the program show no long-term knowledge or memory of the program.

DARE gives parents a false sense of security about their children and drugs (procon.org, 2013).


GREAT is the only program specifically designated to reduce gang activity that has been boldly evaluated.

The assessments showed only very slight positive results associated with gang membership, delinquency, thrill seeking teens, and attitudes about law enforcement.

An issue regarding gathering statistics on this program is that most of the research involves minors and requires obtaining consent for the child’s participation (ncjrs.gov, 2002).


Inmates who participate in this program are often very aggressive and rely on fear and intimidation to frighten the troubled kids – to keep them in line.

Results show that not only is this program ineffective, it confirms that kids who go through this program are at greater risk for committing crimes in the future(crimesolutions.gov, 2013).

Basically, kids can’t usually be scared or intimidated that way. Not by an adult. Teenagers know everything. They need to hear the facts from someone their own age, someone who they can really relate to.


Preventing juvenile crime has become a world-wide concern. Children need a more stable, structured environment (tjjd.gov, 2013).

E C H O will provide troubled kids with a trusted support system for all of their physical, mental, and educational needs.

Putting children in prison is not the answer. Giving kids a purpose and building their self-confidence is the only solution to this growing epidemic.

After all, aren’t they worth it!


References

Crime Solutions (2013). Juvenile Awareness Programs. Retrieved from

http://www.crimesolutions.gov/PracticeDetails.aspx?ID=4

Gingrich, P. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3lw6PMjj40

Procon.org (2013). Is The DARE Program Good for America’s Kids (K-12)? Retrieved from

http://dare.procon.org

Texas Juvenile Justice Department (2013). Delinquency Prevention in Texas. Retrieved from

http://www.tjjd.texas.gov/aboutus/agency_mission.aspx

U.S. Department of Justice (2002). Responding to Gangs: Evaluation and Research. Retrieved

from https://www.mcjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/190351.pdf


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