Serving Juvenile Offenders

We got a call today. I didn't know whether to cringe or not. It tells me we are making a difference. At the same time it shows us how far we have to go.

A few months ago a teenager came to us to perform community service hours. He is a good kid. Respectful and polite. He did what we asked without a complaint. When it came to cutting glass and making mirrors he seemed eager to learn the new skill. You could tell he liked it - even to the sanding and painting for the frames.

What he seemed to appreciate most was the attention. We're not talking about the cheerleading kind of attention but the kind where an adult talks with him and treats him with respect. Where an adult regards him as a person of equal worth and value.

At Hope for Healing.Org we believe that each person is created with sacred worth as individuals. Our Youth Coordinator has a T-Shirt that reads "Be the Moon. Reflect the Son." We feel that no one is beyond God's loving grace. Without preaching, our staff and volunteers try hard to reflect this and make each teen feel valued. Some of these kids have had few if any positive experiences with adults. Others don't feel they have anyone to talk with. While they are with us we try to make each teen feel loved and respected.

This teen has few people he can talk to and some of his friends are questionable in the dependability area. He seemed to click with our staff who found him good to work with and easy to encourage. When he asked if at the end of summer could he come back as a volunter. Our answer, "You betcha!"

Today, we got a phone call from his mom. If we'll have him we'll be seeing him before the end of summer. He got into trouble again and is ashamed to tell us the news. Could he come back to us to serve his additional hours? He seemed to resonate with us and she felt we were a positive influence but he feels he let us down. Would we be willing to take him back again?

Our answer, "You betcha."

See, we all make mistakes. While we are a little disappointed that he fell back to an old behavior we are glad that we impacted his life enough that he wanted to come back here. It's out of the way for him - especially now that he no longer has his license and is relying on his parents. There are several other places that are closer to him where he could serve the hours. Yet, he wants to come back here if we'll let him and we will.

We know it takes hard effort to learn new patterns of coping. We also know that he and the others who come to us are worth every ounce of energy it takes turn lives around. That's part of why we're here and I think he knows it.