By Henry Simon, Intern for Kalamazoo County Probate Judge Curtis Bell
In the years before 2017, community leaders in Kalamazoo
began noticing an upward trend of juvenile delinquent activity. These leaders reached out to the Kalamazoo
Department of Public Safety (KDPS) in hopes of reversing this trend. Upon analysis, KDPS realized that a small
number of juvenile offenders was responsible for the majority of juvenile
delinquency cases. Many of those youths
were already on probation. Over the past
four years, the Bridging Opportunities Program has focused on supporting these
youths over the summer months.
Juvenile offenses have declined since the program’s inception in 2017.
(Source: Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety.)
Statistics show that the system of arrest, detention, and release was not effectively solving the problem. KDPS, the courts, community organizers, and families were all working independently with these youths, but they lacked vital channels of communication to bridge gaps between them, and as a result, juveniles were slipping through the cracks of these independent programs. Community leaders wondered if there might be advantages to combining efforts, prompting KDPS Deputy Chief David Boysen to reach out to Kalamazoo County Probate Judge Curtis Bell to create the Bridging Opportunities program.
Deputy Chief Boysen and Judge Bell established a summer employment and skills program to work with the youths who had accrued the most juvenile delinquency activity. A series of meetings began to determine which youths had the most police contact resulting from or suspected involvement in delinquent activity.
The Bridging Opportunities program targets particularly
active juvenile offenders from the City of Kalamazoo to help them build
alternative paths in life. The program
is neighborhood-driven, meaning probation officers select repeat offenders
between the ages of 13 and 16 years old from neighborhoods that have
historically shown the highest number of offenders.
Participants attend trainings and workshops throughout their
summer breaks from school at sites set up in their neighborhoods. Workshops are designed to teach participants
about drug abuse prevention, new skill sets, and more – with the end goal of
reducing recidivism. Parents serve an
important role in conjunction with community leaders in steering their children
away from delinquent behavior and out of juvenile detention That is why the program provides them with
parenting skills training and support groups to help them effect change at
home.
KDPS was quick to collaborate with local leaders on the new program. Deputy Chief Boysen stated, “We were all trying to do the same thing,” referring to local organizations, the courts, and KDPS trying to stymie the uptick in juvenile delinquency in the area. In his eyes, one of the most detrimental aspects of the juvenile policing system is the consistent negativity surrounding the youth. Through Bridging Opportunities, juvenile offenders are able to experience positive encounters with public safety officers. These positive encounters can build trust between the juveniles and the officers, helping to reverse the negative stigma often associated with law enforcement.
Photo taken outside of Craig’s Cruisers, where youth were taken on a grand finale trip. Pictured: probation officers, law enforcement officers, community partners, and Judge Bell. Youth are not shown for confidentiality purposes.
The Bridging Opportunities program is effective because of the cooperation between partner organizations. One such partner is Youth Opportunities Unlimited (YOU) which works to fill young people’s free time with productive activities, such as paid work and community beautification projects. Donny Herber, special initiative manager at YOU, believes that organizations such as YOU are crucial to the success of the Bridging Opportunities program as they help the youth identify possible career opportunities and instill critical skills to help them in the future. “When the community partners support the young people,” Herber said, “they can truly flourish.”
2021 Bridging Opportunities participants learned how to print their own designs
and wording on tshirts and how to pour cement.
Another important partner is the Boys & Girls Clubs of
Greater Kalamazoo, one of the community sites for the program. Bridging Opportunities Coordinator Lindsey
Rowell made it a point to individually connect with each participant to build
relationships and a sense of trust between the participants and their
mentors. “By meeting the youth
individually, I could address other factors that were going on in their lives,”
Rowell said. Some participants have even
received and accepted offers to work for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater
Kalamazoo following their graduation from the program.
Support for both youth and their parents was added to the
Bridging Opportunities program this year through community partners, such as
the Community Healing Center and Prevention Works. Prevention Works educated the youths on
substance abuse during weekly sessions, and The Community Healing Center provided
programming to the parents during weekly sessions. Charlene Taylor, of the Community Healing
Center, stated, “The women were courageous in facing life challenges and acknowledging
their strengths and weaknesses when it pertained to raising teenaged boys. They
were open to learning new parenting strategies and it was truly an opportunity
to work with them.”
Crucial to the program’s success is the involvement of the
court system. Judge Bell meets regularly
with program partners and participants to keep the program on track. In order to provide continuity in supervision,
all of the youths’ cases are temporarily assigned to Judge Bell, who manages
the case files for the summer.
Prior to the pandemic, Judge Bell held court sessions with
the youth and their parents or guardians.
Aside from the parties, the chief of police, community support officers,
probation officers, and community partners attended. The sessions were intended to provide praise
and accolades to the youth. During each
session, a few youth were selected to receive gift cards and prizes for their
outstanding efforts. Any negative
behavior was dealt with in a separate session with only the offending youth and
his/her parent or guardian.
Though slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bridging
Opportunities program has still been a success. In 2020, there were eight participants instead
of the usual 20-30. Judge Bell continued
to make weekly site visits to encourage and support the youth. The pandemic restricted contact by probation
officers and community police officers, and reduced or eliminated review
hearings, which was reportedly difficult for the youth. However, even without all of the usual support
mechanisms in place, the participants had no probation violations.
It is the goal of every leader involved in the program to
maintain its success and continue to not only improve the lives of its
participants, but also of the Kalamazoo community.
Henry Simon is a Michigan State University College of Law Juris Doctor candidate for 2022.