Here in our nation’s Capitol at the DC Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS), we’re working to change the approach in juvenile justice. We’re moving from a deficit-based approach to a positive youth development approach, from an approach that says we’re successful if our kids simply “do no wrong” to one that is designed to prepare youth to become productive citizens. That’s a big change, it’s been a long time coming, and—slowly but steadily—it’s producing strong results. One of the clearest examples that exemplifies this approach is the Civic Justice Corps.

At DYRS, we’re drawing on best and promising practices from across the nation and moving at a responsible pace. Initially, we took a closer look better determining which youth need to be held in secure custody for their safety and ours and which can be more appropriately and effectively served in the community.  We’ve been able to more appropriately place youth into a range of programs that better address their behavior, strengths, and needs.

In addition, we’re changing the way we think about those young people. And that changes the way they think about themselves.

When we think of our young people as active participants in the change movement instead of as a client or target of change, when we build on a youth’s strengths and assets instead of believing that the job is to simply diminish that young person’s problems or deficits, then our young people start to re-assess themselves.

They start to take responsibility because we believe they can and expect them to do so, and because we are giving them some of the tools they need to make those changes.

Connecting youth to positive educational and workforce experiences reduces a young person’s chance of recidivating and prepares that person for a successful transition to adulthood. Experiential-based educational programming that is tied to civic engagement and workforce development will allow our youth to demonstrate their mastery and competency and become fully engaged citizens.

This isn’t just theory. In our partnership with The Corps Network, for example, we see how application of these ideas transform young people.

First, The Corps Network’s Gulf Coast Recovery Corps project, funded by AmeriCorps, provided a two-month service learning and job-training program for seven youth, with public service opportunities here in DC and then down in the Gulf Coast region. That was an eye-opening experience for our young people. They’d never traveled outside the DC area, had never been on an airplane, and had never seen the devastation of something like the effects of Katrina. But they dove right in.

Our young people dry-walled the entire home of an elderly, first time homeowner, known as “Ms. Johnnie.” They grew to care about her, often staying late and taking on extra responsibilities to make sure that they left behind a job in which they could be proud. They saw what they were able to accomplish by working together. They saw how positive effort resulted in tangible evidence of success. They knew and cared about the person they were helping—so much so that before they left, these young people got together to donate all kinds of supplies to help Ms. Johnnie settle into her home.

And five of those seven young people came back and signed up for the second opportunity: the Civic Justice Corps. This program was established thanks to a partnership among The Corps Network, The Corporation for National and Community Service, the Open Society Institute, and the JEHT Foundation. We’re glad to be added to the partnership.

Working with the Earth Conservation Corps locally, Civic Justice Corps has engaged 24 young people in the District in public service, life skills training, and workforce development. It’s an innovative program strategy, the first of its kind in the nation, designed to serve youth in community-based settings, many of whom are transitioning out of our secure facility for committed youth, the Oak Hill Youth Center.

The Civic Justice Corps is voluntary and built on the philosophy that youth are resources and can contribute positive things to the community. It allows them to develop their leadership and become environmental stewards.

These crews are serving everywhere from Marvin Gaye Park in Northeast, in the Pope Branch community, at Lower Beaver Dam creek, in Anacostia Park and at Buzzard Point. As they perform service we support them with training—including emergency response training, citizen forestry training, public speaking, writing, leadership, boating safety—and with care management, after-care support, and peer-to-peer mentoring—in addition to staff mentoring. Each young person who completes 900 hours of service becomes eligible for a $2,362.50 AmeriCorps educational scholarship and an open door for long-term employment opportunities.

That’s a long way from thinking that we’re successful if our kids simply “do no wrong”—we’re asking them to aspire for more. And in turn, they’re rewarding us. While we are a long way from reforming the entire system, thanks to our staff, our partners in the community, and our young people, who are willing to put themselves on the line as leaders, we are making steady, visible progress.

Other stories from The Corps Network News, October 2007

From the CEO and President
Guest Column: Vincent N. Schiraldi, Director of the District of Columbia’s Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services
Beyond Lengthy Incarceration: Effective Punishment and Reentry into the Community
Two Birds, One Stone: Civic Justice Corps Engages in Green Building
Featured Corpsmember: Henry