We're Still Standing

Second Chances

What do second chances provide young people in our juvenile justice system?  During Second Chance Month, Administrator Liz Ryan of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Deli

Yvan: Full Participation

So many times, young people in the juvenile justice system begin living their labels. Labels like "born for trouble, slow learner, just like your father..." These labels

Kyle: Vision

For youth who are leaving lock-up, the emphasis on all they things they must avoid in order to stay out of trouble can seem like a big list of "NO's". But when they have

Christian: Thinking About My Thinking

Growing up, Christian didn't have many role models. He learned what he could from the streets he grew up on. When he participated in Ready4Life, he discovered that unreso

Alex: Strongholds

Traumatic events in childhood left Alex wondering who he could trust. He started pushing people away to protect himself. It was a survival strategy that became a strongho

Kyle: Trust

Growing up, Kyle says he always had a goal in life, but never had a reason to follow it. Today he shares how Ready4Life helped him define his vision and discover the powe

Joey: "Good Luck with That Kid!"

Joey was locked up at age 15, and remembers people saying things like "Joey Berry?!  Good luck with that kid!"  Not many people had faith in Joey at that time in his life

Nickolas, Part 2: Finish Strong

"Even if you start wrong, you can finish strong.  When you look at my story, there’s really no ingredients for success. That’s what I want to let the world know, it doesn

Nickolas, Part 1: Even if you start wrong...

Nick says that from his earliest memory, life played out like a cautionary tale rather than the preamble to an eventual success story. His formative years were the stuff

Durell, Part 3: Finding True Freedom

Re-entry was rough for Durell. As he says “A lot of people were skeptical of me because I was released to the same community that I was just terrorizing.” But thanks to s

Durell, Part 2: What Was the Truth?

Now in prison, Durell did not want to be where he was at. He could feel the weight of the hopelessness, depression and anger that surrounded him. He began to search for s

Durell, Part 1: Man of the House

When his father went to jail, Durell became the man of the house - at age 10. Looking back, he recognizes that he was simply a hurt, angry child trying to assume adult re

Don't Talk? Learning How and When to Open Up

Often we're told to keep family matters private -- what happens at home stays at home.  But sometimes the secrets we keep are harming us. Andre grew up in a home with a "

Forgiving my Father

Life lessons learned in lock-up:  While Jason was growing up, his mother struggled to support their family while his father battled an addiction. Life got even more chall

Learning to Forgive

Life lessons learned in lock-up:  Growing up in an abusive home, Olivia decided that to survive she would "hurt you before you could hurt me". She used her anger to prote

From Lock-Up to Leadership: Daniel's Story

When Daniel was 15 years old, he was looking for guidance in all the wrong places.  His father had been sent to prison and it wasn't long before Daniel was arrested himse

Battling Addiction

After his first drink of alcohol at age eight, Matty has gone many rounds in a death-defying battle with addiction. On his journey through recovery - and relapse - he got

Finding Community in Church

What does the church have to offer incarcerated youth?  In Episode 7, Marquis shares how he found a life-giving community in his local church.

The Power of Relationship

Today’s episode is about the power of relationship. Gayle and Felix were two very different people when they met. Gayle was a middle-aged white “church lady”, a wife, mot

At Risk

Most girls who enter the juvenile justice system come with histories of deep personal trauma.  This was certainly true for Lina when she was locked up at age 16.  In Epis