Missouri Sets New Standard for Juvenile Detention
Innovative Facilities for Kid Criminals Are Short on Guards and Long on Hugs
For most of the nearly 100,000 kids in America's juvenile justice system, life in prison means orange jumpsuits, barred cells and constant guard.
But the Waverly Regional Youth Center in Missouri is a different kind of detention center. It's the home and hope for 44 boys already embarked on a life on crime. The walls are adorned with colorful posters and bulletin boards with positive affirmations. Counselors and dormitories have replaced guards and cellblocks.
For over a year, "Primetime" lived alongside the kids to examine firsthand this radical take on juvenile justice. By taking some of the hard edges out of juvenile corrections, the state of Missouri has chalked up results that have corrections experts across the country taking notice.
One juvenile inmate at Waverly, Chris, 14, looks like the kid next door -- but he spent the last few years drinking and doing drugs.
"I was also stealing cars," Chris said. "I was the 'bad ass' around town, nobody wanted to mess with me."
Chris' mother left when he was 11 months old and she's been in and out of prison ever since. He said he has no memory of her.
At Waverly, the inmates don't just do time sitting in a cell; instead they are divided into small teams and undergo constant group therapy and emotional self-examination. Every evening, they hold a group meeting in a darkened room, where the boys feel safe to bare their secrets. One night, Kim Orear, a group leader, invited anyone in the group to "open up about some of the more shameful issues." Chris raised his hand and took a step that would change him forever.
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