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Jan 18, 2008 9:52 am US/Pacific
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Police Duo Pulls At-Risk Youth Back on Track
Jefferson Award Winners Greg Rothaus and Ron Albertson
(CBS 5)
"Our daughter seems to be improving in a number of areas. While all is not perfect, we believe she is starting to understand the consequences of her choices."
"Thank you for the skills, dedication, and interest."
These are letters of thanks from parents to San Carlos Police Chief Greg Rothaus and School Resource Officer Ron Albertson, founders of an innovative, early intervention program that gives at-risk youth and first-time juvenile offenders a second chance.
"I think it's a responsibility that we have to the criminal justice system to do what we can to prevent crime, not just to apprehend those that commit it," explains the Chief.
Rothaus says he and Albertson found that the traditional approach of punishing teens for misdemeanor crimes didn't help get them on the right track. So instead of jail, they offer the youth an alternative. First-time offenders, or kids who are at risk of offending, sign a six-month contract that says they'll participate in comprehensive services aimed at keeping them out of juvenile hall.
Services include drug and alcohol treatment, peer support groups, family therapy, and mediation and restitution - bringing offender and victim together.
"We want to involve the victim, the offender, and the community - and restorative justice brings those components back together," says Officer Albertson.
Chief Rothaus adds, "One of the predictors of delinquent behavior is family dynamics, and to the extent that we can improve the family dynamics, we're going to improve the chance that a young person will not re-offend, so intense family intervention is a big part of the program."
When Rob Kirincic's son Anthony got in trouble with the law, it affected the whole family.
"It was devastating," he says. "I felt like a failure and a lot of my anger and hostility came out which made it difficult for me to communicate with my wife."
He says group therapy and parent support meetings made a huge difference.
"It's nice to know that I wasn't alone. I didn't feel abandoned. I didn't feel like a criminal, and Anthony didn't feel like a criminal. And you know, Anthony knew that he had a second chance and I knew that I could give him a second chance. And that's what this program has given us the opportunity to do."
It's an opportunity 14-year-old Luis Osorio says has changed his perspective.
"I'm sure I'm going to think about everything I do twice and just think about the family, and how I can hurt the family and everybody else," Luis says.
Kids who complete Rothaus and Albertson's program aren't prosecuted, but more importantly, they leave with life skills that put them on a different path.
Albertson says they see "Huge results, huge results. To see kids who have now a better relationship with their family and their friends and their community, the schools that they attend and go off to college and not re-offend is a huge success."
So for giving teens and their parents an alternative to juvenile hall and the skills for a second change, this week's Jefferson Award for the Bay Area goes to San Carlos Police Chief Greg Rothaus and Officer Ron Albertson.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)