KIDS LEARN 'IT AIN'T NO GAME' THIS WEEK'S CONFERENCE AIMED AT 800 YOUTH INMATES.Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer LANCASTER - More than 800 incarcerated incarcerated /in·car·cer·at·ed/ (in-kahr´ser-at?ed) imprisoned; constricted; subjected to incarceration. in·car·cer·at·ed adj. Confined or trapped, as a hernia. youths will spend two days next week learning how to improve themselves and deal with the issues that put them behind bars in the first place. Reformed gang members, educators, law-enforcement officers and actor Danny Trejo - known for tough-guy roles in movies including ``Runaway Train'' and ``Anchorman'' - are among the speakers at Challenger Memorial Youth Center in a conference called ``Wake Up. It Ain't No Game.'' ``We need to get the kids motivated so that when they do get released, they know that they have to enroll in school, they know they have to do their counseling, they know that they have to do their community service,'' said Roberta Villa, Youth Opportunity intensive transition director for the city of Los Angeles
The event is a collaboration between the city of Los Angeles Workforce Development agencies, Los Angeles County Probation Department The Los Angeles County Probation Department provides services for those placed on probation within Los Angeles County, California, USA. Robert Taylor is the current Chief Probation Officer. The department is the largest probation department in the world[1]. and local community-based organizations. Challenger is a Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County youth probation camp intended to rehabilitate teens convicted of crimes like burglary, robbery and assault. Mostly boys but including some girls in a separate unit, the teens get counseling, catch up on schooling and work at jobs that include growing plants in a nursery and trimming the lawns. They usually spend 10 weeks to nine months, each assigned a probation officer probation officer n. 1. An official usually attached to a juvenile court and charged with the care of juvenile delinquents. 2. An official charged with supervising convicts at large on suspended sentence or probation. to monitor them during the camp stay. The 11-hour sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday are hosted by the Los Angeles Youth Opportunity Movement, which is a national youth employment and training program funded by the U.S. Department of Labor. The program will include presentations, group discussions, entertainment, testimonials and classroom workshops aimed at helping the youth get focused Get Focused is a Christian youth festival started in 2001 in Tønsberg, Norway. The festival had 1500 visitors in 2005, and the British Christian-rock band Delirious? performed. Get Focused is a cooperation of the local youth groups in the Tønsberg area in Vestfold, Norway. for when they are released. The intent is to educate the youths on the realities of incarceration Confinement in a jail or prison; imprisonment. Police officers and other law enforcement officers are authorized by federal, state, and local lawmakers to arrest and confine persons suspected of crimes. The judicial system is authorized to confine persons convicted of crimes. , substance abuse and gang involvement while inspiring them to set and attain higher goals. ``I go into juvenile hall and that's what the kids say over and over again, 'Well, no one cares if I'm here, no one cares if I go back,''' Villa said. ``This is just an effort by a whole bunch of adults getting together to show these kids that there are people who care about them.'' |
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