How A D.C. Diversion Program Helps Get Young Lives Off The Ropes

Cities save money and help kids by connecting them with diploma programs. In Washington, iGrad is helping students do just this – and seeing results.

In Oakland, black males are almost as likely to be killed as they are to graduate high school. One school is giving them special classes with black mentors to better address their emotional needs and keep them in school.

Young black males in Oakland are suspended more frequently and graduate high school at a much lower rate than their peers. A charter school specifically designed for African American boys focuses on providing them with role models to create a supportive environment, combat the effects of trauma, and push them to succeed.

A group in New York called Friends of the Children identifies high risk kids in the city and mentors them for 12 years helping them become emotionally stable and capable adults.

With pressures of depression, anxiety, and suicide on the rise, teenagers in the United States are challenged to find the comfortable outlet and accessibility for emotional support. The Crisis Text Line offers a counseling service through mobile texting, which reduces the shame that can occur when approaching an in-person counselor, and expands access to professional mental health counseling nationwide.

For first-time youth criminal offenders, the traditional American jury falls short in encouraging behavioral change and may even set the juvenile on a course for repeated crimes. Washington, DC’s Youth Court is a jury that tries juveniles for minor non-violent offenses and offers peer pressure to prompt positive behavioral change. The DC Youth Court is one of many in the United States that reduces crime and future court costs.

Child-mentoring programs around the United States have helped at-risk youth during crucial years of development. However, New York City's Friends of the Children has improved the model by placing at-risk youth with adult mentors for 12 years. The forged relationships between mentor and developing child have greatly reduced the probability of teenage pregnancy, incarceration, and school drop-outs, and is cost saving.

In Clayton County, Georgia, the Second Chance Court is using a different tactic to give offenders the opportunity to move forward. The program, started in 2010, allows selected teens to attend counseling and classes – often with their parents – centered around self improvement and appropriate behavior. Collaborating with a community organization, the Second Chance Court has been able to reduce recidivism in youth.

Delaware has been working to make sure that all college-ready graduates, regardless of socioeconomic status, make it to college. With financial reasons standing in the way of many qualified students, the state has worked on multiple levels to make this a possibility.

AltSchools use a completely different education system - interconnecting technology and hands on experiments - to help students achieve a higher degree of learning. Students are grouped into small, personalized cohorts so they can be both mentors and mentees for their fellow peers, creating a collaborative learning space for all.