July 2004

Jade, a native Oaklander, is now 18 years old.  She is two semesters away from graduating from Heald College as a medical assistant.  She enjoys working with elderly people and volunteers daily at a senior facility in West Oakland where her grandmother resides.  Jade (not her real name) today is an energetic, optimistic young lady who has many dreams for her future and is working hard to make them a reality. 

Jade is also a graduate from Pathways to Change, an incarceration diversion program for youth offenders in Oakland operated by Safe Passages.  Yes, Jade was on the verge of being incarcerated upon her third arrest at the young age of 15.  Her story is not unique. Jade represents the plight of many children growing up in the solitude of urban poverty in America.

When Jade was 11 years old, her mother became very ill from complications of diabetes.  Being the eldest in the household, Jade took it upon herself to care for her mother, her younger brother and cousins.  She remembers, “I began shoplifting so that my brothers and cousins could have new clothes for school. My mother told the judge that all I stole were baby clothes for my friends with babies and my brother and cousins.” 

Although she knew stealing was wrong, she also felt it was wrong that there was no caring adult around to watch over her, her siblings and her mother.  Jade explains, “The only person who helped and came over the house often was my Godmother Carolene.  Her whole mission in life is to help people.  She doesn’t care if she is on her last penny, she will help you. If it hadn’t been for her, we would have starved. I don’t know where the welfare checks went, but they went fast.” 

The stress of this overwhelming responsibility caused Jade to act out in school.  She was ultimately expelled for fighting from two middle schools in Oakland and completely dropped out of school by the time she was high school age.  She remembers, “No one seemed to care.  I would fight and adults would look the other way until they got fed up and kicked me out of school.”  With no alternatives but to suspend or expel Jade, the school system had failed her as well.

By the time she was 14, Jade began shoplifting and selling drugs.  She explains, “I began stealing and selling drugs to make more money.  I needed and wanted the money to make sure my brother and little cousins had clothes.  I was arrested and sent to juvenile hall three times.  Two times for shoplifting and one time for fighting.” 

Upon her third arrest, a juvenile hall Commissioner, sympathetic to Jade’s history, referred her to Pathways to Change, a Safe Passages program in Oakland designed to intervene early with high-risk youth. 

Jade recalls, “Finally, when arrested again at the age of 15, a judge ordered me to enter Pathways to Change, a program for youth offenders conducted by Safe Passages in Oakland.  There, I met Kyndra, a Pathways to Change case manager.  She called me twice daily to make sure I was going to school and keeping my promise to stay out of trouble.  She became a big sister to me.  Kyndra found me medical care since I too have diabetes, and a mental health counselor who taught me about self- esteem.  I am now 18 and I have stayed out of the Juvenile system since graduating from Pathways to Change two years ago. I am enrolled in a nursing assistant program at the local college and will graduate in six months.”

Since 2002, Pathways to Change has paired repeat offenders with case managers who serve as mentors and role models while providing on-going supervision through the court process. Case managers develop individualized plans to link young offenders with the resources they need. The individualized plans are designed to help stop youth from re-offending by connecting the youth to quality programs, as well as to other caring adults.  Case plans may include: educational programming, after-school activities, drug/alcohol treatment, counseling, anger management, life skills development, job training/placement, and family support services.

Pathways to Change is based on the Detention Diversion Advocacy Program (DDAP) in San Francisco, which has reduced recidivism rates for repeat youth offenders in San Francisco for nearly ten years. The Mentoring Center currently serves as the lead agency in Oakland for the collaborative program. 

Kyndra Simmons, Jade’s Pathways to Change case manager states, “I have worked with at risk youth for almost ten years and I never cease to be amazed by the overwhelming responsibilities many youth in Oakland have to face at such an early age.  Jade is a smart and wonderful person who just needed a guiding hand.  She may not realize this but she helped me grow as much as I helped her.”

At 18, Jade is still coping with the stress of caring for her mother and grandmother, both legally blind.  The difference, now, is that she has the support she needs from ongoing counseling and good friends.  Jade proudly states, “After graduating Pathways, I continued to see my therapist and have made wonderful supportive friends, like my best friend Ebony.  We are both attending college and support each other even when our cousins and others make fun of us for studying.”

Like Jade, there is an estimated 500 youth arrested annually in Oakland.  Most of the youth are likely to re offend again if intensive intervention services are not provided.  Currently, Pathways to Change is the only program in Oakland offering this type of intensive case management and referral services to the youth. 

Preliminary outcome data for the Oakland model shows promising results. A recent study found that there was a 60% decrease in recidivism during a 6-month follow-up period and a 45% decrease in recidivism during a 12-month follow-up period. 

Permitting funding, Safe Passages hopes to reach its goal of enrolling 250 youth offenders in the program by the end of the year.  As with Jade, Safe Passages seeks to help many more youth in Oakland find their “path”.