unfair to the communities in which those men
and women came from. They uprooted an entire
generation of lives. I am entirely supportive of
the attempts now to treat drug offenses as a
health epidemic. We are seeing that now in respect
to heroine. I am certainly an advocate for less
incarceration for nonviolent offenses.
Youth Rehabilitation & Services
Young people by virtue of where they were born
or raised are confronting all manner of trauma.
They have been victims of crime at a young age.
They have witnessed crime at young age. They
have loss, in some cases, their parents and siblings.
These young people exhibit common traits of
post-traumatic stress disorder. When you are going
through that kind of trauma, you better believe
succeeding in school becomes extremely difficult.
You are more inclined, unfortunately, to go in the
line of misbehavior of violence and crime. If I
were at the helm of the policy chair, I would put
a lot more resources into allowing young kids to
have a fair shot in life. I am happy to say there are
programs in the District of Columbia, one in which
the OAG works with very closely. The program
is called ACE and it is out of the Department of
Human Services. Through the ACE program, the
young people are offered services, as opposed to being
prosecuted for non-violent or first time offenses.
What kind of Services?
1. Mental health serves
2. Parent therapy
3. Family therapy
4. Anger Management
5. Exposure to life beyond that block in which
they live
What we are seeing when the delivery of service
and excellent case managers are involved is that
these young people who would ordinarily be on
probation or in a children’s jail are thriving. So far
we have diverted over 600 kids in 14 months. 90%
of those kids have not been involved in the criminal
justice system again. I would urge lawmakers to put
their money right where the solutions are working.
We need more resources to help kids have a better
chance at an independently successful life. It’s a
winning proposition not only for the kids but it
reduces violence and makes our community safer.
For the Next AG
I look forward to the day where
there is a successor, whose been
elected by the public. I would be
fully available to help in anyway.
What I would impress upon my
successor is the privilege, honor
and the extraordinary responsibility
and opportunity that person has to
impact lives of people every day.
Sometimes, I see public officials
lose site of that. Every single day
a decision that a public official
makes, which is the way [they] treat
people has the potential to really
radically transform a young persons
life. I would stick to my area of
passion and give as much advice and
encouragement to continue to focus
on the lives of young people.
NURA Magazine 17