"He left"

I've been here for over a month. I was on community placement, but paroled out, and ran away. Once I'm done here, I owe County Jail 108 days for running away. I decided to get pregnant with my boyfriend of 7 years, but he left. My mom is disappointed with me, but my parents will take care of the baby. - A., 19

"Emotionally, physically, sexually"

I have been here for eight months. Nobody comes to visit me here. Nobody. Mom wanted me to have sex for money and give her the money. Her husband abused me emotionally, physically, sexually. My mom says I’m horrible to her. I love her more than anybody in the world. - B.B., 17

"I blew it"

"I've been on probation since I was 12. I've been arrested so many times I can't remember all of them anymore." - N.A. (L), 14

"I've been arrested 65 times. I've been on probation since I was 13. I had three chances and they told me...one more time and I was in -- I blew it." - K.T. (R), 16

"I am a substance abuser"

I've been here for the past 8 months. I am a substance abuser -- weed, meth, and alcohol. Started at 12 years old. My parents are both drug abusers. I ran away when I was 13. My dad has visited once -- other than that, there has been no contact. - J., 15

"Everybody is not perfect"

I’m in for having two firearms. My 22-year-old sister got me into being a Muslim. I try to follow my religion but there are some thing I can't do. Everybody is not perfect.

- P., 18

"I'll be a new person"

When I was younger, my stepdad would abuse me and throw me at my mother, and my mother would choke me until I was about to pass out. My mother is a regular substance abuser and disappears for days at a time and both my parents do drugs -- it is not a good situation at home. When I get there, it will be my first time in South Dakota… so technically I will be a new person there. - C., 13

"No phone calls, no letters"

"I've been in and out of the system since I was 12. I was raised by my grandparents, but all three died of strokes in the last three years. Nobody visits me here, no phone calls, no letters" - D.R., 16 

"I experienced things that no kid should ever have to go through"

I immigrated when I was 6 years old with my mom, for you know, the same reason every immigrant comes to this country. We see this country as the land of opportunity. We see hope, where we see jobs, we see success, you know the American dream. That’s what we came for. But the reality is, it’s not like that for immigrants. It’s hard as an immigrant to be good at school, you know, because you can’t really speak English. And my mom couldn’t help me. I became a bad kid to the school system because I never did my homework. And it’s not that I didn’t want to do it I just couldn’t do it. I felt like I was dumb, stupid, and I was always trying to find some type of membership somewhere. Some type of community.

I had three uncles that were living with me and they were all drug dealers for the Cartel. They never encouraged me to do that but I saw it. I saw drugs in my house, I saw gang members on my block, and it was normal to me to see violence. Ever since I joined that gang, everything went downhill in my life. I seen and experienced things that no kid should ever have to go through at 13 and 14.

Ever since I got out I’ve committed myself to being an activist, an organizer, and to keep fighting to change policies that are not working. Because even though I was one of those fortunate individuals who did not get a life sentence, I left a lot of people behind. I left a lot of young kids who need someone to be representing them. - Kent, 24 

"I didn't shoot anybody"

"They say I shot somebody, but I didn't shoot anybody. I was there, but I didn't shoot anyone. I was reaching for the guys chain and they said my hand was a gun on the camera." - F.N., 15 He is awaiting trial on charges for attempted murder, armed robbery, and conspiracy for armed robbery. He was charged when he was 14.

"I have two kids and no home"

I got kicked out of home with my grandmother, who threw me out because I have two kids with a Black man. They are 4 months and 16 months. My brother is a meth addict and I have no idea who my father is. I have 10 siblings. - K.T., 17

Today is the one-year anniversary

“Today is the one-year anniversary of me being here, in this cell. I like to read. I learned how to read in here. My favorite books are Dr. Seuss. My dad had diabetes and he lost his leg. Then something came loose and he died. My sister has diabetes too and my older brother is Down’s syndrome and was trached (tracheotomy.) We moved from Florida but we weren’t able to get the help and medications we needed for everybody.”

The director of this institution explains that the other 15 kids in the unit have intuitively become aware of his special needs and don’t taunt him, rather they help him.

The director is a retired school-teacher. Detention is often viewed as deterrence, rehabilitation and punishment. We often lean too much on the punishment side. This is an unusual site where the focus is on nurturing. The tone is set by the director. Many sites have directors that come from Adult corrections or are ex-police and military. The director also explains they are trying to boost moral of the staff and recently have raised the base salary from $8.25/hour to $10/hour and given the staff new badges.

The day his father died, N.P. ran away with his older brother who had a gun. He was apprehended and detained.

“I had a whole lotta anger built up in me. A whole lot. And we had to get counseling for that and stuff. A person come see us at the house and take us out and stuff like that. But to me it ain’t working. The only person could fix this is my daddy.”

-N.P., age 14