In Florida, teens arrested with guns get a second chance to change their lives

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

In Florida, recent mass shootings have prompted lawmakers to crack down on teens who carry guns. New law means more time in juvenile jail for possessing a gun, even if the teen doesn’t use it. But does time behind bars help teens change their lives? Member station WUSF’s Stephanie Colombini reports on Alternative Youth Offenders, a Tampa program that takes a public health approach in addressing the underlying causes of community violence.

STEPHANIE COLOMBINI, BYLINE: Damari was afraid. Crime is high in his Tampa neighborhood, and he says sometimes men would harass him on his way to school. He was 16 when he started carrying a loaded handgun.

DAMARI: If no one else could protect me, then I could protect myself.

COLOMBINI: Damari was arrested with a gun at school last year, although police said he didn’t threaten anyone. They arrested him and charged him with misdemeanor possession of a firearm on school grounds. Damari spent 21 days in juvenile hall and was permanently expelled from school.

DAMARI: I was scared. I didn’t know what was going to happen in my life because, you know, I was in advanced classes and everything.

COLOMBINI: We are not using Damari’s last name to protect future employment opportunities. If he had shot someone, the state’s attorney might have transferred him to adult court, where the punishment is much worse. But the judge gave him a second chance. He ordered Damari to complete the program for armed juvenile offenders. That meant six months of showing up almost every night to meetings with other teenagers arrested on gun charges. A recreation center in Tampa serves as home base. Eight boys arrived one evening after playing basketball outside to relax.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Everybody, come in and sit down. Let’s go. Let’s sit down.

COLOMBINI: They sit in their seats and devour hamburgers served on paper plates. In front of them are guests, two men recently released from prison.

JAMES COBAN: Do me a favor, tell me that again. Thirty nine years…

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Thirty-nine years old.

COBAN: Thirty-nine years and two days. I want you to remember that. Thirty-nine years and two days.

COLOMBINI: That’s how long James Coban spent in prison for murder. And he told the boys that he now felt immense sadness and shame for what he did.

COBAN: When I kill someone, I don’t just kill the person. I kill their potential. I kill everything they could have done in life.

COLOMBINI: Teens in the program also meet with parents of children who died in a shooting. They visit hospitals and funeral homes, all to raise awareness of the painful consequences of gun violence. The program was launched last year by the nonprofit Safe & Sound Hillsborough. Freddy Barton is executive director.

FREDDY BARTON: Unfortunately, we have seen a sharp increase in the number of children arrested for gun-related crimes.

COLOMBINI: Last October, in one of Tampa’s busiest neighborhoods, a fight between teenagers and young adults escalated into a shooting. Two young people were killed and 16 injured. Barton wants to prevent this kind of violence. Its program is aimed primarily at young people who carried weapons but had not yet injured anyone with them.

BARTON: Everyone has the opportunity to change their life. That’s why we try to work with them as early as possible.

COLOMBINI: Recently, the number of children arrested in Florida for carrying a gun or any other weapon has increased by almost 50%. Some children, Damari, take weapons that adults keep at home. And there has been a sharp increase in the number of teenagers stealing guns from unlocked cars and reselling them.

BARTON: We often hear that these are bad children. No, these children make bad decisions.

COLOMBINI: His program addresses the root causes of gun violence like family trauma and poverty. Participants receive anger management counseling. Mentors help them continue their education and connect them with jobs.

BARTON: So we look at all the things that could possibly cause someone to fall, and we address those things. And that’s the public health approach to working with these kids here.

COLOMBINI: It takes a lot of work. All day, before the children arrive in the evening, Barton and his colleague Thaddeus Wright are overwhelmed. They attend teen hearings, talk to parents, accompany children to the program and work with community partners.

(CROSSTALK)

COLOMBINI: Wright is a former Marine who came out of retirement to run the program.

THADDEUS WRIGHT: A lot of these kids don’t have positive male role models in their lives, so we try to fill that void as best we can.

COLOMBINI: Wright would teach the guys how to do things like tie a tie or he would take them bowling from time to time. One morning, Wright was working at the recreation center when he got a phone call.

(SOUND OF PHONE RINGING)

WRIGHT: Hey, what’s up, bro?

COLOMBINI: A teenager in their program was in a difficult situation. He showed up at school even though his gun charge prevented him from entering campus. His mother couldn’t leave work to pick him up, so he called Wright.

WRIGHT: It lasted all day. And that’s kind of why we need help. It’s endless.

COLOMBINI: Wright was busy but knew if he dropped the kid he could get in trouble again. So Wright took him to the center in an Uber so they could talk and he stayed all day. This extra support means a lot to parents like Damari’s mother Dee. We also do not use his last name to protect his identity. Dee says Damari’s arrest and the court system have been very stressful.

DEE: Because I have a full-time job. I have another child. I was in school at the time.

COLOMBINI: She says she’s seen Damari transform over the six months he’s been in the program. He would come home talking about career advice or community service he appreciated. In September, a judge threw out Damari’s case.

DEE: It’s a second chance for him to start over, to be able to live a fulfilling life.

COLOMBINI: During its first year, the program for armed young offenders involved 54 young people. All but nine successfully completed it. Studies show that diversion programs like this are generally more effective than traditional sanctions in preventing youth from reoffending, and are less costly to administer. Damari is 17 now. I met him at a community garden after he completed the program. His mother runs a few in Tampa and he helps her pick vines or whatever she needs.

DAMARI: I help more with the work than with the little seeds, so, for example, watering and then building these flower beds.

COLOMBINI: Damari says he understands how reckless it was to walk around with a loaded gun. And now he feels more comfortable asking adults for help.

DAMARI: I would like people to stay out of trouble. Try to make your community the best community it can be.

COLOMBINI: In December, Damari passed his high school entrance exam. The program mentors suggested he pursue vocational training, so he plans to become an electrician or a heating, ventilation and air conditioning technician. At one point, Damari felt like his arrest was something he would never recover from. But the program has given him a second chance, and he plans to make the most of it.

For NPR News, I’m Stephanie Colombini in Tampa.

KELLY: And this story comes from NPR’s partnership with WUSF and KFF Health News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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