Did you know that in addition to our work in New Orleans, LCCR also serves kids in Baton Rouge? It’s true! For the past seven years we have been helping drive down the child incarceration rate there. We wanted to take a quick moment to share with you one of the incredible teens that we’ve worked with in that time.

We first met “Rodrigo” back in 2021. At the time, he was a 15-year-old who had been in and out of the legal system since he was a pre-teen. He struggled with school, had a volatile relationship with his mother, and had serious unmet mental health needs. As is often the case with kids who have been repeatedly arrested, instead of getting help with his underlying issues, Rodrigo just got more jail time. That’s where we stepped in to help.

We began by recognizing that until Rodrigo’s mental health needs were under control, he wouldn’t have a stable foundation from which to grow. We helped him connect with a therapist who could provide the counseling and medication support that he so desperately needed. We then met with Rodrigo’s school to ensure that he had the accommodations needed to keep him in the classroom.

For far too many years, Rodrigo suffered from a fractured relationship with his mother, who has her own history of unmet mental health needs. When he turned 18, we helped Rodrigo get the distance he needed to relieve that stress. We found him a group home where he could learn independent living skills. We also placed him on a waitlist for a housing program that will give him a place of his own when he’s ready.

Progress is often not linear and Rodrigo continued to struggle with school. When he turned 18, we helped him enroll in a program where he could obtain his HiSET degree and develop trade skills. What he really wanted was a well-paying, skilled job to better support himself independently. For him, this was the best path to achieve that goal.

Over the past year, Rodrigo hasn’t had any new mental health disruptions. He’s also been doing great on his educational and career journey. He’s excited about what lies ahead.

Like with so many arrested teens, the roots of Rodrigo’s delinquency stemmed from critical unmet needs in his life. He could have easily been written off as a child who had no future outside of the prison system. In fact, many adults in his life did just that. However, when finally given the supports he needed, we are now seeing the tremendous potential that lived inside of Rodrigo all along. If only these supports had been provided to him at an earlier stage in life, he may never have become involved in the legal system in the first place.