Happy Valentine's Day

According the the Campaign for Youth Justice, over 10,000 kids will spend this Valentine’s Day in an adult jail or prison, without the support of loved ones.
Reclaiming Futures is building networks of caring adults with whom teens in the justice system can be connected—and an array of activities where young people can learn social skills, job skills, and new behaviors that will help them stay drug-free and crime-free long after they complete treatment and probation.
This Valentine's Day, Reclaiming Futures encourages you to mentor and volunteer in your community and support young people. Together, we can work to break the cycle of drugs, alcohol and crime.
Learn more about bringing Reclaiming Futures to your community to:

• Change the way your community treats kids in the justice system with substance abuse problems.
• Help young people stay out of trouble with the law.
• Improve public safety and save money.
• Give young people the support they need—more treatment, better treatment and beyond treatment—to turn their lives around.

Image: iStock Photos

Susan Richardson is national executive director for Reclaiming Futures. Formerly, she was a senior program officer in the health care division of the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust in North Carolina, where she led a three-year effort involving the state's juvenile justice and treatment leaders to adopt the Reclaiming Futures model by juvenile courts in six North Carolina counties. She received her B.S. in Public Health, Health Policy and Administration, from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.