By Benjamin Chambers, January 10 2011
You may remember Olivia from our our national Reclaiming Futures video, made several years ago: she'd just graduated from juvenile drug court in King County, WA, where she benefited from the Reclaiming Futures initiative in Seattle-King County. She also had a great mentor in Hazel Cameron, who directs The 4C Coalition in Seattle, which provides mentors to youth in the juvenile justice system.
How's Olivia doing these days? Take a look at the video above, in which Olivia, now 22, gives a speech to a packed room at the Joint Meeting on Adolescent Treatment Effectiveness (JMATE) in Baltimore, MD, on December 14, 2010.
Olivia's story is just under 20 minutes long, but it seems to fly by -- she tells her story with poise, humility, humor, and gratitude. Check it out!
Update January 12, 2011 - I forgot to mention it, but this post is just in time for National Mentoring Month!
Related Post:
- Positive youth development activities can help teens in the juvenile justice system learn skills that will help them live crime-free and drug-free lives, so they can succeed like Olivia has. Here's a handy post with ideas for activities to do with teens in the justice system.
Topics: Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment, Juvenile Justice Reform, No bio box, Positive Youth Development
Updated: February 08 2018