Des Moines Sun

During their Jan. 17 City Council meeting, West Des Moines officials welcomed students from the Youth Justice Initiative (YJI) along with program director Jennifer Hahn.

The YJI was developed to reduce the numbers of juvenile offenders in the West Des Moines area. Founded in 2000, the program works directly with juvenile offenders—as well as victims of crime and community members—to hold them accountable for their actions by working with them to restore the community that they harmed. The Resiliency Project, a program within the initiative, offers guidance for at-risk youth in order to help them stay out of trouble and ensure their best possible success in the classroom and their future careers.

West Des Moines Mayor Russ Trimble encouraged the students and praised their efforts within the program.

"I'm proud that YJI has such a low rate of recidivism," he said in the meeting. "And it's important not only to give kids a second chance after they have offended and, but kids that are at risk, that are at risk of dropping out of school, that might have a 0.04. And it's great to hear that you're doing so well in school and you're going to study table. That's not easy either. And if you just show up and you do the work, you're going to have a very successful future, each and every one of you guys."

Trimble continued by highlighting the importance of giving young offenders a second chance.

Hahn distributed the presentation to the youth who had come with her to the council meeting. The students, all of them in high school, talked about the impact that the program has had on their own lives. One student discussed a program within the initiative in which students volunteer their time to teach the elderly population how to use their tech devices on their own. Involvement with this program led the student to her first job and other leadership opportunities within her school.

Other students discussed how the family focus of the program helped heal their own families and keep them at home. They also said that without the structure of their study sessions they would not have made it to graduation. The Study Table program helped them complete their homework and raise their grades. It also connected them with their community members. One student recalled how he came into the program with a GPA of 0.04 and rarely went out into the community, but now he has raised his grades and is a part of the West Des Moines Safety Cadet program.