x
Breaking News
More () »

'People are gonna remember this': Young people get a look at life behind bars to keep them on the right track

The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice says Georgia averages about 13,000 young people in state custody each year.

ATLANTA — Inmates in orange jumpsuits, slamming locked doors and tiny cells - a group of young people saw it all and more inside the DeKalb County Jail.

It's all part of a program meant to steer them away from a life within the criminal justice system.

An Atlanta attorney and former gang member, David Lee Windecher is working to change the lives of young people. This glimpse of what could be is part of his non-profit working to keep them out of the revolving door that often leads to serving time behind bars time and time again.

"I'm kinda nervous, it's weird being on the other side of the wall," said Gaius Rainey, a mentee of the Rehabilitation Enables Deams (R.E.D.) program founded by Windecher.

PREVIOUS: From gangster to attorney, an Atlanta man now works to help young people find their way

Rainey admits he's gotten into trouble in the past - a possession charge, he said - but after walking around the Dekalb County Jail, he said he's glad that he's beginning to get things back on track.

“People are gonna remember this,” he said on the tour of the jail. “But that's what we need though."

Rainey is working now, and trying to becoming a leader. It's thanks in part to Windecher’s mentorship program, R.E.D.

"Not everyone has a good chance or a good outcome to make it, so they make poor mistakes," Rainey said. "But everyone deserves a second chance."

About 30 mentors and mentees took the trip around the jail with some led by DeKalb County Sheriff Jefferey Mann.

The group also met with attorneys, prosecutors, probation officers, and DeKalb County Judge Asha Jackson to discuss legal rights and how to improve encounters between police and residents.

"It's really hard to explain how recidivism affects everyone in the community, not just the people that are going to the criminal justice system, but the taxpayers funding the system," said Windecher.

A 2018 report from the Georgia Council on Criminal Justice Reform said juvenile offenders cost taxpayers more than $300 million each year, and the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice said Georgia averages about 13,000 young people in state custody each year.

That same report found more than half of those who are in the state's system, got in trouble again within three years of their release.

For mentors like former Atlanta Falcon Chris Draft, the true issue is figuring out what these teens and young adults are missing and filling in those gaps.

“It's a tremendous opportunity because it recognizes that people do make mistakes," Draft said. "Unfortunately, those mistakes potentially can just be based on training and so if we're willing to train then they can come back and be great."

It’s an effort that's already working for R.E.D. In the last three years, the organization has graduated three classes of students.

Windecher said they have an 87 percent graduation rate and none of their graduates have re-offended.

"No one stuck their hand out to help me growing up besides these guys, and I just really take that to the heart and I appreciate it," said Rainey.

Learn more about R.E.D. on their website.

***

Video of confrontation with accused sexual predator in Walmart goes viral, lands Lamar County man in jail

Pregnant mother & 2-year-old dead after driver deliberately ran over them, police say

Nearly half of millennials say they don't use deodorant

North Carolina credit union suing BB&T and SunTrust over name 'Truist'

Children's Healthcare of Atlanta listed among best children's hospitals in nation

Before You Leave, Check This Out