Indianapolis, IN

Indianapolis is defying the state’s high youth incarceration rate

Published

2 years ago

November 15, 2022

Press Room

Indianapolis is defying the state’s high youth incarceration rate

In an empty retail area on the far east facet of Indianapolis, about 30 boys pull plastic chairs right into a circle.

They met up right here a pair instances a month.

“A few of you guys, man – been by way of a lot in your lives, and are nonetheless going by way of it however you continue to persevere, man,” mentioned Kareem Hines, the group’s chief, as he walks across the circle addressing the group in the beginning of the two-hour session.

The dialogue is uncooked. They discuss psychological well being, relationships, and children who’ve been shot and killed locally. Hines passes out information articles about latest crimes involving youngsters.

This group is named New B.O.Y, a mentorship program for youth and younger males.

In a state the place the youth incarceration price is 40 p.c above the nationwide common, Indianapolis stands out. The county has dramatically reduce the variety of kids and teenagers in detention after making a dedication about 15 years in the past. New B.O.Y. is among the applications used as a substitute.

Lots of the teenagers have been concerned within the juvenile justice system – 40 p.c are courtroom ordered to take part. The communities the boys dwell in are plagued with gun violence, Hines mentioned.

“Numerous our younger males are going by way of loads of trauma. They’ve loads of ache and pent-up aggression,” Hines mentioned. They typically face neglect, abuse and total lack of assist at dwelling, “and we’re seeing it manifests itself in an actual self-destructive manner.”

New B.O.Y. serves over 100 youth ages 6 to 18 years, and affords lessons like karate and boxing. They go on journeys to high schools, and every teen is assigned a mentor. Adults have to construct trusting relationships with youngsters earlier than they attempt to change their conduct, Hines mentioned.

“We don’t choose, we attempt to join with them first,” he mentioned.

Marion County’s punitive previous

New B.O.Y., techniques are a stark distinction from the punitive method to juvenile justice that was once pervasive in Indianapolis.

Decide Geoffrey Gaither oversees the juvenile courtroom in Marion County. He first began working for the system within the Nineteen Nineties. Then it was not unusual for over 200 youngsters, greater than the power might maintain, to be locked up at one time.

“Children had been sleeping in all places. They had been on mattresses, within the chapel or within the fitness center, and so forth,” Gaither mentioned. “The philosophy that existed was, one of the best ways to maintain kids secure was to maintain them locked up.”

Since then, Marion County has taken steps to decrease the variety of youth incarcerated on the middle. About 68 youth on common had been held every day on the middle in 2019. In 2021, because the influence of the coronavirus pandemic continued to disrupt colleges and households, the common variety of youth was 37. To maintain fewer youth detained the courtroom makes use of alternate options as a substitute, like digital monitoring and community-based mentoring applications comparable to New B.O.Y.

Christine Kerl, the chief probation officer in Marion County, mentioned that change started again in 2006, when Indianapolis dedicated to a nationwide program referred to as the Juvenile Detention Options Initiative. Marion County was the primary county in Indiana to participate in this system. Now, greater than 30 counties have joined.

Counties who take part in JDAI gather information on the youth they detain and decide to detain fewer youth for low or reasonable offenses.

“It took braveness to make this determination,” Kerl mentioned. “When a youth is in detention, we all know the place they’re, we all know what they’re doing. However we additionally came upon as we had been inflicting extra hurt than constructive affect for these youth which might be being detained.”

Gaither added that the county expenses fewer kids with crimes then it did up to now since collaborating in JDAI. He mentioned the prosecutor’s workplace used to approve nearly all expenses filed in opposition to youth. Children might wind up in detention for crimes as minor as breaking curfew by strolling a canine late at night time or stealing gum from a comfort retailer, he mentioned.

“We actually found that each case doesn’t have to undergo the system. Each child doesn’t have to be prosecuted,” Gaither mentioned.

Analysis exhibits that detention can have a cascade of damaging impacts for youth. Psychological well being issues are exacerbated, and teenagers are much less prone to earn a highschool diploma. They’re additionally extra prone to commit crimes once more and find yourself within the grownup jail system later in life.

JauNae Hanger, an legal professional and government director of the Youngsters’s Coverage and Legislation Initiative of Indiana, mentioned trauma is imposed on youth anytime they’re locked up.

“Our detention facilities actually have been modeled fairly a bit like grownup incarceration,” she mentioned. “They are not therapeutic of their method.”

‘I might so a lot better’

Whereas Marion County has taken steps to scale back its detention price, it nonetheless locks up some youngsters.

A type of youngsters was Cam. WFYI is just not utilizing his full title as a result of he’s a minor.

Cam was held within the Marion County Juvenile Detention Heart when he was 13 years outdated. He introduced a gun to his center college as a result of he was preventing with different college students and he wished safety, he mentioned.

Cam, who’s 15 now, mentioned detention was traumatic. He was held there for a couple of month.

“So I used to be undoubtedly hurting,” he mentioned. “And I did not care what no person mentioned, I cried each night time … as a result of I knew that I might achieve this a lot better on this world than that.”

The week after he was launched, Cam was messing with a gun he present in his mother’s automobile and shot himself within the leg. His sister discovered him coated in blood.

The day he got here dwelling from the hospital, police took him again to detention for one more two weeks.

“My probation officer was there, they was banging on the door,” he mentioned. “They searched the home. After which they made me stroll outdoors with no crutches and every little thing.”

Cam’s mom, Candice Richey, mentioned her son wasn’t allowed to take ache medicine for his wound whereas detained, and that when he was pressured to take a bathe, he slipped and fell. She mentioned guards wouldn’t assist him arise.

“We’re not speaking a couple of grown man, whether or not he made a grown man’s determination,” she mentioned. “We’re speaking a couple of 12, 13-year-old little one.”

A consultant for the Marion County Juvenile Detention Heart didn’t reply for remark earlier than publication.

Cam is now a freshman in highschool. After he was launched from detention, probation required him to take part in New B.O.Y. He mentioned he was hooked from the primary assembly and by no means missed a day.

“It was wonderful,” Cam mentioned. “The primary time I went I spoke. Like, they make it really easy for anyone to talk who’s been by way of a lot. So it was simple to talk, proper then and there, proper off the highest.”

Cam’s probation ended months in the past, however he retains going to New B.O.Y.

Contact WFYI prison justice reporter Katrina Pross at kpross@wfyi.org. Observe on Twitter: @katrina_pross.

Pross is a Corps Member of Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Undertaking.

Contact WFYI training reporter Dylan Friends McCoy at dmccoy@wfyi.org. Observe on Twitter: @dylanpmccoy.

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Indianapolis, IN

Colts players and coaches speak on Samson Ebukam's injury

Published

3 hours ago

July 30, 2024

Press Room

Colts players and coaches speak on Samson Ebukam's injury

WESTFIELD, Ind. (WISH) — The Colts lost a major contributor to last year’s defense to injury, Samson Ebukam, who suffered a torn Achilles’ at training camp on Sunday.

Ebukam led the team in sacks last season with 9.5.

Colts head coach Shane Steichen talked about Ebukam’s injury on Tuesday after practice.

“That’s a tough break for us,” Steichen said. “I mean, what a great competitor he is. The sacks he had last year, and he was just continuing in the right direction. So, big blow there but guys have got to step up.”

Fortunately for the Colts, they have a lot of depth at defensive end. Kwity Paye, Dayo Odeyingbo, and Tyquan Lewis combined for 20.5 sacks last season for the Colts. Plus, they drafted Laiatu Latu in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

Ebukam and Latu built a strong bond in the past few months since Latu was drafted.

“That’s my big bro,” Latu said. “So, I was learning a lot from him. He’s been like a big brother to me since I got here, even before. I watch a lot of film on him. He’s just been somebody that I really look up to. So, I really just want to go out here and play for him and be able to do what he does on the field so that it doesn’t feel like we’re missing a link.”

With the loss of Ebukam, Steichen said that the reps are likely going to pick up for the rest of the guys at defensive end. But, he said they’re going to have be smart about it during training camp.

While Latu has been really impressive so far in training camp, Steichen also had great things to say about Lewis for the depth that the Colts have at the position.

“He’s tremendous for us,” Steichen said. “He’s been here for a while. Just the way he goes about his business every single day, the way he rushes the passer. I mean, he’s a leader in that room for a reason and we’re extremely excited to have him.”

“We still have a lot of great leaders in that room,” Lewis said. “We know that we have a void to fill. He (Ebukam) was our sack leader last year, but we’re going to come in waves. We all stick together as one.”

The Colts return to practice at training camp on Wednesday from 10-11:30 a.m.

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Indianapolis, IN

Indy ambulances now place overdose reversal drug in hands of most vulnerable

Published

10 hours ago

July 30, 2024

Press Room

Indy ambulances now place overdose reversal drug in hands of most vulnerable

INDIANAPOLIS — People who are most vulnerable to a drug overdose will now have medication that saves lives delivered directly to their hands.

Indianapolis EMS medics responding to an overdose will offer kits to patients, their families, friends or bystanders. The kits include two doses of intranasal naloxone, a resource card with a QR code to the program’s webpage, how to sign up for text alerts about an overdose surge in Marion County and educational materials on recognizing an overdose and administering naloxone.

The initiative is part of the “Naloxone Leave Behind” project, in tandem with the Marion County Public Health Department.

The program’s goal is to reduce overdose deaths in Marion County by delivering the opioid reversal medication naloxone directly to those who are statistically at higher risk of fatally overdosing in the future.

“Indianapolis EMS stands among those who work on the frontlines of the opioid epidemic in our community, where seconds can mean the difference between life and death,” said Daniel O’Donnell, chief of Indianapolis EMS. “Increased access to naloxone can greatly increase survival chances in overdose situations, which can lead to more people seeking treatment to break the hold that addiction has on so many.”

Most people who fatally overdosed in Marion County in the first half of the year – about 62% −died in a home, according to a new report by the coroner’s office. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, continues to rank the most common substance driving up overdose deaths in the Indianapolis metro area.

Fentanyl, methamphetamine: The Top 5 drugs fueling the overdose crisis in Indianapolis

How to sign up for ‘bad batch,’ overdose surge text alerts

To receive texts about bad drug batches or overdose spikes in Marion County, text SOAR to 765-358-7627.

Texts will be sent when a bad drug batch is detected, when a neighborhood sees a spike in overdose or when police conduct a drug seizure in an area — a move that research has shown disrupts the drug supply and increases overdose. The program, called the Community Harm Reduction and Improved Outcomes Team (CHARIOT), is part of the statewide nonprofit Overdose Lifeline, which aims to help individuals impacted by substance-use disorders. The Office of Public Health and Safety has partnered with the organization.

‘Zombie drug’: The ’emerging threat’ for Indiana

Be in the know: Is your Indy neighborhood at risk for overdose?

Other ways to get Narcan in Indianapolis

Narcan, the common name brand for naloxone, can be requested through Overdose Lifeline website at overdoselifeline.org. The supplies can be delivered anonymously.

Contact reporter Sarah Nelson at sarah.nelson@indystar.com

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Indianapolis, IN

‘Supernatural’ convention bringing stars Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki and more to Indy

Published

17 hours ago

July 30, 2024

Press Room

‘Supernatural’ convention bringing stars Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki and more to Indy

An SPN Family reunion is coming to Indianapolis.

Creation Entertainment’s “The Road So Far… The Road Ahead” tour is bringing stars of the CW’s “Supernatural” to downtown Indy next month, including Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Misha Collins, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and more. The weekend-long event includes panels, meet-and-greet opportunities as well as a special event hosted by Collins.

Here’s what you need to know about the event, scheduled for Aug. 23-25.

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Where is the ‘Supernatural’ convention in Indianapolis?

The Marriott Indianapolis Downtown, 350 W. Maryland St. Aug. 23-25.

Lineup includes Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Misha Collins and more

According to the event’s website, the following stars and special guests are expected to attend the event:

Jensen Ackles (Dean Winchester)
Jared Padalecki (Sam Winchester)
Misha Collins (Castiel)
Jeffrey Dean Morgan (John Winchester)
Samantha Smith (Mary Winchester)
Ruth Connell (Rowena MacLeod)
Rob Benedict (Chuck Shurley)
Richard Speight Jr. (Archangel Gabriel)
Matt Cohen (young John Winchester, Archangel Michael)
Briana Buckmaster (Donna Hanscum)
Julian Richings (Death)
Kim Rhodes (Sheriff Jody Mills)
DJ Qualls (Garth Fitzgerald IV)
Osric Chau (Kevin Tran)
Adam Rose (TikToker)
Jason Manns (musician)

Creation cautions that all guests and scheduling are subject to change.

How much do Supernatural convention tickets cost?

Single-day general admission tickets start at $70 for Friday, $80 for Saturday and $100 for Sunday. A general admission weekend pass is $249.

A variety of weekend packages, with benefits like exclusive panels and autograph opportunities, range in price from $379 to $1,775. For tickets and more information, visit bit.ly/4d8xc16.

‘Supernatural’ meet-and-greets, autographs

Photo opportunities and autographs will be available for purchase with many of the scheduled guests. Here are the prices for photos and autographs with the headlining stars:

Jensen Ackles: Photos $199 / Autographs available for gold and silver weekend patrons only
Jared Padalecki: Photos $199 / Autographs $169 (will not be signing for gold and silver patrons)
Misha Collins: Photos $149 (Saturday only) and $169 (in costume, Sunday only) / Autographs $119
Jeffrey Dean Morgan: Photos $199 / Autographs $169

Interactive opportunities with the featured guests don’t stop there. DJ Qualls will also host a masquerade-themed karaoke night with ticketed pre- and post-events.

For a full list of experiences and prices, visit bit.ly/4d8xc16.

What’s the schedule for the ‘Supernatural’ convention in Indy?

The full schedule has not yet been released as of late July. According to Creation’s website, the final schedule will be released closer to the event.

Misha Collins’ special event at Creation Indianapolis

Collins will host a special, 18+ event on Saturday evening called “It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time.” In a June Instagram post, he described it as a one-person show that’s “part memoir, part therapy and part indecent exposure.”

Do I need convention passes for Misha Collins’ show in Indy?

No; this is a separately ticketed event that does not overlap with the convention’s scheduled Saturday night concert. Tickets are priced at $79 for general admission and $139 to $189 for reserved seats. For more information, visit bit.ly/3WfAlFQ.

Things to do in Indianapolis: Our newsletter has the best concerts, art, shows and more — and the stories behind them

Contact IndyStar pop culture reporter Holly Hays at holly.hays@indystar.com. Follow her on X/Twitter: @hollyvhays.

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