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By Josh Sweigart, Staff Writer 11:00 PM Friday, November 13, 2009

HAMILTON — In his 27 years in juvenile justice, Butler County Juvenile Court Administrator Rob Clevenger has seen one thing turn around lives unlike anything else: an honest day’s work.

The problem, he said, is that children bounce in and out of the justice system and become young adults with little work experience and a criminal record.

But with a new $300,000 federal grant, Butler County will put together a pilot program to line up job training and employment opportunities for young adults coming out of the juvenile court system.

The program is still in the planning stages. The U.S. Department of Labor grant awarded this week — which only went to five communities across the country — will help the county put together the program by the end of 2010, Clevenger said, then another grant will implement it.

But the goal is clear: “To get those people employment, to get them trained.”

It’s not going to end criminal behavior, he said, but it will give a nudge to those who just need a little help growing up. Clevenger said a good job gives children and young adults a sense of purpose, a paycheck and, of course, less time to get into trouble in the first place.

“If you got to get up every morning at 6 o’clock, you’re probably not hanging out every night,” he said. “Your childish behaviors go away when you realize you have responsibility.”

The program will likely focus on the 80 kids sentenced to the Butler County Juvenile Rehabilitation Center every year, and the 50 local children and young adults sentenced to state institutions every year.

It will involve pulling together career schools like Butler Tech to teach them a trade and local non-profits, churches and other agencies that help recently released kids find jobs.

“Success will be that now we’ll see young offenders who are committed to change and committed to saying, ‘employment is the key for me,’” Clevenger said.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or jsweigart@coxohio.com.

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