NEWBERRY COUNTY — Juvenile offenders from the Department of Juvenile Justice will provide basic and personal facts when they speak to an audience of youth and parents at the City of Newberry Safety Center Courtroom on Nance Street at 6 p.m. Oct. 19.

THE INSIDERS is a community service-crime prevention project sponsored by the S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice, Community in Schools.

The group of teens from DJJ in Columbia will provide simple advice and food for thought, remembering the choices that cost them their freedom and landed them behind chain-link fences topped with razor wire.

Department of Juvenile Justice is “home” to about 100 young inmates from the state, ages 12 to 17. Its facilities are no longer called “reform schools” or “home for troubled boys,” but prison. Daily life involves a loss of privacy, freedom of speech, freedom of choice, and in most cases, loss of contact with most friends and family members.

Communities in Schools Inc. is the largest stay-in school network in America that targets at-risk youth, offering an alternate approach to education. The Communities in Schools at the Department of Juvenile Justice serves as a national model in a juvenile correctional facility, being the first of its kind in the nation.

Charles Chandler, who guides THE INSIDERS program, said DJJ has six teens who travel around the state. The teens are required to maintain spotless records from day to day to keep their membership on the team.

Each speaking engagement follows a format of general overview, personal testimonials and a questions-answer period. A single session is generally one hour.

The event is being sponsored by MADD Newberry County, the Newberry Police Department and the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office. Cpl. Richard Mercer of the Newberry Police Department will be the host. The event is open to the public.

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Staff Report