Wayne County program for at-risk youth in Detroit is ‘Moving Forward’.
A new program is giving Detroit’s most at-risk youth one last shot at turning their lives around before they end up in jail – or worse.
“In Wayne County, we have over 1,000 system-involved kids,” said Melissa Fernandez, director of Wayne County Juvenile Youth Services.
Children and their parents are both desperate for change, and the those behind the Moving Forward program says it offers the lifeline they need.
“I’ve never been to JDF,” said Da’Karri Porter. “That was my first time going. I wasn’t realizing how much trouble I could be in for doing what I was doing.”
Kendra Huffman feared her son would either end up sitting in a cell for good or sent home in a casket.
“It’s a mother‘s worst fear,” said the Moving Forward parent volunteer. “He would turn to marijuana, and I didn’t want that for him, and he was turning to the streets more and more for an outlet.
“I tried everything; reaching out to the police, CPS.”
And she’s not alone.
“I think we’re misinformed by thinking parents are the problem, or they don’t care, they don’t want help. they are asking for help,” said Melissa Fernandez, director of Wayne County Juvenile Youth Services.
