Survey of Police Chiefs Shows Need for Police Training to Work with Youth

By |

At a  training of Massachusetts MBTA Training Academy recruits in July, a police officer said to the group, “What I am telling you today we did not get when we were in the academy. Now you’ve got a leg up in dealing with kids by knowing this stuff.” The officer had been trained in a train-the-trainer capacity building effort by Strategies for Youth. “Knowing this stuff about kids makes working with them easier and less stressful and believe me, they can be stressful,” he told the recruits. The newly released findings of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) survey on juvenile justice and youth training needs suggest this officer is both right and unusual. Training in best practices for working with youth is helpful, but remains the exception to the rule across the country. The IACP’s survey, the “2011 Juvenile Justice Training Needs Assessment,” found that police chiefs want training but lack funding and agency resources to provide it to their officers.  They wanted their officers to have the skills to work with the increasing and challenging demands posed by youth.

Second-hand Store Benefits Victims of Sex Trafficking

By |

We all have closets full of old clothes that don’t fit and houses filled with dust-collecting knick-knacks.  Wellspring Living, through their upscale resale boutiques Wellspring Treasures, is turning those gently used items into help for victims of sexual abuse and trafficking. Wellspring Living has been offering therapy and education to sexual abuse victims for ten years.  Run almost entirely by volunteers, all proceeds from the three Wellspring Treasures stores benefit the women and girls involved with the programs.

“The women who come to the Wellspring Living house commit to 6 months or a year,” said volunteer Haley Welsh.  After leaving the house, the women live with a family who help them transition into their own place. All three Wellspring Treasures stores located in the metro Atlanta area accept donations six days a week.