Columbus Urban League Launches New Program Preventing Youth Incarceration

COLUMBUS – The Columbus Urban League (Columbus, OH) is trying to fight teenage incarceration.

In a new program funded by the city, the Urban League is launching a program that would provide community service, family counseling, and mentorship that will attempt to keep teenagers on the straight and narrow.

President and CEO of the Urban League, Stephanie Hightower said, “A lot of these young people have never had a chance from the beginning, so how do we now give them that first chance opportunity.”

Hightower describes the program as a youth enrichment course over two months. The program will have parental involvement and other services catering to them.

A local parent, Kyra Pruit White, said, “We do need someone to jump in and be leaders and mentor these young women and men.”

Ellen Thompson, a teacher at Columbus City Schools, said, “If we can get children on the right path at a younger age, then that youth program might not be so challenging,”

Hightower said, “Instead of them going through the court system, or through the juvenile justice system, what we want to do is provide an enrichment opportunity for them and their parents.”

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