Welcome to Miami

I arrived in Miami on Saturday morning. My flight was delayed by 4 hours but luckily because i was there at the crack of dawn and checked in early, i was able to get an earlier flight which was brill!!! Slept all the way here! Flight was only 2 and a half hours so not bad. When i arrived at the hotel i was informed check in wasn't for another 6 hours so had a few hour to kill!! Decided to go for a wonder around and explore the area of South Beach where i was staying. It was beautiful and right near the sea.

As I was walking around i was stopped by a guy who was asking me if wanted to vote. I explained to him that i wasn't from the area and we got talking. It turns out that he is a reformed Original Gangster and member of the Bloods in Compton and he was telling me all about it and what it is like to grow up in that life style. He said that he was born into the gang as his dad was a Black Panther who was in San Quentin Prison and started a gang there then came out and continued it on the outside. He said he has been involved in all kinds of gang activity and has been shot and stabbed many times! He also has gang tattoos. He was a very interesting guy to talk to as he has now turned his life around and is now making a like for himself and has got out of the cycle of the gang lifestyle although he says he will never truly be out of the gang as alot of his friends are still involved. He said he is still a member but not an 'active' one.

On Monday I visited the Juvenile Assessment Centre in Miami- Dade were every young person who is arrested in the County comes to be booked in and assessed and then they are either released from the facility or taken to a Juvenile Detention Centre depending on what crime they have committed. What an interesting visit that was!!! I couldn't believe how organised and prepared for me they were. I was greeted when i arrived by the Acting Director and shown around the facility from intake were the juveniles are bought into the facility and booked in, finger prints taken, mug shots taken and all the assessments are carried out. These include asking questions relating to their mental health, housing issues, family life and substance abuse then depending on the outcome of these assessments they are referred to the appropriate agencies.

I was then spoken to by various people within the organisation to get a perspective on what they were doing there. These include taking about the models that they use to support these young people through the system and the assessment tools that they use. Very impressed at the way they operate and the level of communication throughout the organisation. They also appear to have very strong links to many community projects that they refer the young people on to and set up monthly meetings with these organisations to speak about how they are getting on and how well the young people are getting on on those programmes. They also ask the young people themselves how the programmes are working for them and if they feel they are benefiting from it.

They way this organisation operates appears to be very successful as they are very supportive to first time offenders. They involve every one in that young persons life from parents to school teachers to support them and enroll them in programmes based on the needs of that young person. The aim of this is to try and support them as much as possible at the earliest stage to try and break the cycle of re offending and so far this has been a great success. They also link in with agencies that support the families of these young people especially siblings so that they do not follow in they brother or sisters footsteps.

I found this day to be a very interesting and informative and I very much enjoyed meeting everyone involved and have been invited back next week to attend a conference on Gangs and how they are managed in Miami which will be very interested and something that i am very much looking forward too.