Probation Manager Transformed Contra Costa Juvenile Justice System
MARTINEZ (KPIX 5 ) - At the Contra Costa County Probation Department, the theme is rehabilitation, and it's thanks to this week's Jefferson Award winner.
James Rivers is a probation manager at the Contra Costa County Probation Department. He helped put in place in the girls residential and family therapy programs that 19-year-old Sarah Enemark says transformed her life.
"Without him, none of this would have happened for me," Enemark explained.
As a teenager, drug addiction kept her in and out of juvenile hall. Now she's clean, has her GED, and a job.
"I've changed everything since I got out," she said. "I don't even really recognize myself sometimes, like I'm a totally new person."
Over two decades, Rivers has worked as county probation counselor, officer, supervisor, and now manager. Colleagues credit him with ushering in a new era of reform that focuses on rehabilitating young people who get into trouble with the law.
"We had the same kids that would come back over and over again," he recalled. "We created our own in-house treatment program."
Enemark, for example, went to Girls in Motion, the county's first treatment program that keeps young offenders in a locked facility so they don't run away before they get the help they need.
"This place helped me to learn a little bit of discipline and respect," she said.
Rivers has led the effort to incorporate so-called "evidence-based practices," or treatments that have been tested through scientific studies.
He says that although there are no numbers, he seen that those who've gone through the rehabilitation programs are less likely to re-offend.
"They're returning to the community, they're returning to school, they're not using drugs, they're getting jobs, they're being productive," he explained.
Juvenile Hall Director Lesha Roth says thanks to Rivers, probation staff now teach young people how to problem-solve to make better decisions, like when kids want to get into a fight:
"We would teach the youth to look at the pros and cons of getting into a fight and what the long-term consequences are of making those types of decisions," she said.
It's not easy training your colleagues to use new methods, but Roth says Rivers' longtime service in probation and his people skills have earned him respect.
"He's very personable, very understanding. He listens when people are talking to him."
"We do treatment in this county," Rivers said. "And not only do treatment, but treatment with quality."
So for changing the lives of young people in Contra Costa County's juvenile justice system, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to James Rivers,