Community Corrections highlights nine‑week handgun intervention for youth, reports early positive outcomes

At its July 28 meeting, the Community Corrections Advisory Board heard a presentation on juvenile services that emphasized a nine‑week, court‑ordered handgun intervention program and two parent‑education courses designed to reduce repeat juvenile involvement in the justice system. Rebecca Humphrey, youth services lead, reported early positive results and described program components and partnerships.

The handgun intervention program is a nine‑week session that meets Mondays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Humphrey told the board. "Seventy‑nine percent have not committed a new offense," she said, adding that program participants are tracked until their 18th birthday. She said the program targets youths found in possession of handguns or making gun threats — not youths prosecuted for discharging weapons, who are routed to residential or Department of Corrections placements.

The nut graf: Board members heard that the program mixes education, family engagement…