(horn music)
>> Meet the kids next door
(doors slam)
who are now behind bars.
>> I assaulted someone with a knife.
>> Baby-faced kids with adult-sized wrap sheets.
Call it brat camp in the extreme, except this
one's got separation cells and kids
under constant surveillance.
For the first time, cameras have been let in.
Tonight, you'll see a private world
of sexuality.
>> That's the thing here, I'm gay for the stay.
That' the motto here.
>> Was your pregnancy kind of off limits, now?
>> No.
>> Change.
Who loves you?
>> I don't know.
>> Do you love you?
>> No.
>> And a secret so painful
she can barely say it out loud.
>> I'm not going to tell you, so might as well
just give up on trying to guess.
>> But in the strangest of places,
you'll also see hope.
>> I want to make something of myself.
>> Tonight, an update.
Where they are now.
The Lost Children Behind Bars.
And now, Chris Cuomo.
>> Welcome.
Tonight, I'm outside New York's notorious Rikers Island Jail
and these foreboding signs say it all.
This is the kind of place the kids you are about to meet
could wind up, that is, if their juvenile corrections
experience doesn't set them straight.
Cameras are rarely allows inside
the facilities you'll visit.
Now they may be called schools, but they share a lot
in common with adult prisons.
And yet, these places in Arizona you're about to enter
may be the last and best chance for kids there.
So come and meet some kids who look like
they could be growing up on your street,
or even in your house.
How did they end up behind barbed wire?
For some, the corrections experience
could be a new beginning.
For others, it could be the beginning of the end.
(woman mutters)
>> Pull them up.
Pull them up!
>> I'm Zar.
13, was charged in a drive-by shooting.
>> Where's your canteen?
>> They did not give it to me.
>> Why? >> I don't know.
My name is Ashley, I'm 16.
I was charged with disorderly conduct.
>> My name is Jesse, age 17.
Committed offense, manslaughter, felony two.
>> My name is Jerilyn, I'm 17 and I am here for,
wait.
>> I'll close the door.
Oh, okay.
>> These kids start out like any child,
bright, loving, wanting to please.
But somewhere along the line, something goes wrong.
But as you'll see, there's more to them
than meets the eye.
100,000 kids like this are currently locked up
somewhere in the United States.
>> You're not going to (mutters), are you?
>> No.
>> All in their teens, many nearing 18.
For these kids, this is the last stop and their last chance.
Welcome to Arizona's Department of Juvenile Corrections.
The bleak surroundings say it all.
The routine is like any jail.
Background checks, metal detectors,
tension in the air.
>> If you can't handle it, you will be (mutters).
>> That's why I told you guys.
>> 300 boys at the Adobe Mountain School,
80 girls across the yard at the Black Canyon School
and just as many stories.
Primetime spent nearly 6 months following several kids
as they wound their way in and out
of what are called Arizona's safe schools.
High security to keep the kids safe inside
and also, to keep them from getting out.
Even though there is razor wire, pat downs, and cell doors,
there is opportunity here, even hope.
>> Good morning, classroom.
>> Good morning, Jeff.
>> The average stay here is 6 months.
Staff struggle daily with the question of whether a kid
can be fixed.
Kids who do bad things, often for reasons that are tough
to understand.
Kids like Conrad.
(upbeat music)
>> What's that, don't like the way I work?
Because I'm really hyper?
>> My name is Connor.
I'm 16.
I was found with possession of paraphernalia.
>> The average kid in here has been arrested
eight times and Conrad is no exception.
On the surface, he looks like a cute kid,
like Opie from Mayberry, but he isn't.
What's the worst thing you've ever done?
>> Oh, I assaulted someone with a knife.
He made me mad, so I hurt him.
>> Conrad came here just under 70 pounds,
and the boy's wrap sheet is taller than he is.
He's been banned from all the mainstream schools
in the state of Arizona because of numerous fights,
thefts, weapon's charges, drugs, and alcohol.
What the record leaves out, though, is the most important
question with all the kids here, why?
>> I got hooked on drugs, doing drugs with my mom.
I came back out here and they just tore my life up.
I grew up being abused physically and emotionally
and mentally abused by my mom.
And now, ever since I came out to Arizona, I've been
a very angry, angry kid.
>> Many kids make claims, but state records
show Conrad's mother plead no contest to child cruelty
and Conrad was taken into state custody
for stints when just a child.
Conrad says he wants to change, but feels he can't.
And as you'll see later, there may be a reason for that.
>> I'm a good person, I just make bad choices.
>> Stand by your doors please, ladies.
>> This is a state facility for girls
in the state of Arizona.
>> The girls are housed across campus.
According to Suzanne LaRoux, their superintendent,
they present unique challenges.
>> Our girls here, they're survivors,
just a lot of, you know,
family abuse, incest, molestation,
drug abuse, parents are not available to them.
Parents are locked up themselves.
These are children.
>> For what?
I'm not eating (mutters).
>> You're going to practice.
>> Ashley is the face of an angry child.
Her fury greets all who come near,
but in reality, Ashley's anger is the flip side of pain.
(loud knocking)
On this morning, Ashley cuts her head on her bunk
waking up, but she fights any medical treatment.
>> You may need a little stitches in there.
>> I am not getting stitches. >> All right.
>> Hell no!
>> You seem very angry.
>> Yeah.
>> So what's it like inside there, dealing
with all the anger?
>> I'm like a time bomb.
>> Like many here, it almost seems as if
Ashley were born into pain.
96% of the kids have substance abuse problems.
60% have criminal histories in their family.
Both are true for this teen.
>> My dad was smoking meth and smoking weed
and he'd just leave it laying around
and it was there, and I was like, "Screw it,
"I'm going to get high."
>> Still worse, Ashley claims she was molested.
She won't say by whom, but she says this drove her
delinquency, fighting and skipping school.
How often were you getting in trouble
at your peak of performance?
>> Every day.
I'd steal or I'd fight.
I'd have the cops called on my every day.
>> Ashley is filled with intense self-hate.
She's being treated with a mix of therapy
and antidepressants.
Throughout her life, she's tried to kill herself
seven times.
>> A lot of the times, I did it because I wanted to die,
but I did it sometimes
just because I wanted to see how far I could go
before I actually sent myself to the hospital.
>> She's playing a dangerous game
to get the attention of her mother,
the person who she said has hurt her the most
and yet, whose love she most craves.
There are daily group sessions like this here,
allowing kids to open up and see they're not alone
as victims.
>> Being here, it gives me someone to talk to,
like councilors, psyches,
and if I was on the outs, I wouldn't have that.
>> Ashley has taken to writing pain away,
especially in letters to mom.
>> I told her that I hated her
and I could care less
what happened to her,
and she's not my mother, she's just the person
that gave birth to me.
>> Who loves you?
>> I don't know.
So many people in my family have told me
that they hate me and they don't want me around them.
It's just, even when they do tell me they love me,
I find it hard to believe, so.
>> Do you love you?
>> No.
(tense music)
>> Up next,
a trip to the most dangerous unit
in juvenile jail.
>> I can see why you'd be anxious to get out of this place.
(Jesse laughs)
No offense.
>> Our guide, the teenage killer
in the cell nextdoor and his chilling story
(gun fires)
of how he got there
when The Lost Children Behind Bars returns.
Primetime returns.
Once again, Chris Cuomo.
(electric guitar music)
>> Arizona Juvenile Correction system is set up
to be part prison, part school.
>> Good morning, sir!
>> You want to be powerful, no physical contact.
>> You could be here for two years,
you could be here
for three months, it's on you.
>> It's a pretty place during the day,
but pretty formidable at night.
(electric guitar music)
A feeling that comes quickly when you're on the inside.
>> I'll show you where you're going to stay tonight.
>> My home with the boys is Crossroads,
the unit for violent offenders.
Next to the cell I'll experience is 17-year-old Jesse.
>> You got two blankets, two sheets,
your state shirt, state shorts, state pants, state socks.
>> I can see why you'd be anxious to get out of this place.
(Jesse laughs) >> No offense,
Mr. Superintendent.
Many here regard Jesse as the school's real success story.
>> This is when the governor came.
I was the president of the student council at the time.
This is some of my members.
(siren wails)
>> But Jesse has also been here the longest.
Since he was 15 with a horrific act in his past.
What was the scariest moment for you?
>> The night I shot Alexis.
(man speaks)
>> Jesse's older brother was hosting a party
and Jesse's buddy, 19-year-old Alexis Acosta was there.
For some reason, Jesse says he wanted to impress Alexis,
so he went to his brother's closet.
>> I just turned, cocked it, and fired.
>> Jesse said he grabbed what he thought
was an unloaded shotgun.
(gun fires)
>> I expected to hear a click and then show it off
as a cool little thing,
but it was,
it was loaded.
>> Were you in complete control of your faculties?
>> Yes, I was.
I wasn't drunk or anything.
They gave me a Breathalyzer test onsite.
(man speaks)
>> Jesse swears it was all a terrible mistake
and the judge agreed.
That's why he wasn't tried as an adult for murder.
>> There is no bringing Alexis back.
He has been added to my motivation to become
a greater person so I can look up one day
and say, "Alexis, this is for you.
"I did this for you."
(percussive music)
>> He spent some time, shot hoops
before lights out,
and activity that allows kids supervised play
to see if they're learning to get along.
Then we joked about my old-school skills.
Last second, I pulled it back,
acquiring even more athleticism.
>> Very true.
>> It's interesting to meet a kid who has killed someone
while at the same time,
seems like the ideal son.
So the boys here in Crossroads Unit,
(boys sing)
which is the violent offenders welcome me
by making noise here after lights out.
It's 5:45 a.m.
I had a miserable night, thanks to my cement bed
and constant bed checks by flashlight happy guards
who say a kid can kill himself in just minutes.
A lesson they learned the hard way.
Just two years ago, three kids committed suicide
right here in the space of several months.
Federal investigators found widespread sexual
and physical abuse throughout both the boys
and girls schools, so in Arizona, there are new people
in charge and a new mandate,
treat these kids like kids, not hardened criminals.
>> Do you believe that corrections with respect
to juveniles is where you want it to be?
>> No, but we're on the right track.
>> Last year, Arizona's governor
cleaned house and appointed 30-year veteran
Mike Brannon to oversee a massive overhaul
of the state's juvenile corrections system.
>> We make sure that the kids can't hurt themselves
and hurt other people while we figure out
how to reach inside and help that child deal with
whatever it is that's his or hers issues.
We can and do make a difference in the kids who can
and will change.
>> Maybe the biggest difference between a prison
and one of these schools deals with what happens in here.
In jail, this would be called the cell
and you'd spend between 20 and 23 hours a day in here
being punished, confined.
This place works on the opposite idea.
It is all about incarceration without confinement.
>> Tell me this, why would I pick desert regions
for us to paint?
>> Because we live in the desert?
>> Amen, bro.
Okay, good job.
>> One of the unique ways this schools
reaches these kids is its teaching methods.
>> All right, I just want to talk about elevation
and latitude.
>> For teenage boys, math is taught using cards.
>> So it's one whole!
>> Most of these kids have grown up
being embarrassed by learning disabilities
and poor performance at school.
>> There you go.
>> This guy's a good teacher.
>> So with kids like Conrad, education
is all about confidence.
>> The staff, they don't treat me like I'm crap.
>> My name's Casey.
I'm 16 years old.
My charges were possession of mariajuana,
paraphernalia and aggravated assault
and violation of probation.
That's all.
>> Over at the girl's facility,
16-year-old Casey is preparing for a very different
type of education.
She is seven months pregnant when we meet,
a child about to have a child.
Behind the smile and the belly,
a thief who looked for trouble.
>> Everybody thought I was so innocent and sweet.
"Oh, look at her.
"She's so cute."
And I just look at them like, "Yeah, you better
watch your stuff, you know?"
>> Casey's record show abuse by her convict father
and years in protective custody.
And although the father of her baby
is a teenager too, somehow Casey sees this
as a chance for a new beginning.
>> If I wasn't pregnant, I would be fighting.
I wouldn't care.
I would not care,
but now I actually care and I need to do
what I need to do, and I'm going to get out
and I'm going to be a good mom.
>> But until she gets out, Casey will have to deal
with life on the inside, which can be stressful
in more ways than one.
>> Up next, the rules of attraction.
>> Please be appropriate in there.
>> When kids are desperate for any kind
of love and affection.
>> And they bet their snacks.
"Oh, I'll turn her gay, I'll turn her gay,"
and it's a game to them.
>> When the Lost Children Behind Bars returns.
We continue with the Lost Children Behind Bars.
Now, Christ Cuomo.
>> Come on, ladies.
You guys should be up and ready.
>> Come on Flora, Ashley, let's go!
>> Juvenile correction isn't just about
controlling violence.
>> Take it out quietly. >> No talking.
>> It's also about controlling emotions.
A third of the kids here suffer from mental
or emotional problems.
Sometimes, they can be treated with medicine,
sometimes therapy.
And for the girls who are victims of abuse,
sometimes they find ways to help each other.
In the girls' facility, there are 80 teens locked together
without any boys.
It's a combustible mixture fraught with peril
and sometimes, passion.
>> A lot of the females in here are gay.
>> They'll have a different girlfriend every week,
every other day.
>> And that's something that you think they only do
because they're here?
>> Yeah.
That's the thing here, "I'm gay for the stay."
>> This behavior is part of life in adult prison,
but it seems different in the juvenile world.
Staff at the boy's facility say it's not an issue
and no boys said otherwise.
But with the girls at this Arizona facility
and elsewhere, part of the culture is what they call
girlfriend drama.
Girlfriend drama?
>> Yes.
A lot of girls get jealous of other girls
and they want to start a fight.
>> They'll make comments when you walk by like,
"Damn, look at that ass."
>> Officially, it is forbidden.
>> Please be appropriate in there, okay?
I don't want any problems.
No physical contact.
>> But councilor James Abercrombie
admits the behavior is a common manifestation
of emotional neediness.
>> It's about half of the girls that are in here.
What I see that is
is people that have
a distorted view of what a relationship is.
>> For some of them, finding a girlfriend
is creating a kind of substitute family.
>> The physical, sometimes it makes them feel loved.
>> None of the girls we spoke to
said they were part of this subculture,
but all acknowledged its presence and potential pitfalls.
Well, you're pregnant,
so are you kind of off limits now?
>> No, doesn't matter if you're pregnant,
doesn't matter anything.
They're going to try to get you.
They will try, and try, and try
until the day you leave.
(acoustic guitar music)
>> On this night, I stay in the girl's facility.
It's now bedtime.
All the girls have quieted down.
There was this long ritual of people saying,
"Goodnight, I love you, goodnight, goodnight."
They're locked in and monitored constantly
throughout the night.
Privacy is not an option in this fragile environment.
(electric guitar music)
Back in the boy's section, Conrad is bouncing off the walls.
He simply cannot control his emotions.
He was finally diagnosed with bipolar
and Attention Deficit Disorders,
and then there was a new form of treatment.
>> It's a mood stabilizer that they have me on.
>> The staff has identified an expensive drug
called Trileptal that shows signs of helping.
His family says Conrad finally seems under control.
>> We had a good visit.
He was real,
I don't know how to say it.
>> Nice, gentle.
>> Gentle, yeah.
He's calmed down a whole lot.
The medicine makes a big difference for him.
>> This is home for Conrad,
where he'll return when he gets out.
That's his step-mom.
Remember, Conrad had major problems with his birth mother.
Still, even with a more stable home life,
when Conrad was released previously,
his parents couldn't afford to keep up his prescription
and insurance wouldn't pay.
Conrad quickly spun out of control,
ending up back in his cell for the third time.
>> With his medication, I think he can survive in a normal
lifestyle, but honestly,
without it, I don't think he can.
>> We have some kids still in separation.
>> For Conrad and other kids who often
cannot control themselves, violence is bound to occur,
and when it does, the result is separation.
The closest thing here to solitary confinement.
>> So with separation, they're going to be here
because all other interventions haven't worked.
You went after him because you were angry.
Nerite Freelander runs the unit.
It's the last resort when these volatile kids
are a danger to others or even themselves.
>> They will do anything they can to self-injurious behavior.
>> To prevent suicide, the rooms contain
just a bed and a toilet and kids are often stripped
of their clothes.
>> He takes his clothes and rips them off
and sometimes, he tried to hang himself on the door hinges,
so the psychologist ordered for his clothes
to be removed from there.
>> So you sit here and you watch the kid on the monitor?
>> We watch kids on the monitor.
We also watch the kids in the hallways
because it takes two to five minutes for a youth
to actually hang themselves.
Wasn't it the staff that you pushed too?
>> But separation isn't about isolation
or punishment.
Boys and girls are sent there for psychological evaluation
and to do conflict resolution,
to teach them how not to be violent.
>> We're trying to teach them the skills
to remove themselves instead of going and punching
Frankie in the face, what could you have done differently?
Because if you don't teach them the skill,
they're not going to have it when they get out
on the outside.
(acoustic guitar music)
>> When you got put in three years ago,
when it all began, who was that person?
>> Very annoying, rowdy girl.
I would never listen
to staff, I was always getting in trouble somehow.
>> Jerilyn, whose sweetness hides
a chilling secret has visited separation six times
for fighting in her facility,
but non in the past year.
>> I'm tired of getting in trouble.
It's time for a change,
it's time to move on.
>> She has an extensive record of offenses,
including trespass, disorderly conduct,
smoking pot, and habitual truancy.
But now, after a three-year sentence,
she's just four days until freedom.
>> This is your favorite place here, right?
>> Yeah, it's like my sanctuary.
I don't know, just being outside in nature
and taking care of something that grows
and I just love it.
>> Yesterday, you said that you kind of saw
yourself going through a transformation like a plant
since you've been here.
>> I was a seed and now I'm a flower.
>> But Jerilyn was sent here
for more than just mischief.
There is something else, something she has hidden
from all the other girls.
So when the girls say, "Why are you here?"
What do you say?
>> I'm not going to tell you, so might as well
just give up on trying to guess.
>> What is Jerilyn's big secret
when Primetime continues.
>> When Primetime returns.
A young girl finally tells our cameras
her shocking secret, the one she's kept hidden
from the other inmates for the past three years.
>> I'm here for.
Wait.
(acoustic guitar music)
>> Primetime continues after this
from our ABC stations.
The Lost Children Behind Bars continues.
>> When these kids leave Arizona's
Department of Corrections, they may leave behind
bars, bells, and locks,
but they face invisible obstacles on the outside.
Troubled families, old friends, and often,
profoundly painful memories.
>> For me, it's been a big chance.
Like, it changed my life completely around.
I did a whole 360.
>> After three years of intensive therapy
and life on the inside, Jerilyn is moving on.
She's just had her final meeting with the superintendent
review board.
>> I always had the look,
like the fear in the back of my head saying
I'm not leaving.
But I've come this far
and at my board, they had nothing but nice things to say.
And it's like, whoa.
>> Her sentence was longer than most
and for good reason.
Though she's been through so much,
she's still so young.
>> I don't want to grow up,
I don't want to become an adult.
I want to be home.
I kind of missed out three years of my teenage life
being locked up,
and that sucks.
(tense music)
>> Jerilyn was just six years old
when she was molested by her mother's boyfriend.
>> I got involved with some guy that I thought I knew,
but he molested her.
>> How long had it been going on?
>> It was a short time.
It was
about a month.
>> Imagine a month of molestation.
The damage was profound.
Young Jerilyn lost her innocence
and when still just a child, began a cycle
of petty crime, substance abuse, and truancy.
>> Started doing drugs, meeting different people,
doing alcohol, staying up late, not coming home.
(man mutters)
>> But then, Jerilyn's behavior turned darker.
At just 13, she committed an almost unthinkable act.
>> I heard the kids in the backroom playing.
Then, all the sudden a door shut.
I opened the door and there they was, laying in the corner.
>> I'm Jerilyn, I'm 17 and I'm here for child molestation.
I had a sexual encounter with my 6-year-old nephew
at the time.
>> Jerilyn may never fully understand
why she did what she did.
After years of therapy, she merely seems to parrot
the professionals.
>> I was only thinking about myself
and my wants and needs and desires.
I was just focused on hurting them
and to hurt myself, too.
Five pills.
>> Okay. >> I need six.
>> I thought I had it for you right here.
>> Like most of these kids,
Jerilyn will need medication and therapy
for years to come.
She will be returning to a hard life
in a cramped trailer with her mother, Sherylin.
>> I don't want to wreck the closet.
Don't worry.
They want us to have twin beds, but I don't have
the money to buy twin beds, and it's big enough for two.
I miss her so much.
We just hug each other and we fall asleep.
>> Sherylin has a severe heart problem
that makes keeping house and working near impossible.
She's counting on Jerilyn to find a job
and help pay the $435 a month rent.
A lot of pressure for a young girl
still trying to figure herself out.
Ashley too is only days away from her chance to go home.
Ashley has softened in just the short time
she's been here.
Now she's eager to discuss her emotions
and share letters and poems she's addressed to others
but written for herself.
>> When you go back and read what you have written,
what is that like for you?
>> It's hard because it brings back memories
I don't really want to be brought back up.
>> Give it a go.
Let's see what you got.
Words written to the father who abandoned her.
>> "You were someone who was supposed to be there
"and supposed to care.
"Instead, you walked out of my life
"and never looked back.
"You tried to make contact, but now I'm the one
"who turns away.
"I'm the one who has walked out
"and I can honestly say I'll never come back in your life."
>> You going to send him that?
>> I don't have his address
and I don't talk to him, so I don't know.
>> Do you think that you're bad
or do you think that you're hurting?
>> I don't feel that I'm bad,
but I know that what I do is wrong
and most of the time, I do it because I'm hurting.
>> Paint a picture for me of,
what would be the dream end to this?
>> To get out and not have to lead back.
>> From dream to reality,
her superintendent review board, where Ashley
makes her case for freedom.
>> Before, I didn't really care
about what happened to me, but now,
being away from my family, I know that they care about me
and they want me to just be successful.
>> Do you want to be successful?
>> Yeah.
>> For who?
>> For me.
>> For you.
>> But will she be able to succeed if she
goes back to a toxic home life?
Her only buffer will be the love of her grandparents,
who have become her legal guardians.
Grandpa is there by her side.
Grandma's on the phone, offering support.
>> [Ashley's Grandma] Ashley can do it.
She's just got to have the right kind of guidance
and somebody to show her what's right
and what's wrong and what's expected of her.
>> For Ashley, the challenge will be with her mother,
who lives just blocks from her grandparents.
Ashley feels that her mother has repeatedly
put the men in her life before her children
and says her neglect has fueled much of her pain and rage.
>> Tell her she don't have to come because I don't
want her there.
>> She has a number of issues surrounding mom
and neglect, abandonment issues.
Any child, when that connection to the natural mother
isn't strong, there's some percussions.
>> Still, Ashley has made a persuasive case
and a decision is rendered.
>> Well, I think you've done a lot of changing,
a lot of growing,
and I wish you a lot of success in the community
and we're going to release you.
(acoustic guitar music)
I'm going to conditionally release.
You're going to be on parol and you're going
to leave Sunday.
>> I love you, grandma!
>> [Ashley's Grandmother] I love you too, babe!
Miss you.
>> Don't cry, you're going to make me cry.
>> [Ashley's Grandmother] Okay honey, well,
we'll be over there early Sunday morning to get you.
>> Bring me some clothes, please.
>> [Ashley's Grandmother] No, you're coming home
in your birthday suit.
(all laugh)
>> All right.
>> But for all the smiles,
the numbers paint a grim picture.
43% of these kids eventually wind up back here
or in an adult prison.
>> I hope I don't see Ashley back here.
There is a very good chance that Ashley will be back here.
>> It's Ashley's last night here
and she's excited to leave,
but she has no idea what she'll face when she goes home.
(door slams)
(acoustic guitar music)
>> Up next, new beginnings.
For Casey, the final push for a baby behind bars.
>> You're every little thing.
>> And for Ashley, home at last.
>> Oh, my bed!
>> But there's a call from her past
that leads to disaster.
Who's on the other end?
When the Last Children Behind Bars continues.
Primetime continues.
Once again, Chris Cuomo.
(electric guitar music)
>> Our time with these kids is about to come
to an end.
It's been quite a journey, and now we flash forward
a full year since you last saw them,
and a lot as changed.
We begin with Casey.
As you remember, she dedicated her time in corrections
preparing for this moment.
>> I'm going to be having a girl
and her name's going to be Emily Renee.
>> After eight hours of labor, Emily Renee
is born eight pounds 21 inches and healthy.
For Casey, she is the living hope
for a better future.
At first, the baby had to sleep at her grandmother's house
while mom remained locked in a cinder block cell
15 miles away.
>> That's her when she was about, oh,
a week old.
That's one of the ones that were done in jail.
I see you smiling!
>> Today, Casey and Emily Renee live together
and the teenage father is also still in the picture.
And things are changing for the better
for Casey and her new family.
She's working, completing her GED
and plans to start college in the fall.
Like before, my problem was getting high,
and she's my high now.
I'm afraid if I get high or something,
I'll be, I can't take care of her,
so that's one of the reasons why I've stayed clean
and I've done good,
and I don't know, she's everything to me now.
>> For Jesse, the star of the program,
the last three years of his life
have been all about hope.
>> 911, what is your emergency?
>> Instead of taking away from this world,
instead of hurting, I am now giving back and helping.
>> This was home for Jesse until he turned 18.
85% of releases come this way.
It's called aging out of the facility.
And it's a moment Jesse has waited for for a long time.
>> The moment I'm facing the gate and I hear the call
for the gate to open and before me,
I see a horizon without fences and I'm experiencing
freedom for the first time in such a great while
that I fall to my knees and I begin to cry
because I don't remember what it's like,
Oh, after you!
I mean, losers first.
>> But for this standout kid, reentry has gone well.
He visited me in New York City,
and this time, we were on my home court.
(upbeat music)
>> Oh yeah, I'm excited
just to be able to have
my freedom of thought
and to make my own decisions.
That's exciting.
>> You're not rushing into anything, though?
>> No!
Trust me, I got my stuff organized.
Like, if I'm not ready, like, I'm not going to have a kid
until near 30
because I want to make sure that everything is ready,
that this kid can come into my life
and have everything that the child needs.
>> Everything is going according to plan for Jesse.
He moved to Upstate New York and is living with family
and now, working at a sporting goods store.
He plans to start college in the spring,
but there is always that inevitable question.
Why were you in jail, you know?
And I'm like, "Well, when I was 14,
"I was playing around with a gun
"and I shot and killed someone I care for."
>> But you do have to get past that, right?
Because you're already much more than what you were
when you were 14
on one night, one set of decisions,
a lifetime worth of consequences.
>> I've been through the worst struggles
and I've made it, and I've come out stronger
than I was before, so I need to use that
and move on.
(electric guitar music)
>> I was put on this earth for a reason.
It wasn't to be bad, it was to do what I have to,
not go to jail.
>> But unfortunately, Conrad would wind up in jail.
First came adult jail
and then adult court to face outstanding charges
for breaking into cars.
Conrad claims he was just the lookout.
>> They shackled me, searched me,
and handcuffed me and put me in the van.
>> (mutters) versus Conrad.
>> His status as a juvenile can no longer
insulate him because he's now considered
a habitual offender.
From now on, he will face adult prison time.
>> The difference between there and here
is there, they care for you guys, trying to help you
put you back out in the community.
And here, they really don't care what happens to you.
>> He's in a man's world now,
a reality that is sinking in.
>> Because if I go to prison because of my size and stuff,
it would be easy for them to handle me
and I don't want that to happen.
>> All right sir, Mr. (mutters), your part looks like,
>> Conrad has won one more chance.
After a week-long trial, the jury found him not guilty.
(upbeat music)
He's now back home with his family,
trying to earn his GED and staying out of trouble.
(girl screams) He'll be 18 in September.
For all these kids, the key is finding the right path.
And for Jerilyn, that meant graduating from trade school.
>> I like doing stuff with my hands, not sitting at a desk
behind a computer, being bored.
>> And despite some ups and downs,
she's been complying with the rules of her parole.
>> Special recognization award for Tucson
Juvenile Parole and Resource Center,
so it's for continual success in the community
and becoming a positive role model.
Jerilyn has moved home with her mother
who's been anxiously awaiting her return.
(water splashes)
They even have a community swimming pool
to escape the Arizona heat.
A place to dream about the future.
>> I'm going to try to accomplish what I planned,
but in New York, I get a car,
get a nice education.
I want to go to college.
>> A lot of accomplish for a young woman,
especially while taking care of her sickly
unemployed mother.
Just 19 days from adulthood, Jerilyn hints
at her burden.
>> She's the mom, I'm the daughter.
I did the job of both of us
and it's just time for me to grow up
and take care of myself.
A fragile situation that soon gives way.
(phone beeps)
>> This is the police.
Can I help you?
(Jerilyn speaks)
>> 19 days later, a 2:00 a.m. phone call
to the police.
(siren wails)
>> Jerilyn? >> Yes?
>> Sherilyn was arrested for domestic violence,
seen here in court just last month.
And Jerilyn has been living with relatives
while mother and daughter work on reconciling.
>> Good morning.
>> And for Ashley, one final wake-up call.
>> I didn't sleep.
>> You're good. >> Okay!
(man laughs) >> Good luck.
>> Oh, my bed!
>> At first, things go well.
Within days, there's even a new boyfriend in the picture.
But then, an old demon resurfaces.
>> I got a call from someone
that I didn't really want to talk to.
>> Even with her new love and her new chance,
harsh words from her three-time convicted felon father,
shattering her fragile confidence.
>> He told me that he wanted nothing to do with me,
that I was worthless,
that I was a mistake.
>> The pain pushes 17-year-old Ashley
to make her eighth suicide attempt.
>> After I got off the phone with him,
went in the bathroom, got to three bottles of pills
and started taking them.
I wanted to die.
I wanted it all to end.
>> Like so many of the girls we met, Ashley
is desperate to be loved
and to give love.
She repeats the cycle of becoming a teenage parent herself.
Soon, her boyfriend is not he only man in her life.
>> I'm going to give my baby everything that my mom
couldn't give me.
>> It's not an easy dream to live out, but pregnancy
does help keep Ashley out of trouble.
Just two days before her graduation,
Ashley gave birth to seven pound, seven ounce
Joshua David, a Biblical name that suggests
a calling to overcome.
(orchestral music)
Her son's birth wound up being the perfect
graduation gift.
>> In spite of everything, she's changed her life
and was just released from the hospital, we understand,
today, and she has said that she was not going to miss
her graduation.
(audience applauds) Ashley, would you please
come up and receive your presidential scholarship?
(audience applauds)
>> Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> We're very proud of you.
>> She is off to college and off drugs.
The hope is that she and all of these kids
have their best days in front of them.
>> This has been one of the better weeks
I've had in a long time,
probably the best.
>> We'll be right back.
Like the rest of us, these kids can't control
the circumstances they were born into,
and many of them won't be able to overcome them,
but whether it was the success of the Arizona system
or just the eternal optimism of youth,
every one of these kids held a ray of hope,
all of them wanted to change.
I'm Chris Cuomo.
For all of us at Primetime, goodnight.
(men shout)
(percussive music)
>> The Emmy nominations are in.
Every ABC News program has been singled out,
honored for excellence.
No wonder morning 'till night,
24, 7, more Americans get their news from ABC News,
accurate, credible, and once again, honored.
>> [Second Announcer] The Women's British Open,
this weekend on ABC.
(horn music)