With the closure of the Navajo County Juvenile Detention Center last year, options for juvenile offenders have been under consideration. Last week Navajo County Chief Probation Officer Jason Cash shared with the Board of Supervisors a new program for at-risk youth.
The HUB (Hope, Unity, Belief) Center for Success, located in Holbrook at the Navajo County Accommodation District facility on West Carlos Avenue is the result of combined efforts of the Navajo County Juvenile Probation Department and the Navajo County Accommodation District, which teamed up to help at-risk youth avoid jail by helping them learn life skills and earn missed credits through a day school program at the center.
Cash explained, “The goal of the program is engage the youth in pro-social activities and with people who can help them find their passion and discover and build on their strengths.”
The program includes a full high school education with credit recovery as well as four classrooms for life skills, cooking, budgeting and laundry; an art room with art classes and photography; a music room with numerous instruments and a sound studio; and a library with a computer lab and reading area.
Cash believes that this program will serve as an important alternative to detention as it will hopefully help young people countywide to avoid being incarcerated. “The more someone is incarcerated, the harder it is to rehabilitate them.” Either a judge or probation officer can order a young person to attend the school, where they are given a safe place to learn and develop important life skills.
