CALDWELL, Idaho (CBS 2). — There are cells and security cameras, but the moment you are here, staff say you'll notice something more going on.
"The culture here is that there is always hope for the kids," said Craig Olsen, the field training officer and garden coordinator.
Hope. Hope for the kids inside the cells. And hope for a better community. Director of the Southwest Idaho Juvenile Detention Center, Steve Jett, says he can't save every child that comes here.
But that doesn't stop him from trying.
"A lot of times when kids come to detention, they are hitting rock bottom. and they reach the point that they are ready to change," said Jett. "So this is an ideal place to start teaching them to changer, to start teaching them a better way to do things."
Jett says young people sleep in these cells, but that's about it.
"Locking a kid up, throwing away the key, and not letting them out of the room doesn't work," he said.
The average stay at the center is 15 days. Jett says he would rather use those hours to prepare kids for the outside, instead of punishing them on the inside.
"Mr. Jett is very kid oriented," said Olsen. "He's always looking for new things to have the kids experience...if you have an interest and you want to teach the kids, he's all for it."
Olsen has worked at the center for 15 years. He says he's seen it all with these experiences Jett has brought to the Center: horseback riding, gold panning, yoga and Olsen's personal project, the garden.
These programs give back too. Last year, kids working in the garden donated more than 2600 pounds of produce to local charities.
"They are very bright kids," said Olsen. "They just use their skills for the wrong part of society," he said. "They are all smart. They are all innovative. They are all risk takers, and now if we can guide them to use those skils, they would make great entrepreneurs."
Jett said recognizing this potential kids, can change their lives. He says it's a value his staff really has embraced too.
Jett said when one student was going to be transported to bus via Texas, the staff, filled his backpack full of snacks and money to make sure he got there safely.
Irma Avila, a juvenile detention officer says she's read thank you notes from kids being released, thanking the staff for their help and advice.
"It's a really positive environment here," she said.
Jett said his favorite time with the kids is speaking to them and playing trivia. And little moments like this can make a big difference.
"Too many times we see the same kids coming back over and over, and sometimes it's like our failures slapping us in our face all the time," said Jett. "But when a kid runs up to me in the Portland Airport, remembers my name and runs over to talk to me, that makes it worthwhile. When we get birth announcements, wedding announcements from kids who have been here, that kind of thing makes it worthwhile."
Kids. It's the word Jett always uses. Not juveniles, not criminals: kids. He says that's exactly what they are.
"These kids are your neighbors, they may be your relatives. They are all getting out," said Jett. "No body in the juvenile justice system is sentenced to life or death. they are all getting out."
And that they are made for more, than a life of crime.
"They are human too and everyone makes mistakes," said Avila.
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