INDIANAPOLIS — A new program has been launched in Marion County to keep kids from heading down the wrong path. It's called The Second Chance Program and gives young people who get into trouble with the law the opportunity to start over.
Indianapolis resident Kenneth Billings is familiar with programs designed to keep youth on the right track. He is 22 years old and always on the go. He stays busy earning tips as a delivery driver for DoorDash.
But Kenneth has a heart for helping young people stay out of trouble, just like someone did for him at a very young age.
Billings credits his mentor for where he is today.
"Davenport, it's just another older man that I look up to. He really helped me a lot in life," he said.
He is talking about Erik Davenport, who recruited him a few years ago to be part of his Pivot Program at the Boys & Girls Club. Now, Kenneth works as one of the mentors in the program.
"It does keep me out of trouble, so I can't lie," said Billings, "but I am not really a troubled kid."
Thursday morning at the Boys & Girls Club on East 30th Street, Davenport joined Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears and Boys & Girls Clubs CEO Maggie Lewis to announce they've teamed up to now refer juveniles who are in trouble to the Second Chance Program.
The partnership will pay for a one-year standard membership fee at the Boys & Girls Clubs for juveniles after they have made a low-level, non-violent offense. Referrals will be accepted right away.
Juveniles will be provided with a referral letter notifying them that they are being given a second chance to avoid the criminal justice system prior to a delinquency filing if they take advantage of the program. Eligibility will be determined on a case-by-case review.
"The Boys & Girls Club is really about the kids. When you get out at 18, we still need help sometimes, a lot of us don't have fathers, a lot of us don't have parents, so what are you supposed to do?" Billings said.
Thanks to a new partnership with kids in mind, every Boys & Girls Club in Indy will have the Second Chance Program. That means Billings can be an example for troubled young people when he's not on the go for DoorDash.
For more information on the Boys & Girls Clubs of Indianapolis, click here.