BELLEVILLE, IL. (KSDK) – It's a place no one wants to live in for reasons no one wants to hear.
Hundreds of inmates roam the cells of the St. Clair County Jail. For many of them, it's a cycle that usually spins into prison time or worse.
Others see an opportunity to improve, even if it means improvement for someone they hardly know.
The St. Clair County Sheriff's Department runs one of the country's premier last-chance juvenile rehabilitation programs called "Scared Straight."
The program takes troubled youth enrolled by parents and family members on a gripping, raw three-hour odyssey through the jail. Kids acting out or in trouble get a firsthand look at what it's like to be an inmate, a route that many of them are headed down before the steel bars open up.
"This is my way of helping kids because I don't want to see kids come to jail," said Program Director Annette Tim. "Main objective is to help the kids and to see a positive change."
Tim is the administrative assistant to Sheriff Richard Watson. She established the program in 2010 after hearing horror stories from parents about unfixable bad behavior.
Since then, she says about 2,000 kids have come through the program and her mailbox is full, with dozens of requests from parents every day from some as far away as Chicago and New York.
"This program with "Scared Straight" has really taken off," Watson said. "This is life-changing. This is hopefully something they can carry on the rest of their lives. That's why this program is so special."
The program's popularity is soaring. In November, the St. Clair County Jail will be featured once again on the popular A&E Show "Beyond Scared Straight." Tim says the show producers credit metro east jail as one of the best in the country for compelling storytelling and the Sheriff's professional staff. The November show is the fourth out a record five times the producers have shot there.
But the kids aren't the only ones who benefit. Participating inmates say they don't only look forward to the program but that giving back can put them on a different path.
"I care to give back. That's why I work with Annette's program," said Inmate Darius Crump. "Its not over. That still have hope. They have choices. Depending on their choices, they can choose plan A to come in here and continue with the life that they're living or be B and make something of themselves."
"Me? I kept choosing plan A," He continued. "Now I'm 41 years old, still doing the same choices."
NewsChannel 5 followed along with several of the inmates as they brought in a new class of kids to face the reality of bad choices.
The inmates say there's nothing worse than seeing that cycle spin down to children.
"Use my life as an example, so you don't have to go through it," Crump said. "To make better choices. To pave a better future."
For more information about the program, you can contact stclairsheriff@gmail.com.
