Lucas County, Ohio has developed a robust community-based "continuum of care" for juveniles who have offended with great success, and YAP is proud to be one of their partners.

“(K)ids can succeed and live safely at home ... [despite the] triggers and environmental factors that make them vulnerable to out-of-home placements,” says Shaena Fazal, national policy director in YAP’s Washington office.

“The key thing is, are you going for short-term safety, or are you going for long-term?” says Deborah Hodges, Lucas County Juvenile Court administrator. “You can send a kid away to juvenile prison for six months or a year, but guess what, he’s coming back. And if you’ve increased his criminality ... then you’ve increased the risk to the community.”

Read more about how Lucas County is keeping kids away from crime in this Christian Science Monitor cover story.

Join the Facebook chat on Tuesday at 12 p.m. EST.