Nonprofit Looks to Steer Rikers Inmates Towards a Better Life

At New York City’s infamous Rikers Island prison, young inmates attend an alternative high school called Island Academy. New York is one of only two states that considers those who are 16-years-old to be adults, and the prison is obligated to provide educational programming for these teens jailed there. Friends of Island Academy is a nonprofit organization that looks to get to young offenders before the streets get them. The group focuses on job placement, education and mental health intervention. A statistic says half of young adults who are imprisoned will likely go back to jail. Former inmates like Daryl Baugh, who was released on bail and now takes care of his young son, looks to be an exception. “Growing up, knowing that a lot of guys don’t take care of responsibilities as fathers and being in a child’s life… Just makes me every day want to wake up and not be a statistic,” Baugh said. Lester Holt reports.