PAINESVILLE, Ohio — Lake County Juvenile Court has launched a new financial literacy program aimed at reducing reoffending among young people who have appeared before the court.
Lake County Juvenile Court Judge Mike DeLeone said his court is seeing young offenders accused of a wide range of crimes.
"Drug use to murder," he explained.
Since he took the bench three years ago, he has had a goal.
"Make sure they come out a little better off than when they started," DeLeone said.
To work toward that goal, the court offers a number of programs aimed at putting juvenile offenders on the right path, including therapy programs and educational programs in the detention center. The latest addition is a financial literacy program, which was the idea of Lake County Treasurer Mike Zuren. He said it is financial literacy but also life lessons.
"We went over budgeting, we went over spending habits, responsibility with finances, when they get their first job, staying out of debt," said Zuren.
DeLeone made the class part of the court's educational requirements. He believes the financial literacy class will add up to success.
"The goal of the program is so kids don't commit more delinquencies, that they find something else, that they go down a better path in life and financial literacy is a key part of that," he said.
Fourteen juvenile offenders went through the first financial literacy class.
Zuren said the program is designed to give students the tools they need to move forward.
"The ones in the juvenile detention center already had some stress in their life that have brought them here; these tools will hopefully help them be successful in their future," Zuren said.
The next class is set for September.
