The Kid CAT Juvenile Lifer Support Group (JLSG) at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center began in 2013. The program was created from Michael Tyler’s vision of providing safe space for juvenile offenders to share their life stories without the fear of being judged, or having their vulnerability used against them in a negative fashion. JLSG was created to provide support for youth offenders, including giving positive guidance for others to foster growth and create awareness.
A central focus of JLSG is to teach youth offenders how to be responsible adults who can have healthy relationships regardless of their backstories.
Kid CAT group facilitators, alongside outside volunteers, hold workshops at least three times a month to educate youth offenders about the pitfalls they all faced in life and the ways they are able to pull themselves out the those pitfalls. Topics discussed and covered in class curriculum include masculinity, causative factors, relationships, emotional intelligence, relapse prevention, victim impact, criminal thinking, leadership, triggers, personality traits, remorse, responsibility, and amends.
The JLSPG curriculum is a 52-week program consisting of twelve modules. Each module requires two weeks to complete. These modules are designed to help youth offenders recognize the effects of their childhood traumas, gain insight into what lead them to commit their crimes, bring awareness and shed light on the impact of their crimes, and help them develop coping skills to address their triggers.
JLSG’s curriculum serves a dual purpose. As these youth offenders learn about themselves, they will effectively be preparing themselves to be found suitable for release when they appear before the Board of Parole Hearings.
These modules may have been created for youth offenders, but they are also tools that can be applied to everybody one way or another. The curriculum begins by helping participants create their own timelines.
A timeline is an written assignment and exercise a person does by identifying traumatic events or experiences that happened to them at specific points in their developmental stages, starting from childhood.
The goal is to isolate these traumatic events and dissect them in order to learn what each person had felt, thought, believed at that time in their lives, and discover what types of behaviors developed as a direct result of the harmful incidents.
The logic behind these modules is that in order for a person to correct their behavior, they must first understand what caused these maladaptive behaviors to emerge.
Youth offenders interested in JLSG must submit a 22 form to Mikko Valdez, Kid CAT Sponsor.
Kid CAT (Creating Awareness Together) is a group of men who committed their crimes in their teens and were sentenced as adults to life terms. The group’s mission is to inspire humanity through education, mentorship, and restorative practices. Kid CAT Speaks wants to hear from all the juvenile lifers, educators, and policymakers concerning juvenile justice issues and rehabilitation.
Contact us at San Quentin News, Attn: Kid CAT Speaks, 1 Main Street, San Quentin, CA 94964
