Drugs, gangs, schools, parents, girls, peer pressure and bullying are the typical subjects discussed with young men at mentoring workshops of the San Quentin SQUIRES.
San Quentin Utilization of Inmate Resources Experiences and Studies (SQUIRES) is a program where inmates come face-to-face with at-risk youth in a dialogue to resolve life challenges that the youngsters may be facing.
SQUIRES mentors work with youngsters who are referred from organizations such as the Los Angeles Police Department, the Omega Boys Club, Rotary Clubs, the San Francisco Public Defenders Office, T&T House of Champions and the Terrance Kelly Youth Foundation.
Presenting a “day in prison” for kids skirting trouble, the prison program started in the 1960s as a way to show kids what can happen to wrongdoers when they endanger and harm society.
SQUIRES mentors meet the kids early on a Saturday morning and guide them through a day of discussion, deliberation and visual impact about the fate of troublemakers. Working in groups of eight or 10, the youngsters form a circle group session for counseling with the SQUIRES mentors.
In Receiving and Release, the youth are given a verbal orientation on the intake process, which for actual inmates would include an unclothed body search, in addition to a number of other steps.
They get a bag lunch with a bologna or peanut butter sandwich before going on a tour of the prison, including a talk at the Condemned Row entrance door. By the end of the tour, which includes lockup in a cell, most of the kids say they do not want to end up living here.
Not too long ago, the Terrance Kelly Youth Foundation brought kids into the SQUIRES program. The foundation formed nine years ago following the shooting death of its namesake, Terrance Kelly. To deal with his grief, Landrin Kelly, Terrance’s father, formed the foundation with the purpose of encouraging young people to make better choices.
Landrin Kelly and his wife, Mary, run the foundation. Mary said the program started as an after-school activity program. The foundation offers homework assistance programs, violence prevention programs, a computer lab and a creative art class.
“We also have a culinary program so we can teach them to make a quick meal for themselves,” Mary said.
Offering life skills, including a high achievers program, the foundation aims to help young men and women have a safe future by staying out of violent situations. We want them to be “more conscious of life and the consequences of their decisions,” said Mary.
Hector Garcia, a group leader at the foundation, says he really loves working with the young men and women. It’s “just a God-given gift, being able to work with the community in this way,” said Garcia. He added that everyone could benefit from this experience.
Recently the University of California at Berkeley football squad came to SQUIRES for a truth-or-consequences session.
“One of the guys I talked to had a clean record until he was 17 years old. He made a bad decision one night, and he’s been here for 25 years,” said Cal quarterback Jared Goff. “It shows how blessed we are to have the lives we have.”
Another sponsor, the Novato Rotary Club, regularly sends kids to the SQUIRES program. Larry Levy, a long-time Rotarian, has been escorting young men to the SQUIRES program for many years. Levy said that one of his objectives is to create a SQUIRES program at other California prisons so that youth counselors, social workers and parents throughout the state can access the prison experience as an additional tool.
Terry Pace of the T&T House of Champions in Oakland operates a group home focusing on safety, structure, life skills and love.
“The kids come to San Quentin with a hard shell and the SQUIRES mentors get them to open up,” she said. Pace says the men start a “process of feeling.” For some of the youngsters, it’s the first time.
Jack Jacqua of the Omega Boys Club is a well-known staple of the SQUIRES mentoring meetings. Jacqua has been working with troubled youngsters in the San Francisco area for more than 30 years. He works with the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office and the court system to provide a safe and stable program for youngsters who need mentoring.
Jacqua said that the San Quentin inmate mentors are better counselors than the ones in the free world. He said it’s great to see how the youngsters open up when talking with the SQUIRES mentors. He points to the need to talk about feelings and says, “If the prisoners can talk about their feelings, then why wouldn’t the kids.”
