Precious Lives

Born a few months apart, Mario Drain and his friends wound up with very different fates after committing armed robbery together in high school. His friends were 17 and sentenced as adults. Mario was still 16. He was sent to the Running Rebels and put into the Intensive Monitoring Program. Mario's case workers stayed on him -- they made sure he came to meetings, got involved in activities and showed up to school everyday. This alternative to incarceration worked. Through the program, Mario was given a second chance. Now, he’s using it to give back to his own kids and to other young people in the community.