El Paso juveniles get second chance at life behind bars

EL PASO, Texas (CBS4) — When you hear the words juvenile detention, ask yourself what the first thing is that comes to mind. For many, it’s words like troubled, lost or violent.

From the outside, the Juvenile Detention Center in South Central El Paso looks like a normal place, but inside, you’ll find dozens of teenagers who have committed countless crimes.

“A lot of people don’t realize we deal with the most difficult population in El Paso, meaning the kids who are committing the most crimes who continue to violate and violate over and over,” said Charles Byrd, a Challenge Academy team leader at the Juvenile Detention Center.

For years, the Juvenile Detention Center focused on breaking down kids who would enter their doors. But over the past decade, the focus has shifted to building them up instead.

The Samuel F. Santana Challenge Academy is dedicated to providing a well-rounded, military-style environment. For seven months, kids who end up in the program are disciplined and pushed to succeed at all they do.

“Before I came in here, I was doing a lot of bad things. I was hurting a lot of people, and I didn’t care. I’ve learned a lot of self-respect and discipline. I’ve found reasons to motivate myself to do better things when I get out,” said Ethan Barlow, a cadet in the Challenge Academy.

For nearly 16 hours a day, cadets in the program are on a strict schedule. Their day begins at 5 a.m., when team leaders wake them up for physical training in the morning. As they get ready, cadets leave the few personal items they have folded perfectly on their beds for inspection.

After showers and a 10-minute window to eat breakfast, cadets sit through a day of classes, where they work to earn their General Educational Development diploma or catch up on credits they may have fallen behind on.

“Back then, I was still doing good in school. Now, being locked up, it has benefits because you catch up on your credits and everything, but before, I had maybe one credit,” said Briana Garza, another cadet in the program.

In addition to school, cadets also have the opportunity to participate in electives - like piano classes and welding. They also receive mental health counseling to openly discuss how they’re feeling and the progress they have made.

“We are a program designed to intervene, to pull them out of the community for the safety of the community and really begin to reshape their life, transform their life, change their life,” said Byrd.

“I saw a lot of things. I grew up too fast. Being here, I feel like I can be myself. I don’t have to have grown-up worries. I can just act like a 16-year-old or a 17-year-old,” said Anthony Rueda, another cadet in the program.

After the seven-month program is complete, cadets usually enter the workforce or go back to school. But it isn’t always as perfect as it sounds.

“Of course, every youth that we touch is not going to be successful,” said Byrd.

But as the kids enter back into their communities and try to stay away from any negative influences that may surround them, Byrd says all he can hope is that they apply the lessons they’ve learned.

“You can affect one's life and turn it around on a positive track, but who else does this individual touch? It’s like a wave in the ocean, it just continues to move forward,” said Byrd.

List: El Paso County Juvenile Probation Program Units

Contact Information:

6400 Delta Drive
El Paso, Texas 79905
Phone: 915-849-2500

Cadets in the program offer this advice to teens that may be experiencing the same challenges they went through:

Ethan Barlow (16): “Do what you have to do first, and don’t hurt other people. Eventually, you’re going to find out that all this bad stuff, it’s not worth it. If you just wait and work a little bit harder, you’ll get all the good things that are going to come to you anyway.”

Anthony Rueda (16): "I know I made my own decisions. I started hanging around with the wrong people. We just got into bad stuff. Stared partying a lot, started throwing a lot of parties, didn’t go to school started doing drugs and all of that. It isn't worth hurting people. Asking for forgiveness from my family has been the hardest part."

Brianna Garza (15): “I need to stop getting in trouble. I need to stop doing drugs. I was mad at myself because I let it get to the extent of me getting locked up again, when I had said that I wasn’t going to get locked up again. It's all about moving forward."