As Law Enforcement Officers with many years experience, working in the Glades region of Palm Beach County, we have been able to identify families who truly need help. If it was not for Cops Helping Kids Inc. intervention, the families we served would not have had Thanksgiving holiday dinners or Christmas gifts. In our non-working hours we are in the classrooms of the children’s schools teaching th
em how to live crime free productive lives. We want to educate the kids to prosper, graduate from high school, and either go onto college or a trade school. Our students are taught the importance of having a good reputation, and having one will open many opportunities now and in the future. We teach the consequence of loosing a good reputation by wrong choices and going through the criminal justice system. We give examples of the consequence in making wrong choices from our actual occupational experiences. Our scared straight/graphic approach has a profound influence to stay law abiding. In addition, in our off duty time, we go back to these disadvantaged neighborhoods and educate youths to live crime free lives, and stay away from gangs, drugs, alcoholic beverages, and to***co products. The life lessons of honesty, integrity, good sportsmanship, academic success are instilled. We teach anti-bullying. We do this by educating youths to put themselves in the victim’s position. This in essence is to do onto others as they want done onto themselves. The result promotes the spirit of benevolence, friendship, sociability, goodwill and tolerance among the youths. Some of the services we provide include counseling youths and their families. We help them solve problems such as solving the root cause of juveniles running away from home, drug experimentation, teen pregnancy/abstinence education, and the perils of crime and juvenile delinquency. We connect with kids and their families by giving our concern, time and attention. We provide scholarships to truly needy kids who would not have the opportunity to attend classes without assistance, give impoverished families complete holiday meals, provide Christmas gifts, and provide field trips. In addition we have given relief (and will give relief) to families who had fire damage to their residence. We provide transportation for families to venues. We will invite guest speakers who are positive role models to address our youths.
