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Almost every child at Clarence Mitchell could use an advocate, but there aren't enough to go around. "It's overwhelming, and nobody really has the time to prepare them for what's happening," says Diane Baum, who heads Baltimore's more than 160 volunteer advocates. What is needed, says juvenile- court administrative Judge David Mitchell, is "a fundamental change in the way society views the family and children." Nothing less than that will make the system work.
Antwan's Hope
Sometimes, though, against all odds, it does work. Days after Antwan Davey left court with his mother, Choice counselor Bob Cherry, a graduate from the tough streets of Boston's Southie district, paid his second visit. Like a shy colt, Antwan leaned close to Cherry as the young man drove the boy around town in his white Chevy Monte Carlo, its throaty exhaust pipes growling.
Everyday Cherry and members of his Choice team keep tabs on Antwan; so far, the boy's mother has only good things to say about the program. "They say he's got to call everyday," she says. "He has to come home at certain times and not hang out in the wrong places. I don't let him hang out at the playground anymore." Even Antwan is impressed with Cherry. "He seems like I can trust him."
After the car ride, Antwan steps back inside his apartment to do his homework. His mother unscrews the light bulb from the kitchen socket and screws it into the living-room ceiling. Its harsh glow illuminates a poster on a far wall of a black boy crying. "He will wipe away all tears from their eyes," the poster reads, "and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor pain. All of that has gone forever. -- Revelation 21: 4"