Photo by Tom Jenz
Credible Messengers Youth Advocates
Chaz, Amelia, Twin and Hatch
If the government wants to help at-risk youth impacted by the juvenile-justice system, it needs adult mentors who have experienced life on the streets. Enter the Credible Messengers program brought you by Milwaukee County. These adult mentors, called Credible Messengers, attempt to interrupt the cycle of violence in city communities and neighborhoods. They work with at-risk youth impacted by the juvenile-justice system and focus on positive goals and opportunities.
Milwaukee County is partnering with five local organizations who use mentors to help break the cycle of violence. One of these organizations is Youth Advocate Programs, Inc. I spoke with participants at the Sherman Phoenix Marketplace in the inner city. Gathered around a small table were four people, each responsible for a different role.
They were:
Chaz Fortune (“Chaz”), 41, Director of Youth Advocate Programs
Terrence Hatchett (“Hatch”), 35, Credible Messenger Youth Advocate.
Amelia P Cannon, 34, Mother of Keontau Ransom and advocate for young women.
Keontau J Ransom, 17 (“Twin”), An at-risk youth being helped by the program.
Starting with you, Chaz, tell me about how you got involved with Credible Messengers and the Youth Advocate Program.
I got involved four years ago. I ran the Youth Advocate Programs, Inc, and we collaborated with five other agencies to form together. We all had been Youth Advocates, but we all got certified and trained and then licensed as Credible Messengers.
Chaz, where did you grow up? You are a Milwaukee native, I believe.
Grew up on the North Side. 37th and Center, and then we moved over to 46th and Burleigh. I spent my childhood in the inner city. But I went to high school at Milwaukee Tech on the south side. Everyday, I commuted on two buses. I was at Tech to play football and baseball.
Amelia, you are Twin’s mom. How did you two get involved with Credible Messengers?
Amelia: I have four children, and two are twins. I got involved with Credible Messengers when I met Chaz, who is mentoring my son, Keontau Ransom
Twin: I was 16 and in jail for stealing cars, setting fires, I was headed down the wrong path, and then I met with Chaz, and he helped me get a job at Papa John’s making pizzas. I don’t hang out with my old friends anymore.
Hatch, you are a middle school math teacher and a Youth Advocate. Tell me how you help a young man in trouble.
Depends on individual needs. I am Twin’s advocate, and I try to keep him busy on things he likes. I’m a basketball coach, and Twin is really into basketball. His and my objectives align. Every time he needs a ride to work, I show up, that type of thing, I’m there for him.
Where are you from?
I’m from the inner city, grew up there on 37th and Wright. Went to Tennessee State University, got my undergrad degree and my masters there. My degree is in business management. My senior project was about helping the community. Here in Milwaukee, I wanted to keep on with that, and I joined Chaz and his Youth Advocates.
Chaz: We advocate Individualized Service Planning. Everybody and every family is different. We gauge their interests and design our helping plan based on those interests. Right away, we ask, “What do you need?” and we start the dialog there, in other words - What can we do to help? How can we work together as equal partners? We can do a lot of work with juveniles, but if they go back to a toxic family environment, then all our work can vanish.
Do you find that families are generally cooperative?
Chaz: I can’t say that. Sometimes, it might take me a month to get hold of the family. Once we do, we don’t operate on appointments. We usually just visit the house to ask how it’s going.
Twin: I got friends connected to this program, and there’s nothin’ but positivity. They wanna see everybody win. I don’t want anybody around me who’s not on the same positive stuff I’m on. Don’t come around me if you are negative. Mainly, I don’t want to be around anybody my age.
Chaz :We helped Twin get a job after he got out of jail. He started at the 1700 PullUp Restaurant on Fond du Lac near his house. We try to get youth jobs near where they live. We paid his wages, and in exchange, 1700 PullUp trained him. With that training experience, he got the better job at Papa John’s.
Amelia, I understand your sometimes help girls in trouble, right?
I work with males and females. I am a Certified Nursing Assistant and I’m currently in college to be a Medical Assistant. I got youth advocate training with my own children, then I met Chaz and Hatchett. Working with females is a little different than boys. I’ve learned a kind of civility working with girls. They have similar issues to boys but it’s rougher with boys. With girls, it’s bumpin’ heads.
Is there a particular issue that girls in trouble have or share?
The girls might be involved in stolen vehicles or car accidents because they are friends with the boys. It’s generally easier to connect with girls, mainly cause girls mature faster than boys.
The Credible Messengers' program mentors at-risk youth, and attempts to interrupt the cycle of violence in city communities. Chaz, can you describe how Credible Messengers works from your own experience?
I’ve been doing youth advocacy for over ten years. I’ve been in social work for over 15 years. I understand how minority youth and families operate. Generally, there is a family dynamic of just getting by, making it to the next day. There is no—"What are you gonna be doing in five years?” In other words, no short-term goals. We try to structure goals. That way, you as the Advocate, the youth, and his or her family members can see progress. If a kid stops going to school, maybe we get him to go three days a week, and we do something special to reward his or her accomplishment.
I assume you mean keeping the kid doing something productive.
Keep in mind, if you are not sincere, these families will figure you out in a minute. I might tell a kid, ‘You go to school, and I got a job for you right away. I have a list of employers who help us - tire shops, barbershops, restaurants, boutiques for the young ladies. You have to understand people. There is no right or wrong way to be a Youth Advocate. But you cannot teach love or care. Those are kind of instincts.
Hatch, are you called by the kids or the families when they need you? How do you keep connection?
They call me sometimes. But for instance, I might call Twin if we got a basketball game. We grow a bond as if I was 17 years old again, I’d be his friend, but I am not his friend. I am his mentor. We call each other a lot, so I know if he needs anything. Generally, we try to match youth advocates with where their own interests align with the youth they are mentoring.
Chaz, you are a director with Youth Advocate Programs, Inc, and also a Credible Messenger. I understand you’d like to see inner city neighborhoods transform into safer environments. Here is a quote from you, "I want to see the communities and things change back to in the day when I was growing up. As far as kids going outside, playing ball for real, as opposed to just going outside, wondering what your next move is going to be.” As for me, my own experience from spending time in the inner city is that I don’t see kids playing in yards or streets as it was years ago. There is always that threat of violence. Can you explain how Credible Messengers will help transform neighborhoods into safer environments?
I grew up in the 1990s when sports was big. We had baseball and basketball leagues. I had friend who called me every morning, maybe line up a basketball game at a park. Or we’d go to a kid’s house, have lunch, have fun. Shoot hoops in somebody’s driveway. In today’s urban neighborhoods, I don’t see many kids going outside. There might be gangs or cliques, but they up to no good.
Last summer, Milwaukee County expanded the Credible Messenger Program to include a Response Team. Chaz, you and the Youth Advocate Program are leading that effort. How does the Response Team work in practice?
Right now, we’re like a well-oiled machine. We stay in tune to what’s going on through access to social media and Newsbreak. If something happens, we know about it in two minutes. If a crisis happens, we try to show up. Case in point, I was driving with Twin, and we witnessed a car hitting a bus, car blew up and the bus flipped over. I called Hatch, my Youth Advocate, and said there might be people here that are traumatized. Come on over.
Hatch: When I got there, I tried to provide referral services, helped with crowd control. I also tried to mediate, keep the tension down among the crowd. There can be tension, tempers flaring. We are not police officers or the Rescue Squad. We are there as extensions of the community.
How do you find out about a youth or family that can use your help?
Chaz: We go through a referral process with CYFS, Children’s Youth & Family Services. They refer the kids that are in trouble or in jail. Or we might be helping a youth who refers us to his or her friend who is in trouble.
How many cases are you working on currently?
Chaz: 14 cases. Our capacity is 14 cases at any given time. When we see a kid make enough progress like he’s off supervision from the courts, we are able to discharge him from the program, leaving room for a new applicant.
Chaz, you often talk about the four principles you follow in helping youth and families. What are they? And how do you assess an applicant for the program?
Chaz: The four principles are: What do you need? How can we help? How can we work together as equal partners? What can you do to get back? Kids need to respond to those principles.
How do your find or recruit Youth Advocates or Credible Messengers?
Amelia: We look for someone who will go above and beyond. It has to be genuine, a passion. We get referrals, but we make sure the people we talk to are dedicated.
Chaz, you once said, “We’re like mentors and advocates on steroids.” You also try to give the youth opportunities for work experience, right?
Chaz: Studies show a mentor spends about ten hours a month with a youth. I’m the director. I can’t become an advocate and just vanish. (Looking at Twin) How many times do I see you?
Twin: Could be three times a week.
Chaz: I like to stop by Amelia’s house and see Twin, just show up. And I get love. Her young kids hug me. Credible Messengers is not therapy that requires an appointment. It’s more like family.
Amelia (to Chaz): I like the fact that you have your bond with my boy. I like that you communicate with the parent as well as the youth. As advocates for youth, we all got our bonds we form with the child and the parent. Everybody got to be on the same team.
Hatch: We might get a call from a parent who’s frustrated with a kid. We try to get the kid out of the house until things calm down. We can figure out what the argument was about later.
Chaz: We also have Hood meetings with youth that attend our program. Hood is an anagram for ‘Honoring Our Own Destiny.’ We have a Hood meeting about once every other month to hear about the kids’ insights and short term goals.
The Credible Messenger Program pilot in 2022 produced encouraging results. Serving 105 youth, providing each young person on average 16 weeks of engagement with their Credible Messenger, resulted in 77% of the program youth desisting from law-breaking since participating in the program.
