About a year ago, 17-year-old Beau Molyneux was making all the wrong choices. He was staying out late, drinking in parks and getting high. He was drifting away from his family and feeling aimless and apathetic.
On Wednesday, however, Molyneux stood before a small audience in Clark County Juvenile Court, clean, sober and excited about life.
The Battle Ground teen just also happened to be the 100th graduate of the Juvenile Recovery Court, a therapeutic program for youths who are charged with nonviolent offenses and amenable to treatment. The court launched in 2007 and now has about 30 participants in various phases of the program. While in the program, participants must appear in court weekly, report to their probation counselor, attend all required treatment and submit to urinary tests, among other requirements.
“They’re very busy during this program, and we intensively supervise their daily lives,” Superior Court Judge James Rulli said in an interview.
“My philosophy has been, if we don’t address these issues when these children are teenagers, we are only opening the door wider for them to be involved in the criminal justice system as they grow older. This is what Juvenile Recovery Court tries to accomplish,” he said.
During a short ceremony on Wednesday, Molyneux and another program graduate, Jonathan Bratcher, detailed their transformations and plans for the future. Each received certificates of completion, and their charges were dismissed.
Both teens were in the recovery court for about a year.
Molyneux said his life has changed tremendously since joining the program. He said he was always active, but he was active in the wrong things, like drinking and smoking pot. He has since focused his interests elsewhere.
Being sober has allowed Molyneux to get more involved in his hobbies, which include singing and playing guitar, hiking and mountain boarding, he said. The teen shared a PowerPoint presentation featuring videos that showed him participating in some of these activities.
Molyneux told the court that he doesn’t regret getting into trouble; the knowledge he’s gained from the program has been invaluable.
“It helped me find myself, mainly, and grow up. It helped me see the reality of life,” Molyneux said.
He now has a job, is about to get his license and is saving to buy a car. He’s involved in an American Sign Language group at his school and will be performing in the group’s upcoming show. After high school, he hopes to get a bachelor’s degree in the medical field.
“I’m very proud of what he’s accomplished,” Rulli said.
Molyneux’s mother, who used a sign language interpreter to address the court, said communication with her son has greatly improved. The teen agreed and said he wouldn’t have made it through the program without his family’s support.
Judge Rulli said Bratcher’s story was a bit different.
“It was a hard little ride for Jonathan,” Rulli told the audience. “It didn’t start out all peaches and ice cream.”
Rulli further explained in an interview that Bratcher had some serious reservations about the program because of his criminal history.
During the ceremony, Bratcher admitted that, at first, he didn’t think the court cared about him. However, he said he later realized it had his “best intentions in mind.”
He said he’s matured while going through the program. He’s stopped hanging out with the people who were helping him to get into trouble.
“The only thing holding me back is myself,” Bratcher said. “I don’t need alcohol. I’d probably be in prison if I hadn’t done JRC.
“I want to stay on the right path to success,” he added.
Bratcher recently started working and wants to further his education. He will be attending Clark College with the help of a scholarship he received through the juvenile court. He was one of six scholarship recipients. Bratcher said he hopes to later transfer to a university.
“To see him successfully complete the program in 12 months, to be employed, to earn the scholarship and to change his life in the way he has is exactly what we expect of all of our participants,” Rulli said during the interview.
Bratcher encouraged others not to give into peer pressure. “It will get you in trouble, and it’s not worth it,” he said.
He then presented a poster board highlighting the timeline of his transformation. The beginning included his mugshot and ended with him saving up to buy a car.
“I think that we are positivity making changes in these children’s lives,” Rulli said in an interview. “The youth who are completing the program have obtained some tools to go forward with their life in a positive manner, whether it’s refraining from alcohol and drugs, pursuing their academic vocations or employment, dealing with family matters and ceasing criminal activity. All are issues that this program is geared to. We can see with these two graduates today, what they have achieved.”
