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Young & Arrested

Signs with positive words such as "faith," "resilience," and "vivacious" are on the walls of the Orange County Juvenile Assessment Center. Photo: Joey Roulette.
The Orange County Juvenile Assessment Center is where kids are brought after being stopped by police. The building is located in Parramore, once a hub for juvenile arrests. Photo: Joey Roulette.
The Orange County Juvenile Assessment Center is where kids are brought after being stopped by police. The building is located in Parramore, once a hub for juvenile arrests.  Photo: Joey Roulette.
Case managers, probation officers, private security officers and private community providers are houses in Orange County’s Juvenile Assessment Center. Photo: Joey Roulette.
Case managers, probation officers, private security officers and private community providers are houses in Orange County’s Juvenile Assessment Center. Photo: Joey Roulette.
Livenson Loriston is program manager for a community provider that partners with Florida's Department of Juvenile Justice. Photo: Joey Roulette.
Some kids are taken from the juvenile system into the adult criminal system to be tried for cases. Florida once had a high direct file rate compared to other states. Photo: Renata Sago, WMFE.
Some kids are taken from the juvenile system into the adult criminal system to be tried for cases. Florida once had a high direct file rate compared to other states. Photo: Renata Sago, WMFE.
Christina Daly is secretary of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, which began a revamp of its system in 2011. Photo: Joey Roulette.
Christina Daly is secretary of Florida's Department of Juvenile Justice. The agency began a revamp in 2011 of how it handles kids who have been arrested. Photo: Joey Roulette.
Katherine Puzone, who heads the juvenile defense clinic at Barry University School of Law, says the system places the “middle class judgments of white people” on kids. Photo: Joey Roulette.
Katherine Puzone, who heads the juvenile defense clinic at Barry University School of Law, says the system places the “middle class judgments of white people” on kids. Photo: Joey Roulette.
Jaylon Cobb, now 20 years old, has trained at the Cordon Bleu. By fourteen, he had dropped out of school and was in a gang in a tough part of Apopka. Photo: Renata Sago, WMFE.
Jaylon Cobb, now 20 years old, has trained at the Cordon Bleu. By fourteen, he had dropped out of school and was in a gang in a tough part of Apopka. Photo: Renata Sago, WMFE.

About this project

Orange County leads the state in juvenile arrests according to data from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.
The majority of those arrests are felonies charged to black boys. In this five-part series, 90.7 WMFE reporter Renata Sago documents Orange County’s complex system for handling kids who commit crimes. The stories are told through the lens of three black men who were charged with felonies as children.


Photo: Andrew Scott Bolsinger.
Arrested Again: Juvenile Recidivism in Orange County
What happens when kids who enter Orange County's criminal system are released? A small percentage of them re-enter the system.
Read more.
A Quick Explainer: What to Take Away from Orange County’s Juvenile Arrest Rate
Orange County has the highest number of juvenile arrests in Florida, and black boys make up the majority of those
Read more.
Parramore was once a hub for juvenile arrests in Orange County, but now delinquency has heightened in other areas. Photo: Joey Roulette.
High Risk, High Need, High Potential
Orange County has the highest number of juvenile arrests in Florida, and black boys make up the majority of those
Read more.
A young man attends his hearing at the Thomas S. Kirk Center for Juvenile Justice in Orlando. Photo: Renata Sago.
From a Classroom to a Courtroom
Orange County has the highest number of juvenile arrests in Florida, and black boys make up the majority of those
Read more.
Sent Away To Residential Confinement
Orange County has the highest number of juvenile arrests in Florida. Black boys make up the majority of those arrests
Read more.
Central Florida leads the rest of the state in juvenile arrests. Photo: St. Edwards University.
In Prison By Sixteen
Orange County has the highest number of juvenile arrests in Florida. Black boys make up the majority of those arrests
Read more.

Credits:

  • Reporting – Renata Sago, WMFE
  • Photography – Joey Roulette and Renata Sago, WMFE
  • Radio editing and production – Catherine Welch, WMFE and Renata Sago, WMFE
  • Digital editing and production – Renata Sago, WMFE
  • Web engineering and design – Ryan Ellison, WMFE
  • Social media – Jenny Babcock, WMFE
  • Technical support – Mac Dula, WMFE

 

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