For some youth committed to the Oregon Youth Authority, gang affiliation is a big piece of how they see themselves. The strong pull of that identity requires OYA to manage immediate safety and operational concerns, while also planting seeds that wil l grow to long-term stability for each youth and the community to which they’ll return.
To maximize safety, gang intervention unfolds between staff, external partners, and youth themselves. At base-level, OYA staff coordinate and communicate with each other and with external community partners to anticipate issues and take steps to prevent them. Among our partners are groups like Going Home 2 – credible messengers who bring their own experiences as former gang-involved or incarcerated individuals, and who help youth prepare for the challenges of reentering their home communities. Yet ultimately, stability and peace require buy-in from the youth themselves.
Two critical spaces for staff coordination are the “collab lab” and the gang management communication network. While the former invites all interested staff to share in learning about supporting gang-involved youth, the latter is an intentional group that reviews and plans around specific gang dynamics and youth cases. By coordinating how staff work with gang-affected youth across departments, the aspiration is to gradually shift from reactive security toward proactive case planning.
The agency also monitors the social dynamics in youths’ home communities. Statewide Conflict Resolution Coordinator Raphi Miller and Conflict Resolution Specialist Angelo Worley conduct regular check-ins with a network of community partners so they stay current on the shifting gang dynamics within Oregon communities. This knowledge supports their work with field and facility staff so that youth are prepared for the realities they will face when they eventually return home.
The clearest examples of this model in action are recent restorative processes that have taken place at MacLaren. Worley and other staff have spent weeks doing slow, behind-the-scenes work to build trust with youth involved in ongoing gang-driven conflicts. Trust-building between staff and youth has evolved to include small-group circles where youth from different gangs can share space with each other. These meetings have been highly intentional, focusing on youth whose leadership can shift the culture.
During these sessions, success can be measured by how youth have taken ownership. Worley noted that the decision to even sit at the same table reflects “growth, courage, and a willingness to move forward in a positive direction.”
Supporting staff in these conversations have been community partners with lived experience. Going Home 2, for example, works at MacLaren to bridge between the facility and youths’ home communities. (You can read more about some of our other partners here, here, and here.) Going Home 2 staff were gang-involved in the same communities as OYA youth – and after “help[ing] destroy and poison our neighborhoods,” they want to be “part of the solution,” says CEO Michael Fesser.
The team provides a consistent presence at MacLaren, mentoring youth through daily frustrations while preparing them for the specific challenges of reentry. Fesser notes that youth in custody often “spell love T-I-M-E” – as in, youth grow to trust people who keep showing up consistently over an extended time. “I’m showing up, talking to you,” Fesser says, “and if you want to talk or not, that’s fine – but I’m showing you that you can trust me.”
As they earn respect over time, mentors can hold youth accountable in ways OYA staff may not be able to. That accountability begins in the facility but, in the longest terms, prepares youth to be “better returning citizens” as they transition back to their communities. While every situation is different, one commonality persists: progress require youth buy-in. Fesser likens it to being in a drivers-education car together: “we have a steering wheel over here, and we can help you get right back on the right track,” but youth have to “start driving the situation.”
Conversations, “no hands” agreements, or graffiti clean-ups demonstrate that youth are ready to start driving – that they want to contribute to a positive shared environment. By choosing to invest in that environment, they signal they are ready to steer their own lives toward a safe, stable, and successful future.