Does it not go on a record or do they just not care? I was a young hoodlum in the city but I never did anything that would involve cops because I wanted to get a job one day

Imagine living in Virginia

I'm assuming that was sarcasm, but currently in DC the direct social service programs for cases like this:

Alternatives to the Court Experience (ACE) Diversion Program*

Parent and Adolescent Support Services Intensive Case Management (PASS ICM)

Strengthening Teens Enriching Parents (STEP) Program*

Teen Parent Assessment Program (TPAP)

Youth Homeless Services

Functional Family Therapy (FFT) Team

PASS Crisis and Stabilization Team (PCAST)

The effectiveness and results produced by these programs aren't often discussed or even reported on.

The community and state are only two parts of the equation involved in kids being lawless and violent, their upbringing by their caregiver is an even larger piece to this puzzle than all other externalities combined, and yet I rarely ever hear of anyone discussing the huge role their households have as the direct influences on their lives. Anyone who has ever worked as a teacher or police officer knows what sort of home environment most lawless kids were raised in, and I spent twelve years as a LEO an my wife's been a teacher for twenty-six years, and almost without fail the kids I'd picked up and had constant contact with came from homes that were negative influences in almost if not every way possible. The kids who had more stable and supportive homes typically were being raised by older relatives, but it was unfortunately too late for their stable and responsible parenting to overcome what they'd already learned since birth. Kids had failed to be taught common decency, respect for themselves and others, and what it means to have values consistent with a functional society. Kids who are powerless at younger stages will attain power as they get older in ways that are violent and/or criminal. We see it most often in young boys who gain power through gangs/numbers/association, then the ante is upped with even more power with having guns, then robbing, then killing. Girls used to exhibit this phenomenon at much lesser rates, but lately this has changed and I see girls acting out in violent and lawless ways to gain power more and more frequently. I see in that list there are programs that would lead one to believe they would help, for instance, the FFT program in particular seems promising for future generations, but like I stated, I've never heard is spoken of or heard of anyone reporting stats on these programs except the ACE program, which last time I checked has glaringly poor results and nearly 100% recidivism, and in many cases there were unfortunate innocent people harmed in the wake, but sure do we like to report that 1% who succeed as if it's not also a reminder of the lack of efficacy of the output of such a program.

If we look at the family history of these kids we'll quickly note that they are the product of multiple failed generations, so it's going to take a lot of work, money, but nothing will work unless we're willing to be brutally honest and unafraid to objectively look at all areas of the lives of these kids instead of ignoring the issues that many appear to deem untouchable, most typically I suspect due to it oftentimes being known as career suicide for a politician. I volunteer in substance abuse recovery centers and of the tens of thousands of cases of individuals I've worked with I don't believe a single person was successful at staying clean and attaining any real sobriety if they didn't also change their home situation, because learned behavior and habits are too hard to overcome when times get tough no matter how much you know it's not good for anyone. Along those lines, the successes I've witnessed with violent kids almost always involved placement outside of their current situation, foster homes, relatives in different towns/cities where at least their home life was stable and positive.

I apologize for the long wall of text, just wanted to relate my experiences an assessment on what we're currently seeing.