GREEN BAY, Wis. — There were 28,623 juvenile arrests in Wisconsin in 2023. That’s up from 27,044 in 2022, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
Over 2,000 juveniles were arrested in Brown County in 2023.
One Green Bay counselor is hoping to be a force of positive change for the state’s troubled youth, while also helping create Wisconsin’s first Young Adult Court Program.
It’s a different sense of accomplishment for Eddie Boyce. He’s the founder of Better Days Mentoring in Green Bay.
He said his love for sports led him to work with troubled youth.
“I played collegiate basketball for four years and have always just kind of had a knack for being involved with kids,” Boyce said.
Better Days Mentoring works with teens and young adults. Boyce said he helps them learn positive alternatives to bad decision-making.
He said as a point guard, he was always mentoring someone, so guiding troubled youth now is a natural transition.
“You might get into foul trouble. Now you got a sub that comes in. Well, I might have to instruct him, ‘hey, listen, you need to go and do this and set this screen.’ So those things, I feel like they intertwine so well,” Boyce said.
Twenty-two-year-old Joseph Sampton is now a volunteer at Better Days. He started as a client.
Sampton said he was a troubled teen and realized he needed support.
“Getting help with high school and problems I was going through and just coming up from a rough city and coming to Green Bay,” Sampton said.
Some of the juveniles that come to Better Days face serious consequences in Brown County’s adult criminal court system.
That’s why Boyce said he created Brown County’s Young Adult Court Program: to give kids a second chance while still holding them accountable.
“The bigger thing is to find that intervention or intervene at a time where you can catch them before, a lot of times it’s too late, or it’s very hard to redirect them off the path that they’re on. So we do a lot of intensive mentoring,” Boyce said.
Brown County District Attorney David Lasee worked with Boyce to help create Wisconsin’s first Young Adult Court Program.
Lasee said Young Adult Court is a necessary addition to Wisconsin’s criminal justice system.
“We have treatment courts to address addiction, we have treatment courts to address OWI (Operating While Intoxicated) needs, and treatment courts that address mental health, but we didn’t have a treatment court that was specifically geared toward young people who lacked that structure and support in their lives,” Lasee said.
Sampton expects to graduate from Young Adult Court. He credits Better Days with helping him turn his life around.
“It’s just a good mentoring program known for young youth who is not doing so well in life and taking the wrong route, wrong path, and they will help you get you on the straight path,” Sampton said.
Boyce said his biggest joy is helping troubled youth shoot for the stars.
“The greatest human act right is to inspire or to be inspired. So, I look at that these are the gifts that were given to me. So, my job is just to share those gifts that I have,” Boyce said.