LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Four new graduates were recognized Tuesday for completing a special court program in North Las Vegas that’s aimed at changing lives.
The four were in the Community Approach to Rehabilitation and Engagement program, or CARE. It targets non-violent offenders and addresses the root causes of crimes in an effort to keep those people from reoffending.
Resources and counseling are provided to help participants reconnect and engage with the community. Prosecutors, defense attorneys, correctional center staff, case managers, and court team members all work together to connect participants with resources like transitional housing, substance abuse counseling, job training, employment placement, and obtaining vital records.
The participants are required to actively participate, connect and engage in the programs and services, and upon completion of the program, their case will be dismissed.
Graduate Raina Belcher had three traffic tickets and went to jail twice. When she appeared in front of a judge last year, she was clean, and she was honest.
“I’ll have almost 16 months clean by the 19th of March,” Belcher said. “I just let the judge know I’m coming from a background of abusing prescription medication.”
Belcher now has a job as a stagehand, traveling to various states like California to build stages. She most recently traveled to Arizona for the Super Bowl in Arizona.