Jeff Hobbs Looks at Juvenile Corrections in 'Children of the State'

Author Jeff Hobbs returns to Writer’s Voices to discuss his newest nonfiction book, Children of the State: Stories of Survival and Hope in the Juvenile Justice System. In Children of the State, Hobbs takes a closer look into the personal lives of those who live and work in the juvenile detention centers, including the teachers, counselors and children. He explains that while some of the kids at these centers were placed there because they hurt and sometimes killed people, many others are there for less obvious reasons, such as missed probation appointments. “Once you’re in the system, it gets easier to stay in the system because of certain rules and differences between counties and cities.”

As he was doing his research, Hobbs decided to focus on juvenile detention centers in three different cities – Wilmington, San Francisco, and Manhattan. First, he chose Wilmington, Delaware, because of the familiarity of growing up near there. “I think Wilmington, Delaware… it’s Delaware so obviously it’s small, but I just know from personal experiences… I would say it’s a small city, but the problems of the city, of Wilmington, Delaware, are America’s problems…” Next, he turned his attention to San Francisco. “The reason I chose San Francisco… A is because of the contrast between San Francisco being one of the wealthiest, prettiest cities in America… and then literally on top of the city, on the top of a hill in the Twin Peaks neighborhood, you have their juvenile hall, and if you’re in the waiting room you can look down across the neighborhoods and the Golden Gate Bridge and see the bay and it’s gorgeous and yet, you’re in jail. I thought that contrast was really… troubling, I guess… If you try to put yourself in the shoes of a kid walking across the bridge between the courthouse and the juvenile hall in shackles and looking out the window and seeing all this below him, I just thought that must be an extreme version of that experience.” In the last section of his book, he puts a spotlight on a life skills/professional skills program in Manhattan for kids who have just come out of locked facilities. This detention center serves as a transition program to help kids adjust as they return back to their normal lives. Programs here include practicing for internships, learning computer and interview skills, and acquiring other essential knowledge needed for the real world.

Although Hobbs has written fiction books before, he plans to continue writing nonfiction. So far, he’s completed three nonfiction books with a fourth on the way. While many of his stories are hard to tell and rarely have happy endings, it’s the personal relationships he builds that inspires him to continue the work he does. “I just love it… I just love being with people and sitting on porches and in cars and just taking walks and learning people’s stories and always being the person who knows the least and just learning… I just love it.”