Follow-up: Chowchilla, CA
Premiere Date: January 13, 2011
Five at-risk teenage girls got a close-up look at Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla, CA, courtesy of the inmates who run the "Crossroads" program. It's a daylong prison experience that uses fear, intimidation and information to give the at-risk kids a taste of prison life, and tries to scare them back to the straight and narrow. One teen whispered to another, "Some of these women look like men." Looming over their visit was the risk that if they could't convince the inmates they were going to make changes in their lives, they'd have to stay at the prison for 72 hours.
Emily
At the Conclusion of Production:
Emily has entered a one-year court-ordered rehab program. She is now on friendlier terms with her mother.
Latest Update: December 2011:
Emily spent the first year of her adult life living at a drug and alcohol treatment center. In November, Emily successfully completed the treatment program and moved back in with her mother where she is currently living a clean and sober life.
According to Emily's mother, Emily's temper has greatly improved and there are fewer arguments between them.
Emily has enrolled herself in community college where she plans to earn a two-year degree and has aspirations of becoming a chiropractor. Emily is no longer with the same crowd of friends, and she feels the Cross Roads Program at Chowchilla helped change her life.
Emily stated, "Diabla has left a lasting impression on me."
Leanna
At the Conclusion of Production:
Her parents have rewarded Leanna's continued good behavior by buying her a horse. She still has her bedroom door.
Latest Update: December 2011:
Leanna is currently a freshman at her local high school. She maintains above average grades and is trying out for the freshman softball team. Since the jail visit, Leanna has not touched drugs or alcohol and is no longer sexually active. Leanna's mother now enjoys having "a regular teenage kid" and not an at-risk juvenile.
Leanna attends church every Sunday where her father preaches. She also accompanies her boyfriend to his local church. Though she is dating, Leanna gets to keep her bedroom door because her parents feel that Leanna is now a responsible young girl.
This Christmas holiday break, Leanna will work as a secretary at her father's roofing company.
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