Last Chance Ranch: The REAL Story of JRBR

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Last Chance Ranch: The REAL Story of JRBR

If you have been impacted in any way by Judge Riddel's Boys Ranch, we want your personal stories, poems, artwork, and videos posted here!

"Follow a 30 yr old former juvenile offender turned activist as he films his attempt to save the facility where he was sentenced to live as a boy." The Lake Afton Boys Ranch was opened in 1961 to provide a home for troubled and orphaned boys in the Sedgwick County area that surrounds Wichita, KS. Some years later, a juvenile judge named James V. Riddell adopted the facility as his own. He began a

programming method that worked to specifically address young men who were prone to commit crimes and in danger of heading for prison. In the mid-80s the State of Kansas began subsidizing the Ranch, thus providing a large savings to Sedgwick County. James Riddell Boy's Ranch (JRBR) became a "last chance" for these boys and over the 53 years it was open it provided a home to over 6,000. In 2012 while facing an impossible budget for the coming year, County Manager William Buchanan moved to close JRBR, citing that it was a State program and no longer the responsibility of Sedgwick County. After 2 years of bickering and backbiting between Sedgwick County and the State of Kansas, JRBR was closed for good in July of 2014. I began this project to bring a light of truth to this issue that our state and local politicians were not portraying in the media. I am filming the story of JRBR from every angle possible and giving a voice to everyone who has fought for and against the property, programming, and the PEOPLE, who over 53 years made up Judge Riddel's Boys Ranch. This documentary will not only tell the stories of grown men who were sentenced to JRBR years ago, but I have also
interviewed those in our local government on both sides of this devastating decision. I have added figures with researchers who claim that JRBR had the best statistics in the state for recidivism and what its loss will mean for the future of our community long-term. I have spoken with teachers who taught school at JRBR for decades and watched in awe as illiterate young men were given the tools to graduate. I have chatted with staff members and the facility adminstration who saw lives changed first-hand and families transformed. I have heard from our city as a whole and other organizations who work with these boys, and are at a loss now without the added help that JRBR was to their own programming. JRBR did not only provide a service to at risk teens, but it was a beacon of hope and a source of redemption for all of us. Please help me tell this story by supporting "Last Chance Ranch".

16/12/2017

Today was a sad day for our community.

15/12/2017

Today is the day! We have been at a standstill with production the last year or so in anticipation of how this story ends. Today at 10am we will be on location at the ranch to film its demolition. Thank you to everyone who has shown their support for the programming, facilty, and the lives that have made up JRBR for the last 57 years.

07/08/2017

Spent some time at the ranch today with KSN amd former JRBR resident Jose Cruz, disucussing our feelings toward the recent decision to demolish the facility.

12/07/2017

The county thought a more than $7,000 federal grant limited what it could do with the Judge Riddel Boys Ranch. But the state said that wasn’t the case.

01/03/2016

Sedgwick County is asking once again whether anyone wants the former Judge Riddel Boys Ranch property near Lake Afton.

22/02/2016

Will systematically doing away with out of home placements and instead "treating" high risk kids at home be more effective? (Or just cheaper?)

Kansas lawmakers are considering changes to the state’s juvenile justice system, including boosting services like anger management and counseling that would allow young offenders to stay at home instead of being sent to a detention facility.

04/11/2015

Very interesting....

As the revealing video below shows, portraits can be shaped by the photographer’s point of view rather than just by the subject being documented. Created by The Lab in conjunction with Canon Australia, the clip features six photographers, one portrait subject and an unexpected twist. The twist consi…

14/08/2015

10/08/2015

Youth Horizons needs $250,000 to match a grant to build more houses to serve more youths.

26/07/2015

I will be going to the public forum on Wednesday that is being held in the county commission chambers. According the recent media stories the commission has decided to forgo re-opening and use the money for funding similar programming at other facilities in Judge Riddel's name. I am not asking for the re-opening of JRBR, only giving my opinion about everything up to this point. If you are available I would ask that anyone who is like-minded join me!
Wednesday, July 29th
Sedgwick County Courthouse
3rd floor
9 am

25/06/2015

Public testimony in 2012 from a former JRBR supervisor, and a former resident.

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http://thegrovecenter.org/featured-artists/

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