program director chris blessinger cuts to the core of michael s problems. you and i have had conversations before. and one of those conversations has been about the seriousness, about the extensive history that you have using substances. right. if you look back on a lot of your charges, a lot of those charges were when you were high or when you were drunk. so what is going to be different this time when you get out? i have a lot more access to things when i get out like groups. i m going to go to aa and na meetings. i m really going to try my hardest. like i said, i am an adult now. i really have to change. and if i continue this, then i m going to be dead or i m going to be in a wheelchair. and that scares me, it really does. because i know the temptation is going to be out there in any face. does anybody in your family drink or smoke or use drugs? anybody in your extended family?
18-year-old michael brehm is nearing completion of a second round in pendleton. i was here the first time for 9 1/2 months. i came back here the second time for the exact same thing. minor consumption, public intox, alcohol problem, over-the-counter cough medicine problem, done a lot of that stuff. inside pendleton, military-like structure keeps brehm on the straight and narrow. all offenders must attend school daily. after being locked up for more than two years, michael hopes the six months he spent in pendleton s substance abuse program will give him the skills to stay out for good. my groups have helped me quite a bit. the substance abuse groups, they helped me think of things that could keep my time occupied, the reasons why i should stay sober. i m 18 years old now. time for me to be an adult, to grow up. done doing all my old things.
charles. no looking back. charles, pull your pants up. going to get him a belt. charles taylor is one of my favorite kids that went through this program. he wants to be a navy s.e.a.l. i think he could be a great one. i have a lot of hope for him. i am hoping he keeps in contact with us and lets us know how he is doing. feels good seeing my mom. i haven t seen her in a long time. long time. for charles taylor and michael brehm, a change in mindset and attitude is evident after months of intensive rehab at pendleton. but tomorrow, staff will start all over again with the 300 teens who still remain behind bars.
pendleton. this decision makes a difference to the community. it s not just ours. we do second-guess ourselves at times. and have a heart for the offender, but we can t let that be the deciding factor. it can t be. at the ripe age of 18, brehm has spent a total of two years behind bars. hopefully people don t come here. this is the one place they don t want to go. okay, michael. do you have any questions for us? it s very stressful. hopefully if i get accepted, i will only have two weeks left. i am looking at a piece of paper from hendricks county. i used the same words that the judge wrote on here. the judge wrote on here, no excuses. okay? see that? right. so i think something that you need to start thinking about is all these things that you ve done while you were young, you didn t get enough treatment or you were hanging out with the
through. it s no fault of their own. i m in the captain s office. it s where most people don t go. i feel privileged. chilling with el captain. head honcho. head of all heads. that s enough. you re going home. we already signed the papers. on the way home. some students when they come to me, school is either a good place or a bad place. and they re either don t care or want to care or they re working on getting out of here as quickly as possible. charles is one of those students who came to me ready to do what he needed to do to get out of this facility. and i think he has leadership potential. i hope, i pray that he does well. because he really could. he could do wonderful things. while charles taylor makes the best of a wait that has already stretched to more than five hours, 18-year-old michael