Against the backdrop of these bleak statistics, a number of communities across the country are taking a fresh approach to "bad" kids. Realizing that locking kids up is expensive and does little to reduce violence, these pioneers are addressing the roots of violence with innovative programs involving schools, rehabilitation programs, and unique multi-agency partnerships. They are, in effect, reclaiming America's kids.

In Search of Law and Order: Reclaiming America's Kids examines the pioneering efforts of three communities--Boston, Massachusetts; Fort Worth, Texas; and Richmond, California-which are working to keep troubled youth from becoming lifetime wards of the justice system. Narrated by André Braugher and based on six years of research by series writer/producer Roger Graef and a team of experienced journalists and criminologists, the series explores effective new ways of keeping kids out of crime and safe from violence.

This unique series also explores the lives of teenagers who carry guns. Finding that many do so out of fear of their "enemies," the series considers the possibility that they are victims as well as offenders. Roger Graef's six-year search for effective alternatives to traditional ways of dealing with young offenders was prompted by his discovery that many judges have no hope that sending people to prison will stop their return to crime. But most don't know what else to do. "I was appalled at the waste of money and lives, so I set out to find places taking positive steps toward solutions," says Graef. "Our team found real progress is happening in places that realize they have an important stake in young people-not just for their own safety but because these are, after all, kids. They realize kids need good educations, stable families, jobs-a stake in their own futures."

Many of the successful initiatives featured in the series are supported by justice professionals who recognize they cannot address by themselves the wider social problems that cause crime and violence. "We know that incarceration will not solve the problem," says executive producer Michael Schwarz. "Prison does keep criminals off the street, but eventually most of them are released back into the community. The question is, what kind of people will they be once they're released?"

These initiatives are profiled in three compelling hours of television. But the time, money and resources invested in making this series would be wasted if its impact extended only as far as the PBS broadcast of the series itself. In an era when juvenile justice legislation sometimes seems uninformed by actual evidence, In Search of Law and Order: Reclaiming America's Kids offers a unique opportunity to lift the level of public debate and thereby encourage more informed decision-making by citizens and policy makers alike.

That is where motivated viewers like you can make a difference. If you've taken the trouble to get this far, chances are you're precisely the kind of person who can find ways to use In Search of Law and Order: Reclaiming America's Kids as a catalyst for lasting change in your own community.