The last time Lerone Matthis was released from the Division of Juvenile Justice in April 2008, he feared he had reached bottom. “I was discouraged by the [diminished] prospects for a meaningful future,” Matthis recalled. He didn’t have a place to rest his head, bathe or change his clothes. He wore the same jeans and white shirt “that was dingy around the neck” because it hadn’t been washed for a month. Since he didn’t have a place to store his clothes, he bought socks from a neighborhood liquor store. He relied on relatives and friends for food and shelter. Other times, the former foster youth simply went hungry.
