COLUMBUS, OH - The commissioner of the state Department of Corrections will be in Columbus next month to help raise money for the local arm of Youth Challenge, an organization designed to help at-risk youths avoid getting into trouble with the law.

Christopher Epps will speak at 6 p.m. Aug. 18 at the annual fundraiser dinner for Youth Challenge. The next day, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., he will take part in a seminar on issues related to youth crime and positive alternatives.

Both events will be held at Miracle Temple Church of God in Christ at 5429 Highway 45 N. in Columbus. Tickets for the banquet are $10 and can be purchased at the door or by calling (231) 343-8392.

Youth Challenge Inc. was started two years ago by Golden Triangle resident Aaron Pulsifer, himself a convicted felon who began addressing youth crime issues after his release from prison. Using his own experience, Pulsifer began to develop programs that would target youths, helping them to make positive life decisions.

Last year, Pulsifer returned to his native Michigan to start a Youth Challenge center there.

“The folks here in Michigan just love us. These people here are so very supportive and the former schools that I attended when I was younger have welcomed me back with open arms,” Pulsifer said.

“I am very excited about returning to Columbus. When Aaron asked me to be the keynote speaker again, I told him that it should be an annual thing and that I would do it for him each time. I think that Aaron is doing a wonderful job in the community and he's on the right track with his program,” Epps said.

“We need to support any program that is motivated to stop crime, gangs and violence among our young people. My department is full of offenders who come from single-parent homes, are school dropouts, and most are affiliated with some type of gang,” Epps continued.

“People are so negative these days and they fail to realize that this program is what we need in society. Do something to have a positive impact on the people in your community. We need all the support that we can get,” stated Epps, who started his career with MDOC in 1982 and was named commissioner in August 2002.

He was reappointed by Gov. Haley Barbour in 2004.

Pulsifer's work is drawing praise in Michigan.

“I am so excited to have a program in this area now that will help our young people. I been here over 30 years and no one could pull this off. People been trying and trying, but I guess that it took the right person with the right philosophy,” said Mary Berghuis, warden of the E.C. Brooks Correctional Facility in Michigan.

The program he operated locally also is missed.

“Mr. Pulsifer is a very caring person who went out of his way to help my son. I know that he went above and beyond and now my son is a much better person that has a whole new outlook on life. He used to skip school, talk back and just have a really bad attitude about life and everything,” said Amy Gandy of Starkville.

Some analysts also point to the increase last year in violent crime nationwide of a warning of a need for more emphasis on programs that prevent crimes or help offenders return to society without repeating offenses.

While the nation's jails and prisons return four times as many ex-inmates to the streets than 25 years ago, only marginally more parole and probation officers have been hired to supervise them, according to John Roman, a senior research associate in the Justice Policy Center at the nonpartisan Urban Institute in Washington, D.C.

Budgets for programs to ready inmates for life back home have also been cut over the past decade. As a result, ex-prisoners who received fewer services while incarcerated come home poorly supervised and less prepared to reintegrate, Roman noted.