New North Philadelphia NET Center program offers troubled teens second chances

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Many teens who attend the NET Center in North Philadelphia have been convicted of serious crimes, but a new program there is helping them change the trajectory of their futures and showing the power of second chances over incarceration.

Tucked away on North Second Street, Ray Styles runs the Social Impact Project from Mondays to Saturdays. A lot of the kids that come to the program are on their last strike.

Kaseem Scott Ransome has been in the program since April, after leaving juvenile detention center for armed robbery.

"This is your last chance program. This is your last chance to show them that you're not what they see on paper," he said.

He says this second chance is not lost on him.

"It keeps me out of trouble because god knows what I could be doing. If it wasn't coming here, might have gotten in more trouble to be honest," he said.

The Social Impact Project is expanding to another NET Center site and a new batch of teens start the six month program next week.