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Spirit of Youth Award: 2009: Micheal M. Cox
Micheal M. Cox of North Carolina was awarded CJJ’s 2009 Spirit of Youth Award. Micheal Cox’s nomination for the award states, “Micheal came from, and overcame, an environment that most of us could not imagine.” As a young child, his father was in and out of prison and his mother struggled with drug addiction. Micheal and his siblings were placed in foster care; moved repeatedly from one placement to another. Recollecting his childhood, Micheal states, “Everyone around me was using drugs… I was hungry; I stole to eat. I was a kid, I wanted things and I stole to have them.”
Micheal first came into contact with the juvenile justice system at age 11—and spent several years in and out of detention and group homes for a series of delinquency charges. Yet, in the system, he received legal assistance, structure and guidance. A social worker from the Dobbs Youth Development Center (training school), Barbara Greene, greatly aided Micheal by pushing him to excel and to aim to go to college.
Following a college internship with the North Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Micheal was employed by the Department. In 2007, he graduated cum laude from North Carolina Central University with a Bachelor of Social Work degree. He currently holds a position with the Department as the project assistant for the Race Matters Project. In this role, he works with juvenile crime prevention councils and community organizations to implement research-based best practices for reducing racial disparities in youth-serving and family-serving systems.
Micheal told the CJJ award program participants, “I recognize that I have a calling to serve as living proof that positive change is possible for others who are challenged with difficult life situations.” In addition to his work and studies, he volunteers to share his story as guidance and inspiration for youth.
See all winners of Spirit of Youth Award.
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