When children get in trouble, Tammye Hogan is there to help so they never have to see her again.

Hogan has been case manager for the Warren County Youth Detention Center for about a year where she heads up a mentoring program and gets youngsters who’ve found themselves on the wrong side of the law the help they need to get back on the straight and narrow.

“The best part about it is when the kids say ‘Miss Tammye, I’m not coming back,’ and they don’t come back or when they say ‘thank you. Look at what I’ve achieved, look at what I’ve accomplished,’” Hogan said.

Youth detention is more focused on rehabilitation than punishment, which critics of the adult criminal justice system say is too often the focus.

“Some might say that having kids in here is job security. I feel like none of us were created to be in a cell, locked up in a cage. If some people call this job security, I would rather be without a job. I would rather not see them in here,” Hogan said.

But the Warren County Youth Detention Center “is not a place we want anybody,” Hogan said.

“If they have to come here we’re doing what we have to and what needs to be done for these children to make sure they don’t return here,” Hogan said.

One of the biggest ways of cutting back on recidivism is a mentoring program that pairs a single child with a same-gender mentor. Mentorship lasts through high school graduation and often beyond. Mentors don’t spend any money on their protégé and instead offer advice and a kind ear.

“Basically these kids just need somebody to be there. Sometimes it’s hard to talk to your parents. When you’ve heard so much of your parents it sounds like the teacher off Charlie Brown. A lot of times they will open up to someone who doesn’t know them and isn’t so quick to judge them,” Hogan said.

Mentors must pass a criminal background check to ensure they have committed no crimes against children, Hogan said. Anyone interested in becoming a mentor can visit Hogan at the detention center at 1100 Grove St, across Adams Street from the Warren County Jail.

Hogan and others who work at the detention center want to make sure that no one who comes though the youth court system ends up on the west side of Adams Street in the adult jail.

“Even though some of our youth fall short, they still are our future in one way or another,” Hogan said.

Before coming to the detention center, Hogan was a social worker for the Department of Human Services and a teacher in the Vicksburg Warren School District.

“We thought it was going to be a perfect fit. She goes above and beyond,” Youth Detention Center Administrator Kathy Holden said. “She has come in and made a huge difference in the lives of the kids.”

Working for DHS for about nine months was eye-opening experience for Hogan. She realized things happen in Vicksburg that most people wouldn’t imagine.

“That experience has taught me that really, everybody is somebody no matter what the situation is,” she said. “We are all humans. We are all equal in God’s eyesight and we all deserve the same respect and dignity in spite of our background.”

Hogan grew up in Vicksburg and is a 1991 graduate of Vicksburg High School. She said serving her hometown gives her more of a sense of responsibility.

“I feel that a lot of people looked out for me in this community. A lot of people gave me a chance and mentored and helped me. I feel it’s a part of my duty as a citizen of Vicksburg to give back,” Hogan said.