. >> suffolk county sheriff vincent demarco created the youth tier initiative. he says it not only helps young people but has financial benefits. >> inmates are kept in jail out of sight out of mind but it is a very big portion of a county's budget to run a jail. our goal is to make them productive citizens so they don't come back. we reduce the jail population and don't have to build more jails. we don't have to feed as many inmates, and people become productive members of society and contribute to the tax base. >> we talk about that real stuff. >> they are at a very influential age. we think by having officers that want to work with the youth and give them vocational programs, resume writing, computer graphics training, meditation, believe it or not, these kids go to meditation classes. this is the favorite thing they do, and we are seeing phenomenal results. >> while the program is still too new to measure long term effectiveness corrections staff say they are seeing fewer of the participants return to jail or prison compared to the national average. early on