The Mendokers of Jamesburg, New Jersey, live in an interesting home.

Anne and Richard head the family; she's a former social worker, and he's a former teacher. Then there are their two daughters, one three years old and the other several months old. And oh, yes, let's not forget the eight convicted juvenile offenders.

In 1980, the New Jersey Department of Corrections started to offer special training to incarcerated boys. They hired the Mendokers to move into a house on the grounds of the training school. And there they live.

"We knew right off the best thing to do was to give (the inmates) a home-type of environment. . . . We hoped to stabilize their behavior and work on their problems from there," said Anne in an article from the Cranbury Press. And that's what they did.

Over the years, it seems to have been a success. The boys get a sense of responsibility. They respect the Mendokers in large part because the Mendokers respect them. They have group sessions, they have crises, they have good times and bad times—just like most families. "Our best approach," says Anne, "is we'll start with love, with trust, with rapport. And then try to put the therapeutic end of it together."

They've had their shares of disappointments, of course, but for the most part the program has been a brilliant success. The boys— all inner-city youth, many convicted of violent crimes— stay with the Mendokers for the better part of a year; since they started, there have been no assaults, no thefts, and only three escapes. Despite what others may assume, there has been no trouble between the boys and the Mendokers' daughters, either. In fact, each group has had a positive effect on the other.

The Jamesburg facility now comprises three more houses. Richard Mendoker sums up why these houses have been such a success: "We use groups to have the guys make the rules, decide the punishments, influence each other," he says. "In the typical jail, they're expected to be bad. Here, they're expected to be good."

Update: We have no current information on the Mendokers, who were commended in 1988. If you have news of them, please contact us.