Jose M. deOlivares has spent the past forty years
helping teenagers 
straighten out their lives.
In 1985, he founded Streetwise, Inc., to provide technical assistance
and training to staff and others working with difficult-to-serve
youth. He currently helps to shape national youth policy as a
regional director, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and
Training Administration, Office of Job Corps.
Visit Jose at www.bringthembackalive.net.
PageOneLit.com: Where did you grow up and
have reading and writing always been a part of
your life?
Jose M. deOlivares: I was born in New York
City and grew up in the South Bronx. My family moved to the south
shore of Long Island when I was a teenager. I’ve always
enjoyed reading and writing, although, I never aspired to become
a writer.
PageOneLit.com: What did you like to read
when you were a young boy?
Jose M. deOlivares: I read all sorts of
books when I was young…mysteries, adventures, sports stories
and a lot of non-fiction. I’ve always found reading a book
to be a good way to learn about a subject that interests me.
PageOneLit.com: What was the last book you
read?
Jose M. deOlivares: In The Moon of Red Ponies
by James Lee Burke.
PageOneLit.com: You have spent the past
40 years working with teenagers to help them get their lives
back in order. How did you get into that line of work?
Jose M. deOlivares: I was a juvenile delinquent
when I was growing up in the South Bronx. My life was a lot like
West Side Story, but I was one of the lucky ones. I had adults
around me who cared about me and who knew how to help me turn
my life around before I wound up dead or in jail. Many of my
friends at the time weren’t as lucky. When I completed my
education and started thinking about a career, I guess I was
just drawn to helping other young people turn their lives around.
I’ve worked in law enforcement, drug treatment and prevention,
education and, for the past 24 years, in Job Corps.
PageOneLit.com: In 1985 you founded Streetwise,
Inc. What is the mission of this company and how does it serve
youth?
Jose M. deOlivares: Streetwise, Inc. was
a vehicle for teaching people how to communicate effectively
with troubled and troublesome teenagers. I worked with teachers,
counselors, police officers and occasionally with parents. I
gave it up when I was offered a position as Director of the Detroit
Job Corps Center. That job led to my being appointed Regional
Director for the U.S. 
Department of
Labor, Office of Job Corps in Dallas, Texas, where I was responsible
for 24 Job Corps centers in 11 states. I retired from the federal
government this year and am currently President of Alternate
Perspectives, Inc., a woman-owned, small business dedicated to
helping individuals and organizations achieve their goals and
realize their dreams by providing new ways of thinking to create
new ways of doing.
PageOneLit.com: Please tell us a little
about your book, "Bring Them Back Alive: Helping Teens Get
Out and Stay Out of Trouble."
Jose M. deOlivares: "Bring Them Back
Alive" is about, as the title implies, understanding why
teenagers get in trouble and helping them get out of trouble
before they wind up dead or in jail.
PageOneLit.com: What inspired you to put
your many years of experience and knowledge into a book?
Jose M. deOlivares: There just seemed to
be a real need for this information. Everywhere I went people
were concerned about their kids getting into trouble; and they
didn’t seem to know what to do to help them get out and
stay out of trouble. People were always very interested when
I talked about what I did for a living and many of them asked
if there was something they could read that would help them deal
with the teenagers in their lives. Most of the books that were
available on the subject focused on all the things that were
wrong with our society and contributed to teens getting into
trouble. That isn’t much help to a mother who thinks her
daughter is smoking marijuana or her son has joined a gang. So,
I decided to put my experience down on paper in a way that people
who have teenage children, or work with teenagers, can use it
to help the teens in their lives get out and stay out of trouble.
PageOneLit.com: What is it that makes teenagers
cross the line from the "mainstream" to the "street?"
Is there anything a parent can do to prevent their teenager from
even getting to this point?
Jose M. deOlivares: First you have to understand
that there are two Americas, two very different societies in
this country that are separated by the fundamental principle
on which this nation was founded – the principle of law.
One society is the "mainstream." It consists of those
people who choose to live
their lives within the parameters of the law. The other society
calls itself the "street." It consists of those people
who choose to live their lives without regard for the "mainstream’s"
laws. When teens get in trouble, what they’re actually doing
is crossing the line from the "mainstream" to the "street."
There are lots of reasons that happens, but basically it’s
because they don’t believe they can get what they need in
the "mainstream." If we can show them how to get what
they need in the "mainstream," they won’t have
to cross the line to the "street."
PageOneLit.com: What is the "Streetwise
Strategy" and what makes it effective?
Jose M. deOlivares: The "Streetwise
Strategy" is what works. I wish I could tell you I invented
it, but I didn’t. It’s what worked with me and helped
me turn my life around; and it has worked for me and enabled
me to help thousand of other teenagers turn their lives around.
In consist of three steps – establishing a nonthreatening
relationship with the teens you’re trying to help, imposing
the consequences of their behavior, and redirecting the talents
and abilities they are using to survive in the "street"
society so that they can be successful in the "mainstream."
PageOneLit.com: In "Bring Them Back
Alive" you talk about redirecting the talents and abilities
teens are using on the "street" so that they can be
successful in the "mainstream." Will you give us an
example of this? And how does a parent get a teenager to redirect
his or her talents and abilities?
Jose M. deOlivares: What I’m talking
about is recognizing the talents and abilities teens are using
to commit crimes and redirecting those talents and abilities
so that they can be successful in the "mainstream."
For example, it takes a lot of manual dexterity to pick someone’s
pocket and not get caught. It takes the same kind of manual dexterity
to be a good jeweler or watchmaker… or magician, for that
matter. Teens pick pockets to get money. If they could use those
same talents to fix watches, and get money that way, they wouldn’t
have to pick pockets. How parents can help their children redirect
their talents and abilities is ultimately what the book is all
about.
PageOneLit.com: Your last chapter is devoted
to "Drugs, Gangs, and Violence." Which comes first?
How are "the big three" related?
Jose M. deOlivares: It isn’t a matter
of which comes first. Drugs, gangs and violence are "street"
versions of acceptable "mainstream" behavior. We don’t
have a problem with using drugs to feel better, belonging
to a group or with violence in the "mainstream," as
long it’s legal. For example, we love to watch people knock
other people down in the boxing arena or on the football field.
We just don’t want them to do that in a mall. So it’s
not about drugs, gangs and violence. It’s about what is
legal and what isn’t…about getting what you need "on
the street" or in the "mainstream."
PageOneLit.com: What is your advice to a
parent who drinks on how they should let their kids know that
drugs are not OK?
Jose M. deOlivares: Parents have to understand
that their actions speak louder than their words. Telling kids
to "Do as I say, not as I do," just doesn’t work.
The very popular George Foreman, who grew up on the "street"
in Houston, Texas and turned his life around in Job Corps, said
it best. "The most powerful lesson in the world is an example."
PageOneLit.com: What do you hope readers
walk away with after reading "Bring Them Back Alive?"
Jose M. deOlivares: I want readers to walk
away with hope. There is something they can do to help the teens
in their lives get out and stay out of trouble. You have to work
at the "Streetwise Strategy" in order to get it to
work for you, but it does work.
PageOneLit.com: Have you found that teenagers
- in addition to parents - are reading your book? What has been
the reader reaction so far?
Jose M. deOlivares: I encourage parents
to share the book with their teenagers and then talk about what
they’ve read. Teenagers say the book is "real"
and they want the adults in their lives to understand their "reality."
Talking about the book is a good way to get at the issues that
exist between parents and their kids without all the emotional
baggage.
PageOneLit.com: When you're not working,
what are your favorite ways to relax?
Jose M. deOlivares: I’m a horseman
and a fencer. I compete nationally in the Veterans Division of
the United States Fencing Association and have a young dressage
horse I’m training for the show ring.
PageOneLit.com: Do you have any final thoughts
to share with us?
Jose M. deOlivares: I sincerely hope people
who have teenagers in their lives will read this book. I truly
believe it can save young lives, heal families and, if built
into our schools and other institutions, help rebuild communities.
Interview Date: June 22, 2005
