In a nation that has the highest youth incarceration rate in the world, and where 70% percent of youth in lock-up return to jail as adults, it’s clear that our system is broken and desperately needs fixing. LIKE ANY OTHER KID is a cinema vérité documentary film that brings audiences deep inside juvenile incarceration facilities that use the Missouri approach, a treatment program in which staff provides the simple basics of structure, guidance, and kindness to incarcerated youth. LIKE ANY OTHER KID follows the relationships between youth and the staff who care for them in Morgan Hill, California, Bridge City, Louisiana, and New York City, New York over the course of two years. Audiences will get to know the kids intimately: their lives before jail, their relationships and struggles, and their hopes and dreams for the future. Viewers will also get to know the unsung heroes in these children’s lives: the staff, who work with them 24-7, forging the most trusting relationships many of these kids have ever had. LIKE ANY OTHER KID will show us the great potential of America’s incarcerated youth if we let them be just that: like any other kid. 

VSM Productions produces social issue documentary films from the psychological perspective. LIKE ANY OTHER KID is VSM Productions’ third film. To learn more about us, click here.

You can make a tax deductible contribution to LIKE ANY OTHER KID through our fiscal sponsor, Fractured Atlas, by clicking here.