From Bakersfield Now. By Lena Folke.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — After over a year of operation, the Arts Council of Kern received $60,000 in funding the Arts4Rehabiltation project, to continue providing incarcerated youth with artistic methods to express themselves.

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Board of Supervisors District 5, and Kern Family Health held a joint press conference to discuss the program’s present success, and how the additional funding will allow for more opportunities upon release.

“This is not a paint by numbers program,” said Bill Dickinson, Chief Probation Officer for Kern County Probation Department, “They discover new ways to communicate and connect.”

The program features music, journaling, audio/visual classes, songwriting sessions, graphic design, and more.

Sean Navejas, media arts director of the Arts Council, teaches hip-hop writing and film; Throughout the course of the program, he said his students have become more hopeful for their future.

“It’s incredible to hear some of the stuff they’ve overcome,” Navejas said, “what started as simple rhymes have turned into deep heartfelt stories.”

The council said they hope the teens will exit the program and incarceration, with a creative economy job.

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Read the full story here and watch video coverage.