Kids can get mad, too.

It’s a rising issue among St. Joseph youths, and Debbie King wants to change that.

“There is a tremendous need,” said Ms. King, manager of the Catholic Charities’ T-CAP (Teen Community Awareness Program).

Through T-CAP, Ms. King has implemented a program called Peace Keepers, which is geared toward children who are dealing with their anger. And she’s even stepped it up a notch, asking for parent involvement, too.

“Parents don’t realize they have helped create them,” she said. “The behavior won’t go away. It will just change forms.”

And Ms. King has great compassion for struggling parents dealing with a troubled child.

The Peace Keepers program is conducted twice a month for about four hours. During those sessions, parents and children learn where the anger comes from, how it affects them and others, and what the appropriate steps are to deal with it.

Children as young as 5 and as old as 16 are meeting with Ms. King and her staff. Some youths are referred to her by the juvenile court system.

“These kids are already starting out in a deficit,” she said.

Time after time, Ms. King hears about children’s behavior at home, acting out at school. It’s a perpetual cycle.

“It’s just kids acting out because they’re angry,” she said.

Ms. King said she hopes to grow the program and break down some of the cycles. She said children often learn what they see, and it takes some work to break the cycle. She remains positive and said her Peace Keepers program does work.

T-CAP is a Catholic Charities-sponsored program designed to bring HIV/AIDS and drug awareness to area youths. It serves children from 5 to 16 years of age and their families. Youths not only learn drug awareness, but life skills. T-Cap also offers counseling services for youths and their families.

The organization partners with the Bartlett Center to provide dances and other activities for youths on Saturdays. But it needs volunteers and mentors.

T-CAP is open Tuesday through Friday evenings from 5 to 7 p.m. For more information or to volunteer, call 232-1930 or 232-2885.

Catholic Charities is one of the service organizations that receives funding from the United Way of Greater St. Joseph. The News-Press is featuring local stories to help showcase the works of the United Way during its annual campaign.

Jennifer Hall can be reached at jennhall@npgco.com.