About

For the last 40 years I’ve worked with at-risk kids, kids “in the system”–foster care, group homes, homeless shelters; psych hospitals, drug rehab; special education, alternative high schools. I am also a writer. Many times the young people I have met in my work become a part of my writing. I Don’t Wish Nobody to Have a Life Like Mine: Tales of Kids in Adult Lockup (Beacon Press) is a collection of sketches of some of the locked away teenagers I taught over my ten years working in an adult county prison. My writing has appeared in the New York Times, Mother Jones and Education Next as well as many literary and scholarly journals and anthologies. I am a regular contributor on education and criminal justice for Huffington Post and Daily Kos.

I  have done readings and led discussions on juvenile justice and kids at risk at community gatherings, libraries and churches as well at professional conferences. I have also spoken in various college and university classes on a wide variety of topics in the field of criminal justice and education. I am available for readings and for speaking engagements on these important topics. I can be contacted at davidchura2@gmail.com.