Carter gives credit to Lighthouse. Had he served time in traditional lockup, or had he been subject to bindover and sent to adult prison, he surmises, his life might look very different. He’s not wasting his second chance. “The charges I had, they expected me to come back, but I didn’t,” Carter says, four months post-release. “That proves people can change if they want to.”

The reason he thinks he's made it through, “It’s faith. There’s a reason. I feel like I was supposed to go to Paint Creek. I honestly feel like I wouldn’t be the young man I am today. I feel like I wouldn’t think how I think. I wouldn’t move how I move. I feel like I really needed that time to evaluate myself as a person and find out who I am.”