DAYTON, Ohio (AP) - Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. has helped celebrate the four-year extension in Ohio of a mentoring program aimed at juvenile crime prevention.
Seventy-five young participants in the Badges for Baseball program came from Dayton, Lima and Hamilton to attend a youth clinic Sunday with Ripken, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and law enforcement mentors.
The Badges for Baseball juvenile crime prevention program was created by the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice. It works to reshape the relationship between law enforcement and young people across the country by pairing children with police.
The program adopted in Ohio in 2011 is now in Canton, Dayton, Hamilton, Lima, Lorain, Springfield, Youngstown and Zanesville.
The foundation uses baseball- and softball-themed activities to teach life lessons.
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