It is a program that is being experimented nationwide.
The Hampden County District Attorney's Office is celebrating the early success of an alternative-to-incarceration program.
Twenty-four-year-old Carlton Ford of Springfield became the first graduate earlier this winter from the Emerging Adult Court of Hope.
Ford was facing two years in jail for carrying a gun without a license.
Hampden D.A. Anthony Gulluni says there are only a few programs in the country like this one.
Currently, there are eight other participants.
(Photo Credit: Hampden County District Attorney)