‘Crying out for Help:’ Calgary Radicalization Program Evolves to Help Others

Chris Boudreau, whose son converted to Islam and died fighting in Syria, speaks to reporters on Sept. 11, 2014, at a conference on how to prevent the radicalization of Muslim youth. She believes a Calgary program that links at-risk young people with police officers and social workers to steer them away from dangerous ideologies should be mandatory. The Canadian Press/Bill Graveland

CALGARY—The soft-spoken young man wasn’t being recruited by neo-Nazis or the Islamic State, but he was in a downward spiral.

Andy, who asked not to have his real name published, says he hit rock bottom a few years ago when he was 19. He later got help from Calgary’s ReDirect program, which links at-risk young people with police officers and social workers to steer them from dangerous ideologies.