Devin Kutil’s Southern California, Orange County life, like most of the young people in his neighborhood, seemed preordained and neatly packaged like the manicured lawns and cookie-cutter homes in their safe havens, where they played Little League, ate hot dogs and gorged on apple pie. 

Reality hit him hard when his parents divorced when he was eight years old.

When his family life changed drastically, Kutil began to act out in rebellious ways. “I had numerous run-ins with the law in my youth that involved substance use, and lots of other delinquency issues,” he said.

Just below the seemingly perfect neighborhood, many families were on the verge of disintegrating, remaining together only for the sake of their children, with workaholic dads and unhappy mothers. Many, like Kutil’s, did become tragically undone. 

A pivotal turning point occurred when his mother took him on a trip to Italy during his at-risk stage of life and encouraged him to broaden his horizons by seeing life outside of the narrow confines of his Orange County upbringing. “That journey reignited my passion for learning and set me on a new path to college, and I eventually began the study of sociology,” Kutil said.

The study of this academic discipline is where he found his vision and voice, while gaining a better understanding of the disparities in socio-cultural dynamics that would become his life’s mission. After earning a degree, Kutil began a 15-year career in social work, starting to work with incarcerated youth reentering their communities in Chico. He also began serving the unhoused communities in shelter facilities in that area, eventually becoming the lead case manager for the Department of Juvenile Justice for 2.5 years.

Since 2022, Kutil has been using his experience to make a difference in the lives of incarcerated men at the California Men’s Colony and at-risk youth in San Luis Obispo County through the Rising Scholars Program.

Cuesta College has graduated 421 CMC Rising Scholars students since 2015. Kutil’s cause of restorative justice is not an easy one, and it’s not the path to earthly wealth, but it does enrich those who embrace the opportunity of hope he brings into the high walls and grey bars of the California Men’s Colony.

“I just want to thank [Kutil] for seeing me as a person and helping me through my journey…and just for giving me hope when I needed it,” said a Rising Scholars student who recently paroled and is on his way to university studies after a couple more courses at Cuesta.

“Devin’s passion for helping the students in this program is exemplary,” said Rene  Moncada, associate director of instruction for Rising Scholars. “His people skills and the way he relates to all people on their level. His superior organizational skills have been invaluable in making the program grow and survive in a difficult fiscal environment.”

“Helping a regular student – a general population student – succeed..is great, and they can go on and they can be productive members of society. They can provide for their families, live their dreams, and do their thing,” Kutil said. “But when you take individuals who are deemed as negative assets – those who have caused extreme traumas to themselves and their communities – when that person can change, when that person is given hope and resources as an opportunity to lift themselves and rehabilitate – to lift their family, or maybe help a kid, or a brother, or someone else get off that same path, that’s the goal and the power of what we do.”