[fintstone]

I hate to bring this into the discussion...but have you though about church? Although it is not the "cup of tea" for many...zealous church groups are very good at fixing this type of problem...they have endless opportunities for free involvement and will eat up a lot of free time with free activities that are reasonably safe and wholesome...and are an "instant family." IMHO, the baggage that comes with this is miniscule compared to the problems that he has now and it divides the work to get him straightened out and keep him there among many. It would work much better in a smaller town and away from his current "friends."