Had 19-year-old Jonathan Evans been the perpetrator, rather than the victim, of a vicious beating near Everett Arena this month, he would have ended up in the state prison. There, in exchange for his freedom, he would have received a roof over his head, three meals a day, the possibility of education and treatment for substance abuse.

As the victim of the crime, none of those necessities look certain for Evans any time soon. That's a problem not just for him but for all of us.

Evans, who the police say was beaten by three assailants over a pair of stolen boots and tossed into the Merrimack River, is lucky to be alive. Concord rescue personnel arrived in time to fish him from the river - unconscious - and get him to the hospital. After a short stay, he was free to go. But as the Monitor's Maddie Hanna reported in Monday's paper, where he would land was uncertain - and still is.

How does a 19-year-old in New Hampshire end up homeless, jobless and lost? Evans has struggled his whole young life with learning disabilities and discipline trouble, perhaps caused in part by fetal alcohol syndrome. His teen years were spent in the care of the state, first in a psychiatric facility, then in a juvenile detention center, then in a group home. He tried college briefly but flamed out after too much drinking, too many drugs, too little academic work.

After that - homelessness, which, after years of institutional care, felt like a type of freedom, Evans told Hanna.

People like Evans are difficult to root for. He has been defiant and violent. He has tangled with the police and spent time in jail. He has chosen to live outside - under a bridge, near a shopping center, behind the arena - rather than accept the help and safety that come from shelters and organized charity. His family tried to get him an apartment and some clothing after his recent release from Concord Hospital, but he rejected the help. His adoptive father, Charles Evans, described him like this: "He just wants to make the decisions, and he's not making good ones. He's not an adult in the head."

Yet we must not ignore Evans and others like him - not only for their own good but for ours as well. Whatever the complicated circumstances, it's clear that the state sent Evans off into the world unprepared for adulthood. He is undereducated and without direction. His own family sounds worried about his chances. "I hope things work out for him. I don't want to hear he's got himself killed," Charles Evans said.

Was there a better combination of education, counseling and discipline that might have kept Evans from drinking and drugs, from violence and homelessness? Did he get the advice he needed from teachers and other adults who could show him some better options? Is it too late?

Surely it is in the interest of the state's juvenile justice and child welfare systems to figure out a more successful path for troubled teens like Jonathan Evans. Keeping them out of danger will help keep us all safe.