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A new report, "Smart, Safe, Fair II", by the Justice Policy Institute examines four jurisdictions around the country that reformed its juvenile justice systems by shutting down youth prisons and replacing them with community-based approaches that can assist all youth including those who have committed a violent crime. Such successful reform efforts include the creation of broad and inclusive advocacy coalitions that include crime victims/survivors. The workshop will examine the importance of including victim/survivor voices in advocacy efforts and how to effectively work with victims/survivors.

Presenters:
Tyron Walker, Director of Reentry Services, Georgetown University
Aswad Thomas, Vice President, Alliance for Safety and Justice National Director of Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice
Mai Fernandez, Executive Director, of the National Center for Victims of Crime
Kiersten Stewart, Director of Public Policy and Advocacy, Futures Without Violence

Panelists will reflect on how addressing youth behavior through processes that center values, strengths, and goals prior to sharing concerns create a different level of engagement and dignity compared to more traditional probation practices. This positive engagement also creates tailored accountability plans by specifically building on youth strengths and goals as a way to address concerns and make right any harm caused. Panel members will discuss how experiences of the Youth Restorative Justice Disposition Program (YRJDP) affirm research demonstrating adolescents are inherently relational- their behavioral, developmental, and social-emotional wellness and growth are deeply impacted by the quality of their relationships, opportunities, and context.

Presenters:
Cynthia Prosek, Executive Director of Restorative Justice Community Action (RJCA)
Dr. Talaya L. Tolefree, Founder and CEO of Koinonia Leadership Academy
Beau RaRa, Youth Restorative Justice Initiative Lead at the Legal Rights Center
Alyssa Benson, Corrections Program Manager at Hennepin County Juvenile Probation

Join the Columbia Justice Lab’s Youth Justice Initiatives for the launch of their report, Process Matters, Reflections from the development of Harris County’s Youth Justice Community Reinvestment Fund and Recommendations to Guide Future Efforts, and for a discussion on how to design, plan, and implement the reinvestment of youth justice system resources into communities. The panel will feature community members and system leaders from Harris County, Texas discussing how they worked independently and together to conceive of and gain approval for the Fund. In this discussion we will hear considerations and challenges in designing a reinvestment fund and as well as some of the nuts and bolts critical to operationalizing a youth justice reinvestment fund. We will also dig into the groundwork that was critical in making the Fund a success.

The Gault Center and the Georgetown Juvenile Justice Clinic & Initiative invite you to the 2022 Racial Justice Training Series.

Join them for monthly interactive strategy sessions designed to bolster youth defenders’ racial justice advocacy with research, data, and themes from The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth by Kristin Henning.

Each month will focus on a different topic from The Rage of Innocence.

Participants will:
* Develop concrete and actionable strategies to use data, research, and history in individual client representation, policy advocacy, and systemic reform;
* Learn about the most recent data and research on the topic;
* Have an opportunity to submit questions in advance;
* Share local obstacles and potential solutions during the session;
* Receive handouts, including sample motions, pleadings, and updated annotated bibliographies.

While The Rage of Innocence focuses on Black youth, these sessions will also focus on advocacy for Latinx, Indigenous, Native American, and other youth of color.

This month's topic: Advocating for Children and Families in the Era of Mass Incarceration: The Importance of Youth and Family Engagement