2 Questions
What is the Youth First Initiative and how has it impacted the juvenile justice system in the US?
The Youth First Initiative is a national advocacy campaign founded by Liz Ryan that aims to close youth prisons and redirect funding to community-based alternatives to incarceration. It has successfully closed youth prisons in six states and redirected over $50 million to community-based alternatives.
How does a lack of employment opportunity post-incarceration affect young people and their families, particularly those of color?
A lack of employment opportunity post-incarceration can compound the economic stressors that accumulate for young incarcerated people and their families. People with criminal records have a harder time getting hired, and the odds are even worse for people of color who have been incarcerated. This can lead to increased economic instability and further perpetuate the cycle of incarceration.
Study Notes
- The number of young Americans in juvenile detention has dropped by 77% over the last two decades.
- Young people still face barriers that make it difficult to successfully reenter society after their release from incarceration.
- Liz Ryan founded the Youth First Initiative, a national advocacy campaign that helped close youth prisons in six states and redirected more than $50 million to community-based alternatives to incarceration.
- A clean record is integral to a young person's ability to move through life unhindered by stigma.
- People with criminal records have a harder time getting hired, and the odds are even worse for people of color who have been incarcerated.
- A lack of employment opportunity post-incarceration can compound the economic stressors that accumulate for young incarcerated people and their families.
- Young people are racking up enormous fees and enormous fines while they're in the justice system, while they're incarcerated.
- Fines and fees actually increase recidivism.
- Ryan plans to invest more resources into culturally competent, community-based services to relieve state and local municipalities from spending the most amount of their resources on a strategy that produces the worst outcomes.
- It's critical for young people leaving detention or correctional facilities to get reconnected right away to their families, communities, community-based supports, educational opportunities, and employment opportunities.
Are you aware of the challenges young people face after being released from juvenile detention? Take this quiz to test your knowledge on the barriers they encounter and the solutions advocated by the Youth First Initiative. Discover how a clean record and access to community-based alternatives can help young people successfully reintegrate into society. Learn more about the impact of fines and fees and the importance of employment opportunities for young people leaving detention. Take the quiz and gain insight into how we can create a brighter future for our youth.
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