Youth Justice Reimagined
Youth Justice Reimagined: In November 2020, as a part of Youth Justice Reimagined and “Care First, Jails Last”, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors committed to invest $75 Million to youth development. In April 2021, LA County CEO Fesia Davenport called Youth Justice Reimagined “premature” and allocated $0 for Youth Development but gave $1 Billion to the Probation Department and $3.3 Billion to the Sheriff’s Department.
LA County… Can we trust you?
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Youth Justice Reimagined is a groundbreaking vision for how we can transform our system of youth punishment into one that cuts to the root of youth incarceration and provides for safety, healing and wellbeing. For too long, juvenile incarceration and supervision in LA County has disproportionately harmed and traumatized young people, 90% of which are youth of color, while wasting hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars each year on an ineffective and unaccountable system. Sign up above to show your support.
The Youth Justice Work Group, a diverse group of community and county stakeholders (including LAYUP), worked for ten months to propose Youth Justice Reimagined as the next step towards transformation of Los Angeles County’s juvenile justice system. Youth Justice Reimagined is a comprehensive approach to transform and improve outcomes for youth and community that prioritizes equity and accountability, recognizes the need for healing-informed responses in all systems that impact youth, and provides coordination and resources to further expand youth development across the County.
Youth Justice Reimagined proposes critical elements to transforming our system:
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- Transferring all youth out of our Probation system and into a new county Department of Youth Development within five years
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Reinvesting $75 million of Probation’s $500 million juvenile operations budget to launch the new department, and continuing to divert Probation funds into the new department and community-based services
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Immediately phasing out Probation-run diversion programs and school-based supervision
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Uplifting the need for a restorative approach and a youth development workforce with similar lived experiences to the youth being served, such as credible messengers and peacebuilders
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Committing to continued collaboration, transparency and centering youth and community voices for shared accountability
Youth Justice Reimagined is long overdue, and it is the right thing to do. The time is now. Sign up in the section above to pledge your support and receive important updates.