We can end youth incarceration. We’ve already started.
Communities nationwide are organizing like our future depends on it.
Youth First Justice Collaborative (YFJCo) fuels a united movement of youth leaders, organizers and campaigns working to end youth incarceration.
Our shared vision: No kids in prison.
Youth First Justice Collaborative’s 2024 Grassroots Assembly
The Movement
Organizers are protecting youth nationwide.
A movement made up of 18 State Partners, including directly impacted youth organizers and mentors, have closed nine youth facilities, initiated plans for seven more closures and redirected $8 million to community initiatives.
Meet our State Partners
How We Work
We’re fueling the movement at its core.
Youth First is a vital hub for campaign development. We propel state campaigns forward, prioritizing the leadership of youth directly affected by the criminal legal system and advocating for the end of youth incarceration.
How we work
Training & Capacity Building
We provide organizing training, political education, base-building skills and funding to our partners, and unite organizers across the country.
The Youth Hub @ YFJCo
Through opportunities such as the Block x Block Fellowship & Youth Leadership Advisory Board, young people lead & inform the movement.
Funding
We funnel resources to intergenerational basebuilding organizations leading youth decarceration campaigns across the country.
The State of the System
The research is clear: Youth prisons don’t work.
Young people in prison are isolated from family, loved ones and community to the tune of more than $200,000 taxpayer dollars per child. That’s 1250% more than we spend on average to educate a child, all to fund a system that’s failing.
Our Vision
A future without youth prisons isn’t a dream. It’s a reality.
In cities and states across the country, communities have already created alternatives to putting kids in prison. We can replicate those models, protecting kids, saving money and reducing crime.
