The Night My Sister Saved Me

OK, this is a hard one for me to write for a number of reasons, chief among them being the fact that I must hold myself accountable, as well as be held by all who will read this.

Community Partnership, Hard Work Can Create True Reforms

Cultivating true partnership between law enforcement and community-based providers can support the evolution of these critical systems. We suggest having strong community allies embedded within systems to ensure that policy changes are discussed and implemented as a way to make and sustain systemic change.

electronic monitoring: Marie Williams (headshot), senior program officer at the Stoneleigh Foundation, smiling woman with necklace, earrings, pink top

A New Strategy for Juvenile Justice Reform: Local Leadership, Incremental Change

We may not get the hoped-for commitment on juvenile justice reform from the federal government. Despite the best efforts of national advocacy groups, the era of large-scale national reform may well be at an end.
But that doesn’t have to mean a halt, or even a slowing of the wave of reform. There are now unprecedented Left-Right-and-Center coalitions at the state and local levels all around the country that agree on the fundamentals.

What Will a Science-hostile President Mean for Justice Reform?

Concern about how the next administration will deal with criminal justice reform is well-justified. But possibly the most troubling clue to the policies of a Trump administration is contained in the attitudes of the president-elect to science.

We Will Support Black, Brown Men Now More Than Ever

We will continue to lift our voices when we see the narrative for our young black and brown men being framed from the lens of criminal behavior, and not from a place of healing, with little to no acknowledgement of the systemic racism and trauma that this population has been through. It is our duty as social workers to fight this fight.

Mentor, Live-in Center Crucial for Reentry Young People

They crave love, support and someone to look after them. More times than not, this does not exist for them. The same negative behaviors that existed before, including drug use to numb their feelings of insecurity, begin again.