October is Youth Justice Action Month (#YJAM2024)! YJAM is an annual campaign that brings together advocates, youth, and allies to raise awareness about the needs of young people impacted by the justice system. This month-long observance features a variety of digital and in-person events to inspire action for reform.
Theme: YOUth Are Worth It
The theme highlights the belief that young people deserve comprehensive community resources to thrive. It encourages stakeholders—youth, families, and advocates—to collectively reimagine systems of support, healing, and restorative justice that prioritize youth over punitive, carceral approaches.
Highlight: YOUth Are Worth It Video Series
Presented by the National Youth Justice Network (NYJN) and the Coalition for Juvenile Justice (CJJ), this video series explores the youth justice movement, with episodes covering topics like youth leadership, community safety, investment in youth, racial justice, and healing.
-
Episode 1 - Youth Are Worth Being Heard. Youth justice advocates discuss the importance of centering youth leadership in advocacy spaces. Video Link
-
Episode 2 - Youth Are Worth Keeping Safe. Youth justice advocates discuss a transformational vision of community safety that moves away from failed carceral models of youth punishment towards building resourceful and abundant communities. Video Link
-
Episode 3 - Youth Are Worth Investment - Why the JJDPA Matters. Youth justice leaders discuss the transformative power that the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act has had as a federal protection for young people in the legal system, and why it's crucial to reauthorize during this 50th year marking of the cornerstone legislation. Video Link
-
Episode 4 - Youth Are Worth Racial Justice. In Episode 4, youth justice leaders and experts discuss the history and contemporary repercussions of systemic racism in the foundation of the youth legal system and the ways youth of color are viewed and disproportionately impacted. Video Link
-
Episode 5 - Youth Are Worth Healing. In Episode 5, leaders and experts discuss why it's critical to move youth justice away from punishment toward healing. When talking about forms of justice it can be easy to focus on wrongdoing and discipline. But, by doing this we miss out on important opportunities of honoring beautiful human beings who make up that space in the first place. As our finale, this video will focus on the power of self-love in continuing to define progress. Video Link
Congressman Tony Cárdenas (CA-29), Congressman David Trone (MD-06), and Congresswoman Gwen Moore (WI-04) introduced a resolution designating October 2024 as National Youth Justice Action Month. The resolution sheds light on the collateral consequences youth face when they are treated as adults in the criminal justice system and encourages the Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to prioritize rehabilitation and support over wasteful incarceration. Earlier this week, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) introduced a companion resolution in the U.S. Senate.
“It should be our nation’s highest priority to build a brighter future for our youth. As a nation with the highest youth incarceration rate, this priority is even more vital,” said Congressman Trone. “During National Youth Justice Action Month, we recommit ourselves to calling for accountability in our justice system and focusing on compassionate, effective policies to ensure everyone is given the chance to achieve the American Dream. We cannot accept the status quo – let’s get to work.”
“Youth Justice Action Month is an opportunity to lift up and call for juvenile justice reforms that help young people grow, develop, and become their best selves,” said Congresswoman Moore. “This resolution reaffirms this as a key priority, which will benefit all our communities.”
“Kids who end up in the legal system deserve a fair shot at a brighter future. Yet, too often, our system fails them – particularly young people of color and those with disabilities,” said Senator Whitehouse, a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a former Rhode Island Attorney General and U.S. Attorney. “During National Youth Justice Action Month, we recommit to building a justice system focused on meaningful rehabilitation and redemption for all of our young people.”
“The Coalition for Juvenile Justice is grateful for Rep. Cardenas's steadfast commitment to youth justice,” said Executive Director, Melissa Milchman. “YJAM is a time to educate about how far we have come as a country and how far we have left to go in youth justice reform. It is also a time to inspire action to ensure youth and communities have the resources, tools, and supports they need to thrive. As we acknowledge the 50th anniversary of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act this year, we are pleased to see Congress' continued commitment to youth and their communities."
“Strong families and supportive communities are the key to safety and opportunity for young people,” said Lisette Burton, Chief Policy and Practice Advisor for the Association of Children's Residential & Community Services and Co-Chair of the Act4JJ Coalition. “We appreciate that the House of Representatives, through the longstanding leadership of Congressman Cárdenas, is recognizing Youth Justice Action Month as a time to underscore what our courts have affirmed: children are different from adults, and our policies and systems must reflect that truth.”
“As we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the JJDPA this Youth Justice Action Month, we challenge members of Congress and leaders nationwide to invest in trauma-informed, healing-centered solutions for youth in our communities. Through decades of research, we know that prioritizing services within the community rather than investing in the prison pipeline creates safer communities for everyone. We thank the members of Congress who continue to show a steady commitment to ensuring youth and families have what they need to thrive,” said Tracey Tucker, Executive Director at the National Youth Justice Network.
Congressman Cárdenas has long been a leader on juvenile justice issues, beginning with his time in the California State Assembly when he co-authored and passed AB 1913, the Schiff-Cárdenas Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act. This law provided local communities with approximately $120 million per year, the single largest appropriation of state funds for youth crime prevention in the history of the United States. Now in Congress, he is the founder and chairman of the Youth Justice Caucus, working to support at-risk youth and fix the major problems in the United States juvenile justice system.
To read the resolution, click
here.