Youth for Juvenile Justice Reform
By Lea Nepomuceno
BACKGROUND
As reported by the ACLU, 0.3% of juveniles in California are incarcerated every day; indicating that an average of 2,100 kids are brought into the system each week, resulting in an average of 109,000 kids entering the system each year. In fact, California has the fifth highest rate in terms of condemned youth, making the need for Juvenile Justice Reform exceedingly prevalent in this day and age.
Faults in the juvenile justice system such as the school-prison pipeline have caused great harm amongst millions of American youth. Fueled by zero tolerance policies and the presence of police officers at school, the school-prison pipeline is a system deeply and negatively affecting millions of students nationwide and continues to be one of the greatest faults of America’s juvenile justice system. Made worse by school funding cuts that overburden counselors and high-stake tests that stress teachers, zero tolerance policies have resulted in the suspensions, expulsions, and arrests of tens of millions of public school students.
Faults in the juvenile justice system such as the school-prison pipeline have caused great harm amongst millions of American youth. Fueled by zero tolerance policies and the presence of police officers at school, the school-prison pipeline is a system deeply and negatively affecting millions of students nationwide and continues to be one of the greatest faults of America’s juvenile justice system. Made worse by school funding cuts that overburden counselors and high-stake tests that stress teachers, zero tolerance policies have resulted in the suspensions, expulsions, and arrests of tens of millions of public school students.
OUR INITIATIVE
Youth for Juvenile Justice Reform, is a for youth, by youth initiative, whose mission is to break the stigma on formerly incarcerated youth everywhere. In the summer of 2019, through the Joan B. Kroc Institute of Peace and Justice, founders Anusha Kadiyala, Arshvi Shah, Lea Nepomuceno, Valeria Colin Rill, Sophia Gawle, Lucas Walsh and Kaseba Chibweth came together to interview various formerly incarcerated individuals who have since grown to be integral parts of their community and utilize their passions to spread awareness about the juvenile justice system. Today, Youth for Juvenile Justice Reform has launched numerous efforts to address the juvenile justice issues in America by utilizing their social media platform to inform hundreds of individuals about the defective system and how they can help.
HOW YOUTH CAN HELP
So how can us youth help? Schools and families have the power to divert students from the school-prison pipeline. It will take work and various actions, but it can be done by taking these steps:
- Explain infractions and the prescribed punishments to the student body.
- Encourage teachers to recognize positive behavior.
- Work with the police departments and court system to limit arrests at school.
- Use home and family interventions designed to create behavior modifications for both students and families.
- Train teachers on using positive behavior modifications for both students and families.
Podcast episode can be found here.
Lea Nepomuceno is a co-founder and Head of Marketing for the community organization, Youth for Juvenile Justice Reform. As a rising sophomore, Lea works with various youth advocates locally and nationwide in efforts to raise awareness on juvenile justice reform, and most recently gun violence prevention at the Johns Hopkins University.
Lea Nepomuceno is a co-founder and Head of Marketing for the community organization, Youth for Juvenile Justice Reform. As a rising sophomore, Lea works with various youth advocates locally and nationwide in efforts to raise awareness on juvenile justice reform, and most recently gun violence prevention at the Johns Hopkins University.