Youth Initiatives News Archive

As program associate of the Youth Justice Board, Jennelle Ramdeen helps young people acquire skills to research and make recommendations about public policy issues that affect their lives. She teaches participants “how to think critically, make connections, [and] have the tools to analyze and be responsible researchers." 

Welcome to Newark Youth Court, where a jury of your peers is just that.

With significant reforms aimed at reducing the harms of the justice system passed in New York State, Adam Mansky, our director of criminal justice, outlines three of our programs already in place that also represent a positive vision of what justice can look like.

A video profile of our Newark Youth Court, where young people hear low-level cases involving their peers.

As part of a feature on approaches to justice "that emphasize communication over incarceration," a profile of our youth court at the Red Hook Community Justice Center.

A feature on helping young people avoid involvement with the justice system highlights our work operating restorative justice programs in five New York City high schools with elevated suspension rates.

An audio profile of Project Reset, our diversion program for low-level offenses, begun as a pilot project for teens, now expanding Manhattan-wide for all ages.

A profile of the remarkable multi-year project—part augmented reality, part oral history—of the young coders at our Brownsville Community Justice Center.

A report on our Community Court Grant Program partner, the Restorative Justice Community Court, and its work, inspired by the Red Hook Community Justice Center, to create a new form of accountability for youthful defendants on Chicago's West Side.