Youth Initiatives

We invest in young people as leaders within their communities and beyond and support them to reach their self-defined goals.

The Center for Justice Innovation works with youth to create paths to economic mobility, build community safety, and address the inequities and racist policies in the criminal legal system that have disproportionately harmed and criminalized BIPOC youth.

Transformative relationships among staff, young people, and the community are the foundation of the Center’s model. We invest in young people as leaders within their communities and beyond and support them to reach their self-defined goals.

Initiatives

Youth Impact

Youth can be transformative leaders, addressing inequity in their communities and the factors that lead to youth involvement in the criminal legal system.
Identity-Based Initiatives

We provide affirming space for young people to explore their identities, build community, pursue self-care, and access healing spaces with an intersectional lens.
Youth Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprise

Social enterprise and entrepreneurship programs nurture young people’s skills to develop career pipelines and start businesses, solve local problems, and support economic development.
Youth-led Placemaking

Youth-led placemaking forges strong connections between individuals and their environments to create public spaces that foster community well-being.
Youth Arts

Art engages young people to build creativity, skills, and create networking opportunities to support educational and career trajectories.
Youth Action Institute

The Youth Action Institute is a public policy research fellowship that supports young New Yorkers in investigating and testing solutions to the issues and policies that affect their lives
Young Parent Initiative

Young Parent Initiative is a new pilot project of the Center to address the needs of young parents so that they can provide social and economic supports for their young children.

Publications & Digital Media

Label:Publication

"Two Battlefields": Opps, Cops, and NYC Youth Gun Culture

by Elise White, Basaime Spate, Javonte Alexander, and Rachel Swaner

Our study of more than 100 young gun-carriers in Brooklyn identifies fear—for themselves and their loved ones—as the overwhelming factor behind the decision to carry. Under constant threat from other gun-carriers, as well as from police, and deprived of economic opportunities, participants describe a world with vanishingly few options. This report is part of a first-of-its-kind project using street participatory research to explore the socio-cultural roots of gun-carrying in U.S. cities.

Reducing Violence, Reducing Trauma, Addressing Racial Disparities, Youth Initiatives
Label:Video

Queering the Air: A Virtual Panel on LGBTQ+ Youth Experiences in NYC

The Youth Action Institute hosted a virtual panel where they shared their experiences and justice work, and talked about how we can positively impact and center the needs of queer and trans youth.

Youth Initiatives
Label:Publication

Fact Sheet: The Bronx Community Justice Center

The Bronx Community Justice Center works to create a safer, more equitable Bronx through community-driven public safety initiatives, youth opportunity, and economic mobility efforts focused in the South Bronx. Our vision is to support the South Bronx community to become a safe and thriving place where local ownership, community-led investment, and youth opportunity can flourish. The Bronx Community Justice Center works toward this vision by focusing on community safety, restorative practices, and youth and economic development.

Community Justice, Diversion, Placemaking, Reducing Trauma, Reducing Violence, Youth Initiatives

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News

10 Milestones in Community Justice in 2024

Look back at some creative new initiatives, fresh perspectives on justice policy, and milestones in Community Justice from our teams across the Center.
We Don’t Have to Choose Between Safety and Justice

For far too long, we’ve been told that we must choose between justice and safety, that those two goals are in direct competition. Community Justice challenges that false dichotomy, providing a path forward in divided times.
For Brownsville, By Brownsville: B-Live Is Community Justice

B-Live is much more than a typical music festival—it's a shining example of what Community Justice can look like.

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Initiatives

Publications & Digital Media

Publications Results

News

Press Results

We work with reformers around the world.