Register Now for the Opening Sessions of the Justice Link

On June 15 and 16, 2022, the Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion will host four ses­sions on juve­nile jus­tice areas of inter­est: youth entre­pre­neur­ship, skill devel­op­ment for youth-serv­ing pro­fes­sion­als; com­mu­ni­ty part­ner­ships; and firearm harm reduc­tion. This is the launch event for the Jus­tice Link, a vir­tu­al pavil­ion to con­nect peo­ple — inter­ac­tive­ly and in real time — who are pur­su­ing youth well-being, jus­tice and equity.

About Jus­tice Link

“The pan­dem­ic per­ma­nent­ly affect­ed the way we con­nect,” says Gail D. Mum­ford, a senior asso­ciate with the Foundation’s Juve­nile Jus­tice Strat­e­gy Group. ​“While it com­pli­cat­ed our abil­i­ty to gath­er, it did not alter our abil­i­ty to share, con­nect and learn.”

What’s the Jus­tice Link? It’s an inter­ac­tive, engag­ing vir­tu­al com­mu­ni­ty where indi­vid­u­als come to share their work and learn about the work of others.

Who’s it for? It’s for youth jus­tice pro­fes­sion­als and oth­er indi­vid­u­als who want to see youth thrive in their communities.

Who stands to ben­e­fit? Young peo­ple. Strate­gies for con­nect­ing young peo­ple to oppor­tu­ni­ties and pos­i­tive youth devel­op­ment typ­i­cal­ly ben­e­fit when those pur­su­ing them share, con­nect and learn with others.

Why are we excit­ed? The Link repli­cates a con­fer­ence expe­ri­ence, from big ple­nar­ies to small con­ver­sa­tions in the hall­way and impromp­tu hel­los over a beverage.

The Inau­gur­al Event

The inau­gur­al event offers the pro­gram­ming described below, as well as oppor­tu­ni­ties to meet col­leagues across the coun­try, net­work and have fun while learn­ing and shar­ing. The same ses­sions will be offered live both days.

Beyond 16 Bars: Build­ing Youth Entre­pre­neur­ship Through Hip-Hop Cul­ture
How do we tap into the raw poten­tial of our youth to har­ness their innate entre­pre­neur­ial qual­i­ties? This con­ver­sa­tion with the Good Life Youth Foun­da­tion shares its com­pre­hen­sive pro­gram­ming for young peo­ple based on hip-hop. Hear how this com­mu­ni­ty-based orga­ni­za­tion applies pop cul­ture to help youth devel­op their sense of iden­ti­ty and pur­pose — along with busi­ness and finan­cial skills — and how the orga­ni­za­tion mea­sures that it’s mak­ing a dif­fer­ence.

Reimag­in­ing Juve­nile Jus­tice
Inter­est­ed in hon­ing your approach to tough cas­es that require a high degree of cross-sys­tem col­lab­o­ra­tion or coor­di­na­tion? Learn what 800 youth-serv­ing adults already know about a pro­fes­sion­al devel­op­ment oppor­tu­ni­ty specif­i­cal­ly designed for peo­ple work­ing with youth involved in the juve­nile jus­tice sys­tem and their fam­i­lies. The part­ners behind this six-part cur­ricu­lum — called Reimag­in­ing Juve­nile Jus­tice — will share their goals for sup­porting, divert­ing and redi­recting youth to appro­pri­ate and fair jus­tice options. Hear about upcom­ing train-the-train­er and on-line course oppor­tu­ni­ties. Pre­sen­ters include staff from the School & Main Insti­tute plus fac­ul­ty and lead­ers from among the 35 par­tic­i­pat­ing jurisdictions.

A Clos­er Look at Pierce County’s Trans­for­ma­tion
If sto­ries help you learn, join this case-study ses­sion offered by pro­ba­tion lead­ers, staff and com­mu­ni­ty part­ners in Pierce Coun­ty, Wash­ing­ton, home to Taco­ma. Pan­elists will share strate­gies they have used to sup­port young peo­ple in the com­mu­ni­ty, increase the num­ber of young peo­ple han­dled out­side of a for­mal court process and reduce out-of-home place­ments. The ses­sion will examine:

• the tough work of shift­ing orga­ni­za­tion­al culture;
• how to help Black youth suc­ceed on pro­ba­tion instead of placement;
• research that indi­cates young peo­ple respond bet­ter to rewards for progress toward goals than they do to threats of punishment;
• strate­gies for build­ing and main­tain­ing rela­tion­ships with more than 20 com­mu­ni­ty-based part­ners and a fam­i­ly advi­so­ry council;
• how to approach revis­ing pro­ba­tion con­di­tions; and more.

Stick Talk
Are refer­rals in your juris­dic­tion increas­ing due to gun-relat­ed charges? What’s the best response to youth who fear for their own safe­ty and car­ry firearms for pro­tec­tion? Curi­ous about new approach­es and fresh think­ing? Orga­niz­ers from Stick Talk, a com­mu­ni­ty-based orga­ni­za­tion in Chica­go, will talk about their strate­gies for firearm harm reduc­tion, which they devel­oped with the young Black and Lati­no peo­ple they serve.

Reg­is­tra­tion Information

The Jus­tice Link does not replace JDAIcon­nect, the online com­mu­ni­ty for juve­nile jus­tice reform­ers. JDAIcon­nect is avail­able 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for its users to access train­ing on demand; find reports, arti­cles, pre­sen­ta­tions and oth­er doc­u­ments on juve­nile deten­tion reform or youth jus­tice more broad­ly; and seek advice, cama­raderie, peer sup­port or inspiration. 

REG­IS­TER TODAY

What: Inau­gur­al ses­sions of the Jus­tice Link

When: 2 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. ET, Wednes­day, June 15, 2022, and 2 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. ET, Thurs­day, June 16, 2022. 

Reg­is­ter for the event. In June, reg­is­trants will receive the agen­da and the link to access the event.

Ques­tions? Please con­tact events@​aecf.​org.