Youth Justice Leaders Achieve Results

The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Juve­nile Jus­tice Applied Lead­er­ship Net­work (ALN) is a rig­or­ous 18-month pro­gram that equips lead­ers to pur­sue mean­ing­ful youth-cen­tered change in the jus­tice sys­tem. The lat­est class of cross-sec­tor lead­ers rep­re­sent­ed four juris­dic­tions: Puer­to Rico; San­ta Cruz Coun­ty, Cal­i­for­nia; Shel­by Coun­ty, Ten­nessee; and Westch­ester Coun­ty, New York. Its work focused on how juve­nile jus­tice prac­ti­tion­ers, sys­tems and com­mu­ni­ties can part­ner to help young peo­ple with jus­tice sys­tem involve­ment thrive in their homes, schools and communities.

Par­tic­i­pant Rubén I. Colón Del­ga­do, a restora­tive men­tor in Puer­to Rico, called the cur­ricu­lum ​“a very sol­id tool box to step up your game of engag­ing part­ners and com­mu­ni­ties to achieve results.”

“ALN is an avenue to help juve­nile jus­tice sys­tems and com­mu­ni­ties work in part­ner­ship to under­stand — and sat­is­fy — the basic needs and aspi­ra­tions of young peo­ple who encounter the legal sys­tem,” said Gail D. Mum­ford, a Foun­da­tion senior asso­ciate. ​“ALNers work to rec­og­nize and dis­man­tle the struc­tur­al bar­ri­ers in the way of young peo­ple hav­ing the sup­port, con­nec­tions and oppor­tu­ni­ties they need to succeed.”

Lead­er­ship in Action

Here’s how the lat­est ALN class approached its work: 

Puer­to Rico

The South Puer­to Rico ALN team aimed to reduce tru­an­cy by 25% among eco­nom­i­cal­ly dis­ad­van­taged youth ages 13–18 by Decem­ber 2026. Col­lab­o­rat­ing with local part­ners and fam­i­lies, it iden­ti­fied school-based men­tor­ing as a promis­ing strat­e­gy. A pilot was launched at Jar­dines de Ponce Pub­lic High School, where 375 of 1,500 stu­dents were at high risk of tru­an­cy. The team pro­vid­ed on-site men­tor­ing to 18 stu­dents, remov­ing trans­porta­tion bar­ri­ers and increas­ing engage­ment. Ear­ly pos­i­tive results led school staff to com­mit to con­tin­u­ing the pro­gram, with a local part­ner mon­i­tor­ing its impact on attendance.

San­ta Cruz Coun­ty, California

The San­ta Cruz Coun­ty team aimed to keep more youth out of the for­mal juve­nile jus­tice sys­tem by strength­en­ing diver­sion to com­mu­ni­ty-based ser­vices. After review­ing data and con­sult­ing a Youth and Fam­i­ly Advi­so­ry Coun­cil, it launched a pilot allow­ing pro­ba­tion intake staff to refer eli­gi­ble youth to local, cul­tur­al­ly aligned pro­grams instead of court. Ear­ly refer­rals have gone to the Com­mu­ni­ty Action Board, and the team is expand­ing ser­vice options by map­ping exist­ing pro­grams and trans­porta­tion routes to improve access.

Shel­by Coun­ty, Tennessee

The Shel­by Coun­ty team focused on expand­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties for youth ages 12–18, start­ing with two ZIP codes that had the high­est arrest rates, par­tic­u­lar­ly between 5 and 9 p.m. It engaged youth on pro­ba­tion to iden­ti­fy desired pro­grams that pri­or­i­tized job train­ing, safe social spaces and activ­i­ties like sports and arts. In response, the team iden­ti­fied local pro­grams and pilot­ed incen­tives for par­tic­i­pa­tion and progress on pro­ba­tion goals. Through youth input, it is refin­ing its approach to include recog­ni­tion, lead­er­ship oppor­tu­ni­ties and devel­op­men­tal­ly appro­pri­ate respons­es, aim­ing to moti­vate rather than punish.

Westch­ester Coun­ty, New York

The Westch­ester Coun­ty team launched the area’s first pros­e­cu­tor-led diver­sion pro­gram to reduce reliance on for­mal court respons­es for minor offens­es. Through a small pilot in Yonkers, attor­neys referred youth to com­mu­ni­ty-based pro­grams, known as Com­mu­ni­ty-Based Con­nec­tions, instead of fil­ing court cas­es. All five ini­tial cas­es were closed suc­cess­ful­ly with­out court appear­ances. The team is track­ing diver­sion rates and out­comes, aim­ing to cut juve­nile delin­quen­cy fil­ings by 25% by 2026. Ear­ly suc­cess has led to the pro­gram’s expan­sion to three addi­tion­al areas, with a long-term goal of build­ing sus­tain­able, youth-focused alter­na­tives to jus­tice sys­tem involve­ment.

A Nation­wide Net­work of Results-Dri­ven Leaders

This group of lead­ers is part of the ALN Alum­ni Net­work, which now includes five cohorts of ALN grad­u­ates. Across 21 states and Puer­to Rico, 76 alum­ni use peer sup­port and col­lab­o­ra­tive learn­ing to strength­en their lead­er­ship capac­i­ties and apply results-dri­ven frame­works in their home organizations.

“ALN was teach­ing us how to be lead­ers,” said par­tic­i­pant Kim­brell Owens, inter­agency manager/​JDAI coor­di­na­tor, Mem­phis and Shel­by Coun­ty Juve­nile Court. ​“Now I think about what I need to do to help oth­ers to come along­side me [toward results], not just me being the one that’s mov­ing reforms along.”

Read About Casey’s Approach to Lead­er­ship Development