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 Court 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 Justice Board

The Youth Justice Board is an after-school leadership development program that helps New York City teenagers study a public policy issue affecting young people.

Publications & Digital Media

Publication
All Eyes on Us: Youth Surveillance and Social Media

by Kianna Ortiz, Ananya Roy, Nia Cabassa, Aaliyah Daniels, Ella Dassin, Osvaldo Garcia, Evelyn Javier, Alexis Lanysse, Clyde Morgan, Melisa Ruiz, and Nicole Smith

The Youth Justice Board, teenagers from across New York City who investigate a current justice system or public safety issue, looked into social media and how police and schools use it for surveillance. Researching the actions and policies of the justice and school systems in New York City, the Board outline the serious consequences surveillance has on young people, identify opportunities to protect, educate, and support youth, and provide specific policy recommendations to address these concerns.

Youth Initiatives
Publication
Youth Involvement in the Sex Trade

With funding from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Center for Court Innovation conducted a multi-site study designed to increase scientific knowledge concerning youth involvement in the sex trade. Nearly 1,000 youth, ages 13-24, were interviewed across six sites on subjects including entry into the sex trade, earning a living, finding customers, involvement of pimps and market facilitators, health issues and service needs, interactions with law enforcement, and outlook for the future.

Human Trafficking, Parent Support, Supporting Child Victims, Youth Initiatives
Audio
Guns, Young People, Hidden Networks

by Matt Watkins

Why do some young people carry guns? It's a difficult question to answer. People in heavily-policed neighborhoods with high rates of violence aren't generally enthusiastic about answering questions about guns. On New Thinking, hear from three of the authors of a year-long study we led into young people and guns. The findings are disturbing, but if the goal is to learn from marginalized communities themselves what help they need, no less important is the way the research was conducted.

Addressing Racial Disparities, Reducing Violence, Youth Initiatives

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News

5 Ways to Protect Your Digital Identity when Learning Remotely
The judge, jury and lawyers are kids. But punishments are real

November 18, 2019
NJ.com

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

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