WHAT ARE GROUNDING PRACTICES? Grounding practices are simple, evidence-informed techniques that help bring your attention back to the present moment and restore a sense of safety and stability in your body. They work by interrupting the stress response and reconnecting you to your physical senses, your breath, and the environment around you. For advocates, care workers, and directly impacted individuals, the nervous system is regularly activated by exposure to injustice, seco

Reprinted with permission from the Maryland Youth Rights & Safety Hub. When I toured the Evening Reporting Center (ERC) run by Pride Youth Services (PYS) in Rockville last year, their CEO, Ludley Howard, told us, “We are each other’s keeper.” That spirit was evident in the inviting space that PYS had created and the staff’s rapport with the young people there. ERCs are a community-based alternative to confinement—both prior to and after trial—for youth in the juvenile justice

Many state legislative sessions are well underway this year, addressing a range of critical issues that could redefine youth justice for years to come. We invite you to share policies that are being considered in your state so that we can track, respond, and advocate together for what young people need most. Age of Jurisdiction The Virginia General Assembly has passed SB 18 that would establish a minimum age for juvenile delinquency of 11 years old! Virginia currently has no

Election season will be here before we know it, which means that state and federal legislative sessions will likely be shorter and more politicized. This presents both challenges and opportunities for justice advocates. Understanding how election-year dynamics affect lawmaking is critical to ensure that advocacy strategies are aligned with campaign timelines and that relationships with lawmakers are strong enough to weather political tensions and unexpected shifts in legislat

I once had a young advocate tell me, “I have about a year left before I completely burn out telling my story.” Her demeanor was matter-of-fact, as if sacrificing her mental health was a reasonable or, worse, expected price to pay for advancing the cause. As much as I was concerned for her, I knew from my own multiple experiences of burnout that she was naming a pervasive problem in the field of advocacy: unaddressed trauma and lack of support threatens the wellbeing of advoc

HOW CAN WE REIMAGINE JUSTICE FOR THE NEXT GENERATION? This is the question that has driven most of my career. As a long-time justice advocate, I have seen some of the worst ways people can be punished and dehumanized. I have also had the privilege to work alongside visionary changemakers who understood that systems shaped by fear, retribution, and exclusion cannot deliver the future our children deserve. Over the past 20 years, their collective wisdom has inspired me to imag