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. Because most young people affected by these policies have already experienced significant trauma, we are tracking these developments through a healing-centered, trauma-responsive lens, with the intention of advancing policies that support wellbeing and recovery rather than perpetuate further harm. We invite you to share polici

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