Youth Justice

The end of girls’ incarceration in the United States is within reach, and Vera is leading a national initiative to make it happen in 10 years. The number of youth in the girls’ side of the juvenile justice system is small, most girls are unjustly locked up to protect their safety or to address unmet needs, and jurisdictions across the country are f ...

An Initiative to Disrupt the American Prison System

Restoring Promise, an initiative of the Vera Institute of Justice and MILPA, works with prisons and jails to address the root causes and consequences of mass incarceration in how it manifests in prisons and jails. We work directly with prisons and jails to transform the culture, climate, rhythms and routines that define the prison system, starting ...

Getting help after experiencing violence is important for a person’s recovery process, but not everyone gets the help communities can provide. Young men of color are at heightened risk for being the victims of violence, especially robbery and physical assault. Therefore, they are disproportionately exposed to the negative consequences associated wi ...

Providing community-based alternatives to court and juvenile justice system involvement

Every year, thousands of kids are brought to court or even placed in locked facilities for misbehaviors like truancy, running away, and curfew violations—also known as status offenses—which are only illegal for kids under the age of 18. While these behaviors can be typical in adolescence, they can also be symptomatic of underlying issues at home or ...

Many communities are frustrated with how to respond to youth “acting out”—running away from home, skipping school, violating curfew, or disobeying adults—as well as how to respond to young people getting arrested for more serious actions like fighting and other events stemming from family conflict. This project describes new and exciting models for ...

For youth in the juvenile justice system, frequent family visits are incredibly important—studies show that youth who receive more visits than their peers have fewer behavioral incidents, better educational outcomes, and more rapid reduction in depression symptoms. To better engage youth’s families, Vera’s Center on Youth Justice (CYJ)—in p ...

Evaluating a new approach to working with 18 to 21-year-olds on Rikers Island

The New York City Department of Correction (DOC) established a new facility—announced during the fall of 2015 and opened months later—to house 18-21-year-olds at Rikers Island. The jail is the first in the country to create separate housing for these young adults, who are cognitively different from both their younger and older counterparts, and thu ...

Engaging families who are involved with the juvenile justice system

While research shows that family support helps improve outcomes for incarcerated youth, many agencies focus on keeping young people away from those they know, including family members.   Vera’s Center on Youth Justice is partnering with the Sedgwick County Department of Corrections (DOC) to support youth by increasing family involvement—one o ...

Improving Reentry Outcomes for System-involved Youth

Young people involved in the juvenile justice system require different supervision strategies upon reentry. For example, young people who are at high risk of reoffending require more strict supervision than those who are low risk. Conversely, applying high levels of supervision to low-risk youth can have negative consequences on both the young pers ...