Uplifting Youth Voices- Reimagining Youth Justice

In the fall of 2018, the CFJC launched the Reimagining Youth Justice project seeking to engage youth under community supervision, those who have been incarcerated to the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ), those with arrest histories, and their families and other support persons in the community in policy-development “think tanks.” The opinions of youth and families impacted directly by the juvenile justice system are often underrepresented in the policymaking process. To elevate the voices of youth and families both in Chicago and in counties across the state who commit the highest number of youth to IDJJ, and to allow for a creative “group think,” in collaboration with local community partners, the CFJC launched the think tank workshops during the fall and winter of 2018-2019. Seventeen community think tanks took place in the Chicago-area, as well eight think tanks, thus far, in the other committing counties across the state. The completed workshops have led to valuable data and insight, as well as meaningful experiences for participants, as well as generating an emerging community informed policy blueprint to end the harmful and punitive practice of youth incarceration. Beginning in September of 2019, the think tank workshop series will expand to incarcerated youth and staff members at the five youth prisons in Illinois (IYC Centers). Incarcerated youth, as well as youth prison security staff, have different but valuable perspectives on youth incarceration in Illinois. Taking the Uplifting Youth Voices-Reimagining Youth Justice project inside the facilities creates the space and framework for harnessing the insights and experiences of those uniquely situated groups. In addition to the think tanks, the CFJC has developed a youth leadership program ensuring that think tank workshops are co-facilitated with a youth facilitator and that workshop materials, curriculum, and follow up advocacy efforts are led by youth from througho