There are many problems plaguing the youth justice system, including faults in the probation system, high levels of recidivism and lack of access to resources for low-income and minority youth. However, one problem that is seldom discussed and has a significant impact on youth is the use of detention centers. The Juvenile Justice Advocates at Howard University are an excellent example of how advocacy can make a difference in the lives of detained youth.
For our final interview for Youth Justice Action Month, Emily Fromke spoke with Iliana Pujols, the policy advisor at the Connecticut Justice Alliance. In this interview, she shares her story going through the youth justice system as a teenager and how she uses her experience to help current youth.
Texas alone cannot address the issues contributing to the violent behaviors of youth landing them in correctional facilities and the recidivism that results when they return to the same social groups and environments where they developed these behaviors. Families, communities and churches all have contributions to make.
Dr. Tracee Perryman, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Center of Hope Family Services in Toledo, Ohio, joins Emily Fromke in a discussion about juvenile justice advocacy, diversion programs in Ohio and hope for the future.
Chattanooga, located in the southeastern corner of Tennessee, made national headlines in late May after a deadly shooting occurred in the city’s downtown riverfront area. The most disturbing detail of this shooting, without a doubt, is that it was a victimization of the city’s youth, by the city’s youth. Six teens were shot and two were sent to the ICU at the hands of their peers. Regrettably, this would not be the last tragedy of the summer: three months later, in mid-August, a sixteen-year-old was shot and killed — again, by one of his peers. Even more regrettably, these shootings find themselves lost within a larger narrative — one which tells a story of a city where gun violence, gang violence, and crime plague its youth. But there is hope, still. The story has yet to end because the city refuses to abandon its youth to this epidemic.
In Michigan, Reverend Dallas Lenear, director of Project GREEN, has been an advocate for just lending practices that honor the God-given dignity of all people. In this interview, Reverend Lenear shares about the destructive impact of payday loans in the lives of individuals and families in his community.
Arthur Simon, founder and president emeritus of Bread for the World, spoke with Shared Justice about his new book Silence Can Kill: Speaking Up to End Hunger and Make Our Economy Work For Everyone. In this interview with Ana O’Quin, Simon explains why he believes ending hunger is possible, and calls upon Christian citizens — especially young adults — to contribute to making this a reality.
In “The Case for a Culturally Competent WIC Program”, Juliana D’Aoust, Azusa Pacific University student, and her faculty advisor, Dr. Priscila Castaneda, provide recommendations for designing a more culturally competent WIC program, as well as recommendations for how civil society institutions can participate in supporting families.
This September Shared Justice will publish the 2019 Student-Faculty Research Prize reports. In anticipation of their release, we are publishing excerpts from last year’s “Reframing the Safety Net” series. Emily Miller, a recent graduate of Wheaton College, and her faculty advisor Dr. Timothy Taylor, professor of politics and international relations at Wheaton College, were recipients of…
“While the economy has been doing very well recently, it has masked underlying issues like the escalating student loan crisis. Debt impacts not just an individual’s own physical, mental, spiritual, and financial wellbeing, but it also impacts their family, the institutions of which they are a part, and their community as a whole.”
Addressing poverty is a shared calling, requiring a “both-and” response. This article reviews two recent books, Peter Edelman’s Not a Crime to be Poor and Liz Theoharis’ Always with Us? What Jesus Really Said about the Poor, which both argue why poverty, and the degradation of dignity, demands an urgent response.
The president recently announced his support for the FIRST STEP Act—a first step toward restoring America’s broken criminal justice system. This article explains the bill and highlights how civil society can partner with government action to improve the outcome of prisoners re-entering society.
The lead up to the election highlighted an emerging and concerning trend: we are increasingly separating ourselves into political tribes.
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