Youth Take Note: Policy Study Hall

Community safety

County of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a countywide benefit)

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

Unsafe facilities, corruption, and abuses plague the LA County juvenile justice system. For example, Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall was found unsuitable to house young people: youth spending inordinate amounts of time in confinement; youth unable to get to school and medical appointments; and feces and urine-soaked towels on the floor of children’s rooms when no staff was available to escort them to the bathroom. Yet it continues to operate illegally.
There is thus an urgent need for transformation of the policies, programs, and practices involving youth justice. It is why AHJN prioritizes advocating for systems change, including the closure of Los Padrinos.
Part of the problem is that youth who are most impacted have historically been left out of public-level discussions. To get them involved, impacted youth need guidance, education, and tools. This can help them achieve collective action, transform harmful systems, and improve the quality of life for youth throughout Los Angeles County.

This grant will support Policy Study Hall, a “101” level discussion group focused on youth-justice related legislation, policy, and issues. This group will be designed to engage young people and help them better understand the current and historical political landscape of LA County.
In this group, youth will gain an understanding of how a policy may affect them, their families, and their community. They will learn how to advocate for their rights through action, movement building, and the use of their own voices.
The project will be guided by mentors from AHJN member Tia Chucha's Centro Cultural and LAYUP, an AHJN advocacy partner. Sessions will be co-facilitated by AHJN youth leaders, many of whom have had direct experience with the justice system, and all of whom have successfully completed our six-month long Leadership & Liberation Fellowship, focused on developing advocacy skills.
AHJN’s programming has historically been open to LA County youth who are directly impacted by the juvenile justice system or who are “at-promise,” meaning they have experienced harm from other systems such as the foster system or welfare system. This project will help us expand our reach: Policy Study Hall is open to all youth in LA County, ages 12 to 26. There is no fee or application process. Our youth facilitators, mentors and participants will all receive stipends for their time.

To be informed is to be empowered. A future Los Angeles County in which youth have a foundation of understanding about the policies that affect them is a future where youth — and all residents — are heard, represented, and supported with resources to help meet physical, mental, emotional, financial, and civic needs.
When stakeholders have a better understanding of the systems that impact them, they are empowered to disrupt inequities, marginalization, neglect, and abuses of populations and resources.
Our vision for the future is rooted in systems change and includes a youth-driven transformation of the juvenile justice system. It is our hope that Policy Study Hall will empower youth and encourage more adults to learn about and challenge our current systems. Ultimately, if we are successful, punitive responses to trauma, violence, and harmful system engagement will be replaced with caring adults, community resources, and transformative justice — leading to safer communities.