Our Vision:‍

The Youth Justice Action Coalition (YJAC) envisions a world where no youth are incarcerated. A world where collective care guides our response to youth in crisis, centering on meeting people’s needs as the first step in preventing youth from being held captive by the state. We also advocate for alternatives such as rehabilitative services, transformational justice practices that center those harmed, and diversion programs for youth who remain at risk.

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Background: 

The Youth Justice Action Coalition seeks to empower youth who are impacted by the “justice” system to grow as leaders in their communities and to use their unique experiences, insights, and skills to transform the way youth justice works here in Memphis. Youth in YJAC meet twice a week to strategize and advocate for the changes that they know will help protect youth and keep our communities safer.

Values:

We utilize 10 “Break the Chains” demands, created by justice-impacted youth in YJAC in 2022, as our guiding values to confront reform in youth justice practices while we seek to transform the system as a whole. They include full opposition to issues such as trying youth as adults and abuses in detention centers, as well as calls to increase youth access to their legal and educational rights in detention. The full demands can be found below

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