Advancing Racial Justice and Equity in Youth Legal Systems

The Advancing Racial Justice and Equity in Youth Legal Systems Certificate Program is designed to equip state and local jurisdictions with the knowledge, tools, and strategies needed to address systemic racial inequities in youth-serving systems. This program emphasizes the importance of both foundational understanding and practical application, providing participants with a comprehensive framework to analyze and dismantle racial disparities within the youth legal system. Across three interconnected modules, participants will explore anti-racism strategies through an intersectional approach, focusing on how these frameworks can be implemented to achieve lasting change. The curriculum balances learnings with real-world examples, fostering collaboration and equipping leaders to drive reforms within their jurisdictions. Participants will have opportunities to engage in discussions, apply learning to local contexts, and develop a Capstone Project that advances racial justice in their systems.

The curriculum includes the following modules:

Module 1: Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes: Deepening Understanding of the Community Model and Addressing Inequities

This module provides participants with the foundational knowledge necessary to confront systemic racism within the youth legal system. The module emphasizes the importance of understanding race through a historical and sociopolitical lens and equips participants with the critical skills necessary to engage in anti-racist practices. Participants will explore how racial constructs have shaped the youth legal system, analyze the role of bias and racial trauma, and understand the long-standing impact of racial hierarchies. Through a series of engaging sessions, participants will also examine the historical roots of race as a social construct and explore opportunities to challenge these constructs within legal systems.

Module 2: Practical Skills and Tools to Enter, Engage In, and Support Work on Anti-Racism in the Youth Legal System

In this module, participants will delve into practical tools and strategies for engaging in anti-racism work within youth-serving systems. Key sessions will focus on strengthening partnerships with law enforcement, addressing the unique needs of crossover youth (those involved in both child welfare and legal systems), and analyzing the limitations of traditional research methods that reinforce systemic racism. Practical strategies will be introduced for navigating complex systems, engaging in difficult conversations about race and justice, and using data to inform racial equity work. This module empowers participants to apply anti-racist practices in their own contexts, ensuring that efforts to advance racial justice are both sustainable and impactful.

Module 3: Practical Strategies and Solutions: Applying Community-Focused Practices to Transform Youth Legal Systems

The final module provides participants with actionable strategies to implement and sustain anti-racist practices in youth legal systems. Drawing on real-world examples and case studies, participants will learn how to apply anti-racist principles to create transformative change. Key areas of focus include partnering with community organizations to co-create solutions, implementing restorative and trauma-informed approaches to address youth violence, and fostering resilience in youth and communities. This module emphasizes the importance of accountability, providing participants with tools to develop action plans, messaging strategies, and long-term system change efforts.

This program is designed for leaders working in the youth legal system and related youth-serving systems (e.g., legal/youth justice, child welfare, social services, education, healthcare, community) who are positioned to affect meaningful transformation to advance racial justice and equity. While individuals will be considered, applications from multi-disciplinary teams will receive greater consideration and first priority in the selection process. Applicants are encouraged to apply as a team of up to 10 people to increase their capacity to implement reforms upon completion of the Certificate Program. 

When building a team, the following are typically parts of teams, but full representation of all roles is not necessarily expected:

• The senior juvenile justice administrator in the jurisdiction (e.g., chief juvenile probation officer, the regional director of juvenile justice, or other individuals with responsibility to oversee the provision of juvenile justice services and supervision)
• A juvenile court judge
• A law enforcement leader, such as a chief of police or deputy chief in charge of matters pertaining to youth
• The individual who will be responsible for coordinating local efforts to advance racial justice and equity in the youth legal system
• A young person or family representative who has personal experience with the youth legal system
• A community-based organization leader (e.g., someone who is viewed as a leader among the CBO community and is committed to cross-system collaboration)

Please note that we place special emphasis on ensuring that the voices of youth, families, and community members inform and contribute to system transformation efforts. Accordingly, the strongest applicants will ensure that youth, families, and community partners are members of the core team.

Other potential team members may include leaders and decision-makers in youth-serving systems (e.g., district attorneys, public defenders, court personnel, and state advisory group members), mental health system representatives, educational institution representatives, data analysts, and advocates. Local teams should be composed primarily of local (county or parish) representatives. However, local teams may also include state-level representatives to support the spread of local reforms to other jurisdictions in the state. Teams of individuals from state juvenile justice agencies are also welcome to apply.