SP
Education is more than just academics—it can address social issues like poverty, mental health, and inequality. By expanding supports for at-risk and disconnected youth beyond the classroom, we can use education to promote overall well-being and build stronger, healthier communities.
The past few years have been filled with many opportunities to work alongside young people aged 12 to 26 in doing what Community Science and I personally care most about - helping youth drive the changes they want to see in their communities. I first came to this work nearly 20 years ago in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, doing research on coping through writing for high school seniors in…
Seeing the problem. The juvenile justice system in the United States is intended to reduce crime and increase public safety while holding youth accountable for their actions. However, for the last three decades the system has focused more on punishing young people, processing them in the formal court system, and confining youth in large, prison-like facilities, sometimes with adults, at an annual per-youth cost of $149,000.1 Data on public safety…
In the 1980s, juvenile justice systems in the United States began adopting more punitive, adult-oriented approaches to juvenile justice. Since 1996, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (the Foundation) has been working to correct these trends through grant making activities supporting research, program innovation, and systems and policy change. To work effectively in a complex juvenile justice landscape, the Foundation has used multiple reform approaches suitable for a…