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Throughout my time in the juvenile justice system, the education I received seemed very mediocre. Not only was it not challenging, but it was not on the grade level of education I was supposed to receive. This made me believe that education was supposed to be like that from here on out, but I realized that was not the case as I got older.

Building the Field of Ethical, Authentic, and Youth-led Advocacy: Key Components of a Youth Advocacy Program is twelve years in the making with countless social workers, attorneys, graduate interns, fellows, and young advocates with lived experience working and re-working to craft a model for developing youth-led advocacy efforts and programming.

In a monumental win for youth held in facilities in Philadelphia, today City Council and the Mayor struck a budget deal which created an independent youth ombudsman office to receive calls about abuse from families and youth who have been committed to residential facilities by behavioral health, intellectual disability, child welfare, and juvenile justice systems.

This week marks the overlap of Reentry Week, Second Chances Month, and Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The convergence of these events creates an opportunity for important conversations about second chances for youth adjudicated delinquent for sexual offenses.