YCLJ Perspectives

YCLJ Perspectives Series #1

May 7, 2026

Youth involved in the juvenile justice system experience disproportionately high rates of mental and behavioral health conditions, yet too many are still funneled into courts and detention rather than connected to appropriate care. Research consistently shows that confinement not only fails to address these needs but often worsens them, exacerbating trauma, increasing suicide risk, and contributing to poorer long-term outcomes.

Youth Correctional Leaders for Justice (YCLJ) maintains that unnecessary system involvement and incarceration for youth with mental health needs is both harmful and preventable. Persistent reliance on confinement is driven by gaps in community-based care, inconsistent screening and assessment, limited workforce capacity, and entrenched racial and ethnic disparities.

Community-based treatment, early intervention and trauma-informed practices are more effective and better aligned with public safety and youth wellbeing.

This paper calls for a shift away from incarceration toward evidence-informed, community-centered responses. Key recommendations include preventing unnecessary system involvement, expanding access to community-based treatment, improving screening and assessment, eliminating harmful practices such as isolation, and addressing persistent racial and ethnic disparities. With intentional action, system leaders and policymakers can reduce harm, improve outcomes, and build a more equitable and effective youth justice system. These changes will improve outcomes for youth, strengthen communities, and enhance public safety.

Read the full perspective, Ending the Harm: Rethinking Youth Justice Responses to Mental and Behavioral Health Needs.

YCLJ Perspectives Series #2

Issued in recognition of Gun Violence Awareness Month, June, 2026

June is Gun Violence Awareness Month, a time to recognize the devastating impact of gun violence on individuals, families, and communities and to elevate solutions that save lives.

Youth gun violence remains a serious concern, but public perception often exaggerates the role of young people in violent crime. Although youth violence increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, youth violence has declined substantially over the last two decades. A relatively small number of youth account for a disproportionate share of serious violence, yet highly publicized incidents continue to fuel calls for more punitive responses.

Youth Correctional Leaders for Justice (YCLJ) believes that public safety is best achieved through focused, evidence-informed interventions that identify and intensively engage youth at the highest risk of involvement in gun violence. Approaches such as the Gun Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS), developed by the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (NICJR), demonstrate that communities can reduce violence while supporting positive youth development and avoiding unnecessary incarceration.

By investing in data-driven identification, intensive life coaching, family engagement, and community-based supports, jurisdictions can save lives, strengthen communities, and create pathways for young people to thrive.

Read the full perspective, Ending Youth Gun Violence: Focused Interventions, Safer Communities, Better Outcomes.

YCLJ Perspectives Series #3

Issued in recognition of National Wellness Month, August, 2026

August is National Wellness Month, a reminder that the wellbeing of justice-involved youth is fundamental to positive youth development and lasting community safety. Young people cannot reach their full potential without meaningful relationships, supportive families, safe communities, and opportunities to grow. This YCLJ Perspective brief highlights why a wellbeing framework should be the foundation of every youth justice system.

Wellbeing is a universal imperative for all human beings. A youth justice wellbeing design centers youth, families, and communities, and provides a foundation for system transformation, resulting in meaningful supports for youth and families and safer communities. A wellbeing design in youth justice considers the full ecology surrounding young people — their families, their communities, the institutions they encounter, and the broader social conditions that shape their lives.

The YCLJ perspective embraces the wellbeing framework as essential to building a youth justice system that not only responds to harm but also actively expands access to opportunity, stability, connections, safe spaces, dignity, and hope: access to conditions every young person needs to flourish.

Read the full perspective, Wellbeing is a Youth Justice Issue and Why it Matters.

YCLJ Perspectives Series #4

September, 2026

September is National Suicide Prevention Month, a time to raise awareness, promote open conversations, and strengthen efforts to prevent suicide. Suicide prevention is especially urgent in youth justice systems, where young people experience significantly higher rates of suicidal ideation and behavior than their peers. Youth who enter the system may already face untreated mental and behavioral health conditions, trauma, adverse childhood experiences, disrupted family relationships, and other circumstances that increase suicide risk. Experiences within the justice system, including detention, room confinement, disruption of relationships, and limited access to appropriate treatment, can further increase that risk. Youth suicide is preventable. Youth justice leaders can reduce risk by prioritizing communitybased therapeutic responses whenever safely possible and ensuring that youth who must be placed in custody receive timely, appropriate, and trauma-informed care. Every youth justice agency should implement a comprehensive suicide prevention strategy that includes evidencebased screening, staff training, suicide-resistant environments, professional mental health treatment, family engagement, coordinated safety planning, and continuous quality improvement. These actions are particularly important for youth of color, who are overrepresented in youth justice systems and may face disparities in the identification and treatment of mental and behavioral health needs. Protecting young people’s lives requires making suicide prevention an organizational responsibility, not simply an individual staff practice. 

Read the full perspective, Preventing Suicide in Youth Justice: A Call for Safe, Trauma-Informed, and Community-Based Responses.