New podcast: Realizing community safety by investing in youth, not incarceration.

Dr. Assata Richards tells the story of the Redefining Youth Justice Coalition.
This week’s police shooting of Daunte Wright—just miles away from the trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd—is one more heartbreaking example of the disproportionate injustice the US criminal justice system inflicts on young Black people.
The more young people we keep out of detention, we can take those funds and reinvest them into communities where young people need to feel safe and their families need to be supported. -Dr. Assata Richards
It will take more than police resignations or even guilty verdicts to right this pattern of injustice. It will take systems-level changes that uproot deeply entrenched policies and practices that have devalued and dehumanized young people of color while prioritizing prisons and policing.
 
That’s why we are excited to share an example of the kind of change that’s needed and how it can be achieved. In the latest episode of Prevention Institute’s Moving Upstream podcast, Dr. Assata Richards—a researcher and community organizer in Houston, Texas—talks about her community-led systems-change work with the Redefining Youth Justice Coalition. As a result of this coalition’s efforts, Harris County recently approved a multi-million-dollar youth justice community reinvestment fund, with resources redirected from juvenile probation and the county's General Fund. The fund will invest in community-based programs and services for young people who are most impacted by incarceration systems.
Listen to the podcast
On the heels of this week’s police shooting—and the recent mass shootings in Atlanta, Boulder, and elsewhere as well as the sharp uptick in gun violence in US cities—it is community leaders like Dr. Richards and community change efforts like this one that give us hope.
 
The Redefining Youth Justice Coalition brought together impacted youth and families and local and national partners to learn, organize, advocate together, and work through tension points with compassion and care. With a commitment to “power with,” not “power over,” they kept a laser focus on their shared vision and created relationships and resources for a continuum of care that is sure to nourish the community.
 
Prevention Institute stands with leaders, like Dr. Richards, who have lived experience of the injustice of incarceration systems and are advocating for investments to interrupt cycles of violence, dismantle systems of inequity, and invest in the infrastructure needed to implement and sustain comprehensive violence prevention strategies. We know that much of the violence we’re witnessing across the country is rooted in structural racism and other forms of oppression, and that’s it’s crucial to call out white supremacy as part of our violence prevention work and take action for racial healing and transformation.
 
Listen to the podcast to learn about how determined activists in Harris County shifted funding from incarceration to prevention, safety, and resilience. We hope it will inspire you to take action in your own community.
 
This podcast was made possible with support from The Langeloth Foundation.

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