We implement policy advocacy at the federal, state, and local levels. Our work includes policy development, lobbying, coalition building, and community organizing.
Browse Laws & Policy
Youth Reinvestment Grant (2023)
AB 912 (Jones-Sawyer)
Youth deserve care and support, not surveillance and confinement. Our responses to young people should emphasize positive youth development approaches over punitive measures and incarceration.
Creating meaningful pathways to justice for survivors of trauma, domestic violence, sexual violence, and human trafficking who are funneled into our criminal legal system is important for their healing and care, and to stop the further criminalization of victims.
Every year, justice-involved young people in Michigan and their families are thrown into significant debt due to excessive court fines and fees levied upon them as they move through the juvenile justice system. These costs do not improve public safety and may actually harm the child's future by putting them increasing financial stress or keeping them under court supervision for a longer period of time.
California's 2022 Youth Bill of Rights legislation would ensure that youth who are incarcerated know their rights and are informed of the newly-established state ombudsperson office. With the closure of California's state-run prisons, there is an urgent need to reassert these rights for youth and ensure youth understand their rights.
Unaccompanied Immigrant Children Protections Act (2021)
AB 1140 (Rivas)
AB 1140 clarifies the responsibilities of the California Office of the Foster Care Ombudsperson, and their jurisdiction, to provide oversight of unaccompanied immigrant children held in state-licensed Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) facilities.
AB 124 aims to support survivors of violence, including domestic violence and human trafficking, by providing trauma-informed charging, sentencing, and resentencing relief and trial advocacy considerations.
