By Liz Ryan, OJJDP Administrator
We who work in the juvenile justice field have a responsibility to partner authentically with youth and families—to amplify their voices, listen to what they tell us and respond. OJJDP wholeheartedly embraces the "nothing about us without us" principle. We do more than work for justice-involved young people—we work with them.
Every aspect of OJJDP's work centers young people and families—from the policies we develop and implement to the programs we support and fund. And we encourage the same commitment from grantees who administer the programs and services we invest in.
As we begin 2025, I've been reflecting on OJJDP's work with youth and families during my tenure as Administrator. I’d like to share a few examples.
We launched the Youth and Family Partnership Working Group in 2022. The working group shapes how the office operates—developing recommendations for OJJDP activities, identifying best practices and assessing our programs and performance measures. In response to a working group recommendation, in 2023 OJJDP added language to all of our notices of funding opportunities asking funding applicants to specify how they partner with youth and families. Our grant recipients now emphasize youth and family partnerships in their project proposals. For example, applicants have shared the ways they engage and employ people with lived experience, as well as their strategies for working with youth and families to plan and host events, facilitate group discussions, develop training materials, establish youth and family advisory councils—the list goes on.
The Youth and Family Partnership Working Group also recommended that OJJDP invite young people to partner with us as interns and fellows. In 2023, we launched an internship program for law students who are interested in working in the youth justice and child welfare fields. Students spend a semester with us, assisting OJJDP staff with legal projects, conducting legal research and analysis, and gaining valuable insight into federal, state, local and Tribal work. And in early 2024, we introduced three youth justice fellowships with OJJDP's Youth Reentry Training and Technical Assistance Center. The center prioritizes partnerships with youth, emphasizing the unique contributions that young people with lived experience bring to youth justice work. Our fellows are contributing to every aspect of the center's operations, including technical assistance, capacity building and strategic planning.
In November, OJJDP welcomed more than 2,500 attendees to the 2024 National Conference on Youth Justice in Washington, DC, the capstone event for our yearlong 50th anniversary celebration of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. The conference centered on young people, and every aspect of the event reflected their input. Young people with lived system experience advised us throughout the conference planning process as paid consultants. Youth led panel discussions and hosted workshops for emerging youth leaders; they also addressed conference attendees during plenary sessions. During the opening plenary, for example, four emerging youth leaders with lived juvenile justice system experience shared parts of their life stories in a panel discussion," The Power of Where We've Been."
"As a formerly incarcerated young man, who beat life-plus-seven to be here, a first generation Latino, it's been an uphill battle,” panelist Ronaldo Villeda told us. "I’ve had to speak out. I've had to advocate. I've had to ask the tough questions that no one wants to ask. And I've had to have those uncomfortable conversations to show up authentically to myself and to my roots, to represent and uplift my peers, and to honor everybody who has done the work before me." Today, Mr. Villeda serves as a Youth Reentry Fellow for the American Institutes for Research at OJJDP's Youth Reentry Training and Technical Assistance Center and is Executive Director and cofounder of Hoops4Justice. "It's been an honor and a privilege to have a seat at this table," he said.
Mr. Villeda's peers echoed his sentiments throughout the conference. Young people know their experiences give them unique and invaluable perspectives, and they want their voices to be heard. OJJDP's conference was an enormous success—and we owe much of it to young people, their wisdom, energy and execution.
Finally, one of OJJDP's newest resources, "Partnering With Youth and Families: A Best Practices Guide for Youth Justice Stakeholders," reflects both the latest literature and research and the essential insights of individuals with lived experience. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with dozens of system-involved young adults and families—because their lived experiences with the justice system make them uniquely qualified to offer us relevant and nuanced perspectives and guidance. We are grateful for the expertise they brought to the project.
To be legitimate, youth justice work must be informed by youth and their families. We owe it to our young people to partner authentically with them and their families, and to develop and change policies and programs based on what they say about their lives and their experiences in the juvenile justice system.