During the month of October, communities and youth advocates throughout the country gather to celebrate the National Youth Justice Awareness Month (YJAM).
“The National Youth Justice Awareness Month is held…as an opportunity for communities, families, youth and allies to host community-led actions and events that expose the consequences of children being prosecuted in the adult criminal justice system and placed in adult jails and prisons,” states the Campaign for Youth Justice (CYJ).
According to the National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD):
More than 200,000 youths are tried as adults each year.
A vast majority of young people in the justice system experience serious trauma and chronic stress as well as mental illness.
Incarcerated youths are five times more likely to be sexually assaulted than peers in juvenile detention.
Incarcerated youths are 36 times more likely to commit suicide.
“On Jan. 4, 2008, Tracy McClard, a mother in Jackson, Mo, received a call from the Missouri Department of Corrections informing her that her 17-year-old son, Jonathan, was dead. Jonathan had taken his own life upon realizing that an adult sentence made it impossible to see a future for himself,” CYJ reported.
Based on her own experiences, McClard became determined to stop such ordeals from happening to other parents and children. In 2008, she began hosting 5K races to educate the public and her Missouri lawmakers about the issues of incarcerating youths and sentencing them as adults.
Inspired by McClard’s actions, others began advocating for changes in youth justice. In 2009, the Campaign for Youth Justice launched the National Youth Justice Awareness Month.
“States have pressed forward in undertaking significant reform efforts, with victories in over 23 states, paving the way for others to follow suit. The voices of youth, their parents and families – most impacted by these policies – were at the forefront of these efforts,” states the Campaign for Youth Justice.
