Coalition for Juvenile Justice

CJJ is a nationwide coalition of state advisory groups and allies dedicated to preventing children and youth from becoming involved in the courts and upholding the highest standards of care when youth are charged with wrongdoing and enter the justice system. CJJ members work to improve the treatment of young people and their families involved with the juvenile justice system, enhance community safety, and develop and implement innovative strategies that prevent delinquency. CJJ seeks to bring about positive policy and practice change in the juvenile justice system by partnering with leading national and state-level organizations and creating tools, training, and publications. As its members national presence, CJJ educates and informs members of Congress and the administration on state-identified needs and concerns in the arena of juvenile justice. The organization continued public education and support efforts for the reauthorization of the JJDPA (due for reauthorization this year) emphasizing the importance of recommitment and continued investment for delinquency prevention, youth justice, youth safety, and youth legal system. This work is primarily conducted through the Act4JJ Coalition.In addition to other activities the organization hosted a Youth Summit in Tacoma Washington to elevate the voices of youth and families with lived experience to be responsive to those most impacted by the youth legal system The organization made additional impact by partnering with the Georgetown Center for Juvenile Justice Reform (CJJR) and the Center for Childrens Law and Policy (CCLP) to launch a Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities Technical Assistance Center, aimed at providing support for SAGs and field professionals to achieve compliance with the JJDPA requirement to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in their respective jurisdictions youth legal system and to generate innovation and increase peer learning opportunities around strategies to reduce disparities (OJJDP funded)