Audience: Policy Leaders

A New Justice Paradigm: Collaborative Approaches for an Equitable System, explores the justice system from the perspective of criminal justice practitioners and young adults aged 18 to 24 who have been impacted by the justice system. We take this approach both to understand better— at the ground level—the system that exists and to help imagine a more supportive, more efficacious, and more equitable alternative. Some of the striking elements of the current justice system include the overwhelmingly disproportionate representation of young Black males in the system and the tragedy of how trauma has affected their young lives. Institutional inflexibility, from first contact with law enforcement through incarceration, limits young people’s chances to break the cycle of poverty and to pursue work and learning opportunities that could enrich their lives and their communities.