Pennsylvania
Contact Information
The Youth Sentencing & Re-Entry Project is a Philadelphia-based nonprofit organization that provides comprehensive support to kids prosecuted in the adult criminal justice system, with 2 goals: 1. Help lawyers with low-income clients get their cases transferred from the adult criminal justice system to the juvenile justice system; and 2. Help connect youth and their families with existing community resources and programs, so they have access to education, healthcare, stable housing, and job placement.
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Phone: 267-703-8046
Website: http://ysrp.org
Twitter: @YSRPinPhilly
The Youth Art & Self-Empowerment Project (YASP) is building a youth-led movement to end the practice of trying and incarcerating young people as adults. Through its work in the Philadelphia jails, YASP provides space for incarcerated young people to express themselves creatively and to develop as leaders both within and beyond the prison walls. Young people who have been through the adult court system are at the forefront of YASP, leading the movement to keep young people out of adult prisons and to create new possibilities for youth around the city.
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Phone: 267-571-YASP
Website: http://www.yasproject.com/
Legislation
Bill Number: SB 1169
Type of Reform
Detention Reform - Allowed for a youth prosecuted in the adult system to be “de-certified” and held in a juvenile facility as opposed to an adult facility. While the adult charges will remain in place, a judge may allow for the youth to be held at an age-appropriate juvenile facility instead of an adult facility so that the juvenile will have access to rehabilitative services.
Year: 2010
Reports
Kids in Solitary in Philly Jails: 'It was the Worst Time of My Life' (2016)
This article looks at the impact of solitary confinement on children held in Philadelphia jails. Suicide is the top cause of death among incarcerated juveniles, and a U.S. Department of Justice study found half those suicides take place in solitary confinement. Psychologists say isolation also can inflict lasting damage on developing brains and trigger or exacerbate mental illness.
Pennsylvania Juvenile Recidivism Report (2013)
This report by the Pennsylvania Juvenile Court Judges’ Commission examines the recidivism rate of Pennsylvania youth released in 2007.