Today, the National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Coalition (NJJDPC), a Coalition comprising more than 300 national, state, and local organizations working together to ensure healthy families, build strong communities, and improve community safety and well-being, released "Promoting Safe Communities: Recommendations to the Congress".

The report calls on Congress to support effective systems of justice for our youth by focusing on the following five priority areas:

1. Restore Federal Leadership in Juvenile Justice Policy
2. Support and Prioritize Prevention, Early Intervention, and Diversion Strategies
3. Ensure Safety and Fairness for Court-Involved Youth
4. Remove Youth from the Adult Criminal Justice System
5. Support Youth Reentry

"The juvenile justice system across the U.S. is in urgent need of reform, and federal leadership is necessary to advance the pace of change. Congress has the unique opportunity to reverse this trend and promote and support evidence-based practices and policies that prevent delinquency, "said Liz Ryan, CEO and Founder of the Campaign for Youth Justice. "It is our hope that the 113th Congress accepts these proposed recommendations to create better outcomes for our youth, as well as our communities."

NJJDPC comprises more than 300 national, state and local organizations working together to ensure healthy families, build strong communities, and improve community safety and well-being.

To take action in your state:

1. Email this full report to your members of Congress with a note asking them to support these recommendations.
2. Share this document and the NJJDPC website, promotesafecommunities, on your Facebook page or Twitter feed.

By Leah Robertson

The Youth Justice Coalition says no to armed police in schools. A coalition of students visited Washington, D.C. yesterday to stage a rally and march from Congress to the White House to demand “Counselors, not Cops.”

Students stand in front of Congress

to say NO to cops in Schools

Following the tragedy at Newtown, Congress has been considering legislation and funding to put more cops in schools. However, these students vocalized how they have already seen that police presence in schools does not create the positive learning environments students need to promote a positive learning environment. On the contrary, police presence in schools leads to more suspensions and expulsions, which research shows funnel more kids to the juvenile justice system, and sometimes takes them directly to the adult criminal justice system.

It was so inspiring to see these young people coming together to take a stand for their right to education and safety. Several teenagers spoke out about their personal experiences with police officers in schools. They consistently emphasized the physical and emotional scars of misplaced investments: funding police officers instead of teachers, counselors, and evidence-based programs.

Counselors, Not Cops.

Counsel, Don't Cuff.

One young man spoke about the life-changing impact one counselor had on him. This counselor helped him change from a confused and angry teenager to a motivated student. If this one counselor taking a personal interest in him could have such an impact, imagine what our youth could do if we increased the ratio of counselors to students from 500:1 to 100:1 or even 50:1, rather than investing in more police who are likely to criminalize our students at a fragile and critical identity-building stage in their lives. Imagine what we could do with all the money saved by keeping youth out of the pipeline to prison and on the course to college and careers.

For more information on the Youth Justice Coalition Rally, click here.

For press clips, click here.

The Forget-Me-Not flower has been a symbol of remembrance for over 100 years. They are a widespread, yet often undervalued flower. Like many youth, they can “grow in a slightly disorderly fashion”, but need simple care and guidance to grow into a striking landscape.

This Valentine’s Day, show your support for our young people by making a donation to the Campaign for Youth Justice’s prisoner correspondence project. This small gesture may be the only contact they have with the outside world on this day intended for families and loved ones.

This project works to ensure that no child is forgotten this Valentine’s Day. Over 10,000 kids will spend this Valentine’s Day in an adult jail or prison, often in solitary confinement where they cannot communicate with others, let alone their loved ones.

Your donation will go directly towards supporting our correspondence with incarcerated youth.

Here is what your donation will provide:

• $25 – provides stamps for Valentine’s Day cards for 50 incarcerated youth
• $50 – provides stamps, cards, and envelopes for Valentine’s Day cards for 50 incarcerated youth
• $100 – provides stamps, cards, and envelopes for Valentine’s Day cards for 50 incarcerated youth and stamps, cards and envelopes for each of them to send cards in return

This Valentine’s Day, please help us make sure that every child is in our hearts. Make sure that every child knows that he or she is not forgotten.