America’s Youth Justice Story: Unearthing the Past and Reimagining the Next Chapter
What can we do to ensure that the tragedies of our past don’t write the story of our future?
The Center for Youth Justice at Georgetown University and Youth Advocate Programs (YAP®), Inc. are proud to announce registration is now open for the 2026 Janet Reno Forum on September 10th!
“America’s Youth Justice Story: Unearthing the Past and Reimagining the Next Chapter” will be an in-person, one-day conference held in the heart of Washington, DC on Georgetown University’s Capitol Hill Campus. During this 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, the Forum will explore the past, present, and future of America’s Youth Justice story through the lens of truth-telling and creative expression.
- We’ll meet storytellers, leaders, community-members, artists, and advocates as they each, in their own ways, serve as truth tellers to effectuate change and rewrite the next chapter of youth justice.
- We’ll unearth a forgotten, painful past, and survey the work underway to bring dignity to those who our society has literally buried in unmarked sites.
- We’ll look clear-eyed at the challenges and harms that are present in today’s youth legal system, but also at the inspiring efforts of those working tirelessly to create practices that are restorative, just, and lead to better futures.
- Participants will also dive into the cathartic power that art can have to shift perspectives, nurture empathy, and help heal harms through an array of creative expressions including an art gallery, spoken word, music, and more from justice-driven and system-impacted artists.
Finally, the Shay Bilchik Award for Innovation in Youth Justice and the Janet Reno Women’s Leadership Awards will be presented, recognizing the incredible efforts of two individuals who have contributed to rewriting and reimagining a more hopeful and effective, less costly, family-centered American youth justice story.
Learn more on our registration page: https://america-youth-justice-story.eventbrite.com/
About Youth Advocate Programs
Youth Advocate Programs (YAP®), Inc. is a 50-year-old donor-supported national nonprofit that partners with youth justice, child welfare, and other systems to deliver community-based services as an alternative to placing young people in trouble or in crisis in corrections, care, and treatment facilities. The nonprofit also applies principles of its family-centered, accountability-focused evidence-based model to help public safety systems reduce violence.