Big Announcement: Center for Youth Justice!

Over these last eighteen years, we have learned so much. We have learned about what it means to lead sustainable and transformative change. We’ve learned about the vital importance of meaningfully partnering with youth, families, and other lived experts. We’ve learned about how to use data and research to drive policy and practice. And we’ve learned about the power of shaping our systems so that they treat all kids like kids, and to do it holistically, in the context of their families, support networks, schools, communities.

And so, as part of our evolution and growth over these years, we’re excited to announce that effective immediately, our organization will now be known as the Center for Youth Justice.

Naturally, one might ask why we’re making this change from CJJR to CYJ. Well, the best way to answer this is to break it down word for word.

Why Center? Because we are and will continue to be a research center at McCourt. We remain committed to serving as a preeminent research organization in the youth-serving field, where we will continue to translate the research on what works to improve outcomes for youth and families into practical tools that practitioners and policymakers can use to drive system transformation.
Why Youth? Because we believe in the power of language. While “juvenile” or “juvenile justice” is common parlance in our field, it is language that does not fully capture the incredible assets and strengths that young people bring to the table. We are intentionally moving away from terms like “juvenile” that have a negative connotation, and towards terminology that is more strength-based to describe youth. This reflects our commitment to advancing a developmental approach in all that we do.
And why Justice? Because we are driven by our aspirations to reimagine a more just and effective youth legal system. We don’t want to just reform our systems or to tinker around the edges, but we want to transform them so that they actually position youth and families to thrive. We strive to be bold and courageous in partnership with all of you.