A First Step on Combating Anti-Black Racism
We have not seen a pandemic of the scale, swiftness, and severity of COVID-19 in over a century. But the virus of police violence against Black people has been with us for too long.
We have not seen a pandemic of the scale, swiftness, and severity of COVID-19 in over a century. But the virus of police violence against Black people has been with us for too long.
A timeline of achievements between 2018 and 2019 that lead us closer to achieving our vision of an equitable future for Black & Brown youth.
CDF-CA representing The Center for Juvenile Law and Policy and Independent Juvenile Defender Program filed a petition for a Writ of Mandate in the Supreme Court of California to immediately and substantially reduce and safeguard youth populations in juvenile halls and camps.
While Congress addressed many challenges in the first three stimulus packages, Children’s Defense Fund-California (CDF-CA) and our partner organizations are concerned about the lack of equity in the federal support provided to families of color and those that are immigrants, mixed status, undocumented, or living in poverty --- families that already experience barriers to healthcare and economic opportunity.
We are calling on you to act immediately to protect the health and safety of youth currently confined in juvenile halls and probation camps in Los Angeles County. As you are well aware, the spread of COVID-19 is the gravest threat to public health that any of us have seen in our lifetimes.
Given the current COVID-19 pandemic, as organizations led by people currently and formerly on Probation, family members with loved ones inside, and/or organizations that serve system-involved youth and adults, we are writing to urge you to immediately enact these emergency procedures for young people under Probation custody and supervision, as well as for adults under Probation field supervision, in order to support everyone’s health and safety, while also protecting their rights to due process, programming and family connection.
On behalf of criminal and juvenile justice advocates, community organizers, directly impacted individuals—many of whom have been incarcerated in local jails and juvenile facilities—and families of individuals currently incarcerated, we urge the Board of State and Community Correction to adopt immediately the following measures to protect the health and well-being of our loved ones who are incarcerated or work inside county adult and juvenile detention facilities.
Letter from organizations to LA County Board of Supervisors encouraging them totake bold action and create a transformational reform plan to be implemented by a strong, community-driven body to create a new vision for justice and safety in LA.
Letter to Los Angeles County Probation Department leadership from LA Youth Uprising coalition and other organizations to support efforts by the Probation Reform & Implementation team to establish a robust Probation Oversight Commission and a comprehensive reform implementation plan.
A letter from Los Angeles Youth Uprising coalition calling on Los Angeles County Probation Department leadership to support a ban on the use of chemical agents in youth detention facilities.