Access to Higher Education

For their 2015-2016 project, Juveniles for Justice youth advocates focused on access to higher education for justice-involved youth. From their personal experiences in the juvenile justice system, the advocates knew that there are few opportunities and not enough support for youth in the system to pursue college. The advocates developed a set of recommendations for juvenile justice facilities to help youth prepare for and attend college.

Youth advocates also developed a workshop to help juvenile facility staff better support and encourage youth to plan for college. Their workshop explains their recommendations for facilities and includes role-playing exercises to demonstrate how the recommendations can be applied.

On May 4, 2016, Juveniles for Justice advocates led facility staff and juvenile justice professionals through the work shop and facilitated small group discussions with attendees. The workshop document also includes the "Individualized Higher Education Course of Action" which is a tool for youth and staff to use to create individualized education plans.