Voices of Youth Justice

Quamir Hodges, is author of the new book, “The Life I’ve Lived” in which he shares his deeply personal story about his life and his experiences while being incarcerated--- Quamir lives in Montclair, New Jersey and is a youth advocate leader with the New Jersey Youth Justice Initiative and a member of the New Jersey Youth Caucus, serving as an advocate for other youth who are incarcerated in New Jersey’s juvenile justice system. As part of his advocacy, he has been instrumental in ensuring that youth with special education needs were provided appropriate educational services and support during their incarceration. We are also joined today by Kathy Wright. Kathy is Executive Director of the New Jersey Parents Caucus, a non-profit organization that works to establish a formalized support network for families raising justice-involved youth.

Host: Aprill O. Turner, Vice President of Communications, Campaign For Youth Justice Guest: Vicki Reed, Author and the Executive Director of the Kentucky Juvenile Justice Initiative Want a novel about Juvenile Justice written by someone who knows the system? Vicki Reed’s new book shines a light on the good, bad, and ugly in an entertaining way. In April of 2020, she released her debut novel, The Car Thief, which follows a young teen through the child welfare and criminal justice systems. Join our latest episode of the voices of Youth Justice Podcast as we discuss her new boo

Host: Aprill O. Turner, Communications Director, Campaign For Youth Justice Guest: Jason Smith, the Director of Youth Justice Policy, Michigan Center for Youth Justice (MCYJ) In this episode of the Voices of Youth Justice Podcast, we speak with Jason Smith, Director of Youth Justice Policy, at the  Michigan Center for Youth Justice (MCYJ). Over the last decade, the number of children prosecuted as adults each year has dropped from around a quarter of a million to 75,000 or less. The main driver of this drop has been the movement across the states to Raise the Age of adult court jurisdiction to 18. Michigan is the most recent state to pass such legislation, which was signed into law by Governor Gretchen Whitmer on October 31, 2019. The campaign leading to this landmark achievement took several years, and among the leading advocates was the Michigan Council on Crime & Delinquency, now known as the Michigan Center for Youth Justice (MCYJ).

Host: Aprill O. Turner, Communications Director, Campaign For Youth Justice Guest: Joann Self Selvidge and Sarah Fleming, Co-Directors of the forthcoming documentary film “Juvenile”In this episode of the Voices of Youth Justice Podcast we had the pleasure of interviewing two incredible filmmakers, Joann Self Selvidge and Sarah Fleming, who are currently working on a feature-length documentary called “Juvenile”, which “explores how communities across the country are breaking and remaking their justice systems. Driven by the personal stories of five youth who were justice-involved as teens, the film traces their pathways into the system and their journeys of trauma and healing.”

Host: Marcy Mistrett, CEO, Campaign For Youth JusticeGuests: Nicole Porter is the Director of Advocacy at the Sentencing ProjectWayne Ford, former representative of Iowa’s 65th District. In our latest podcast we had the pleasure of interviewing two incredible advocates to learn more about racial impact statement legislation, what it is, it’s impact, and how it could be expanded to better understand the harm associated with proposed legislation.Nicole Porter is the Director of Advocacy at the Sentencing Project based in Washington, DC. The Sentencing Project is a national organization founded in 1986 that works toward a fair and effective U.S. criminal justice system by advocating for sentencing reform, addressing racial and ethnic disparities, and promoting alternatives to incarceration. Before joining The Sentencing Project in 2009, Nicole Porter was the Director of the Texas ACLU’s Prison and Jail Accountability Project.We are also joined by Wayne Ford, a former representative of Iowa’s 65th District. He is a DC native who moved to Iowa for college. In 1985, he founded a non-profit called Urban Dreams, to serve residents in inner city Des Moines. He was first elected into office in 1996 and served through 2011. He was the tenth African American to serve in Iowa’s House and holds the record for the longest serving African American in Iowa’s legislative history. To learn more about racial impact statements, visit the Sentencing Project's website.

This Hispanic Heritage Month, we get to hear the story of Jose Flores. After being incarcerated in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for almost 13 years, and participating and completing the In-Prison Therapeutic Community program at the Kyle Unit in Kyle, TX, Jose Flores began his journey to become a licensed chemical dependency counselor in the state of Texas. He currently works as a Youth Justice Policy Analyst with the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition. In this podcast he shares is experience as a youth in the adult system.

Michael Dammerich, a formerly incarcerated youth who was transferred to adult court at 16, shares his story. Dammerich also dives into changes that should be made within the system including needs assessments, access to education, and how we can re-humanize our youth.

In this episode, we speak with Eddy Zheng who became involved in the justice system by getting entangled in the migration to school to prison and deportation pipeline. As an immigrant coming into this country, he was dealing with the trauma of being uprooted from his homeland and facing language barriers, cultural difference, and generation gaps. Eddy has taken these experiences since his release and is now an advocate for youth justice, particularly Asia-Pacific Island youth entangled in the justice system.

Michelle Hanneman is a mother of an incarcerated youth. Throughout this episode, she shares a parent's perspective on the juvenile justice system. Michelle discusses how her son being transferred to an adult court caused her to lose influence and contact with her son due to his transfer.

Prison is no home for a child and yet, on any given night in America, 6,200 children are held in adult jails and prisons. Every year, 100,000 youth are admitted into local adult facilities and prisons. This was the fate of 14-year-old Brian Harrington Jr., who was a freshman in High School when he was charged with a 25 year prison sentence. Today, Brian, his family, and his partner Jess are fighting to get his life back.

Jeff Wallace, a formerly incarcerated youth, sits down to discuss the racial disparities found in the juvenile justice system. Wallace shares his experiences, along with discussing his role in assisting youth of color navigate the juvenile justice system. Wallace talks trauma-informed care and policy efforts, that can be taken to help mitigate the effects of the juvenile justice system.