Youth Justice Transformation Cohort

Harris County boasts a wealth of community-based organizations dedicated to making significant improvements in the youth justice arena. In August 2022, a collaborative vision emerged from a group of youth, individuals with lived experience, and various organizations, envisioning enhanced support and coordination for Harris County’s youth and young adults. Over the course of a year, this group, now known as the Harris County Youth Justice Transformation Cohort, engaged in a meticulous process of sharing knowledge, developing new insights, and solidifying a joint campaign to transform youth justice in the county.

“What happens when we RESET?”

Membership includes representatives from the following organizations:

Young People in Action
US Dream Academy
Pure Justice
Grassroots Leadership
Excel Beyond
Aknew Approach
Operation Prison Prevention
The Village Connect
Juvenile Justice Advocates YAB
Houston in Action
Collective Action for Youth

Cohort members support the initiative by participating in one of three specialized tracks:

Data Analysis Fellows

Data Analysis Fellows will develop expertise in data utilization to inform decision-making processes. They will access public data, identify gaps, and determine valuable information for the community. Additionally, fellows will engage in narrative shaping to communicate findings to diverse stakeholders and relay insights and recommendations to the entire Cohort.

Policy Fellows

Policy Fellows will gain a thorough understanding of policy creation at local and federal levels. They will research current policies related to juvenile justice, safety, probation, sentencing, re-entry, budget allocations, and recidivism. Fellows will also create a policy power map, guiding them from ideation to policy action, and collaborate with advocacy organizations to learn from their experiences. They will share their learnings and recommendations with the full Cohort.

Participatory Action Research Fellows

Participatory Action Research Fellows will develop a research hypothesis with support from the Cohort and implement a comprehensive research evaluation process. They will conduct interviews with youth (both system-impacted and not system-impacted), families, community members, teachers, and current and former law enforcement personnel. Fellows will be responsible for communicating their findings and recommendations to the entire Cohort.

To learn more about the work of the Cohort please contact us at info@ca4y.org, subject line “HCYJTC”