Let’s reimagine youth justice.
Action! by Design has been working with the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative (JDAI), part of Massachusetts Department of Youth Services (DYS), to reimagine a juvenile justice system that ensures the right youth is in the right place for the right reason. As a studio committed to community-centered solutions building, we have created a state-wide survey that will use input to inform the next phase of our Community Design Sprint.
This survey is for people in Massachusetts that 1) have been impacted by the system, 2) the practitioners working within it, and 3) the broader resident population. The goal of this survey is to gather input about perceptions of juvenile justice in Massachusetts and how to improve and/or reimagine this system.
We’re hoping this survey can be completed by as many people as possible—so please share! And, thank you. (Link to Press Kit)
How Action! by Design is using our Community Design Sprint process to support systems-change for juvenile justice.
Juvenile Justice is a complex system that also intersects with other systems in need of repair and reimagination. When we began this project with JDAI, and after diving into the research and the history of the initiative, we spent more time with the team to learn about their motivations and goals taking JDAI into the future. After identifying a long term goal, building sprint questions, and sketching journey maps for how the system impacts the lives of individuals; we wrote our design challenge that targets a specific, identified pain point in the system.
We also set design principles that guide how we approach each conversation, workshop, and interview.
Antiracist.
Racism is a powerful collection of racist policies that lead to racial inequity and are substantiated by racist ideas. Antiracism is a powerful collection of antiracist policies that lead to racial equity and are substantiated by antiracist ideas.” “An antiracist idea is any idea that suggests the racial groups are equals in all their apparent differences.” (From Ibram X. Kendi)
Developmentally Appropriate.
A developmentally appropriate practice is grounded in theory and research on typical child and adolescent development. Developmentally appropriate practices involve adults (e.g., teachers, parents, caregivers, and clinicians) meeting children where they are based on their stage of development. (healthysafechildren.org)
Restorative.
Restorative justice repairs the harm caused by crime. When victims, offenders and community members meet to decide how to do that, the results can be transformational. It emphasizes accountability, making amends, and — if they are interested — facilitated meetings between victims, offenders, and other persons. (restorativejustice.org)
Interested in running a Community Design Sprint with Action! by Design?
Share this work.
Sharing with your community helps us hear more voices. We’ve developed a Press Kit for our Youth Justice Survey with JDAI that includes images for social media as well as drafted content you can include for emails and posts.
