The urgent need to transform our community response to youth is recognized across both neighborhoods and system stakeholders. The Youth Restorative Justice Initiative (YRJI), housed at the Legal Rights Center, is focused on ending racial disparities and supporting young people’s dreams from a strengths-based approach. YRJI promotes power with youth, families, and communities to reduce harm caused by the legal system.

This work spans from school all the way to youth detention centers with an emphasis on a return to restorative practices to create meaningful accountability. YRJI catalyzes conversations and implementation of restorative practices at myriad decision points including schools, police, prosecutors, and courts. 

The goal of YRJI is to support implementation of comprehensive, community-centered, restorative models of youth legal systems change across Minnesota that are grounded in racial equity and community-centered restorative justice.