Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Texas Considers a Novel Push for Gun Violence Prevention

    VIP Fort Worth modeled itself on a number of violence-intervention programs with a blended approach that has been so successful in such a short time that Texas officials are considering investing in a statewide version. Street outreach workers, many of them former gang members, mediate disputes and counsel young men at risk of getting shot or shooting others. In its first five months, it says it has prevented dozens of shootings through hundreds of direct contacts with people on the streets. Like the programs it's modeled on, it is an alternative to policing, operating independently.

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  • India trashes 100 million tires a year. She turns them into playgrounds.

    Anthill Creations has built 275 "playscapes" across India, mostly using discarded vehicle tires as the affordable raw materials. In many parts of the country, children lack outdoor play spaces and toys to enliven their play. By "upcycling" some of the 100 million discarded tires the country generates annually and painting them bright colors, the 5-year-old project has benefits ranging from the environment to children's safety and happiness.

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  • Juvenile (in)justice

    Five years after South Dakota replaced a failing, punitive juvenile justice system that emphasized incarceration and probation with approaches focused on rehabilitation and local services for youth, the state's investment has paid off in far lower recidivism, incarceration, and expense. Counties have financial, justice, and moral incentives to follow the evidence of what works and help teens improve their lives. The state also keeps the data needed to track what is working. Neighboring Wyoming does the opposite on all counts, and it has the wrecked lives and high costs to show for it.

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  • Spaulding still changing lives after 150 years

    The Spaulding Academy and Family Services is a residential school for children and young adults with autism and other neurological issues. It also serves young people with histories of severe trauma or who are in crisis without a stable home. The care they receive is based on love and listening, to make neglected or deeply troubled children feel valued. Some students have restored healthier relationships with their families, while others have found new homes in foster families or adoptions.

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  • With gun suicides on the rise, a rare hotline staffed by St. Louis teens saves lives

    Kids Under Twenty One has taken phone calls from thousands of St. Louis-area youth to its 24/7 crisis hotline and has educated many more students at 60 schools in four counties. Teens staff the hotline, a rarity. KUTO counters the myth that talking about teens' suicide risks encouraging suicides. Instead, education about mental health care and gun safety promotes intervention during critical moments and reduces the stigma associated with seeking help. Missouri's teen suicide rate is among the highest in the country, but the St. Louis area, where KUTO has worked for 20 years, is among the state's lowest.

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  • The Young Uyghurs Mobilizing to Keep Their Culture Alive

    A growing community of young Uyghurs are working to preserve and promote their culture from the diaspora. Many online networks provide ways for young people to connect, and also offer courses on traditional culture, Uyghur language, and career networking. Other groups fundraise to help Uyghurs still in China, where they live under oppressive conditions and authorities have banned most aspects of traditional Uyghur life. Dozens of Uyghur schools have popped up around the globe, where young people, many of whom have never been to China, contribute to keeping the culture alive.

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  • In a city where bullets too often hit kids, a program calls on young people to shoot cameras, not guns

    A group of D.C. teens produced a short film depicting life in their neighborhood, the final product of a pilot project that teaches filmmaking skills in order to lift up community voices and inspire youth to pursue a career. The program, "Don't Shoot Guns, Shoot Cameras," was started by the uncle of a homicide victim in a neighborhood where violence can feel more prevalent than positive inspiration. The program, which partnered with an existing nonprofit, is now seeking to expand.

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  • One Relationship at a Time: Restorative Justice Initiatives in West Harlem are Rewriting Legacies of Violence and Mass Incarceration

    The largest police raid in New York City history did little to resolve a decades-long conflict between residents of two Harlem housing projects, nor did it address the underlying problems causing violence in the community. So two community groups, supported by grants from the Manhattan district attorney, have deployed intervention teams to de-escalate and mediate disputes. They also provide an array of services to give young people alternatives to fighting and to assist people who were arrested in the raids as they emerge from prison.

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  • The Coffee Shop Giving Homeless Youth a Chance at Success

    A coffee shop is employing young people experiencing homelessness. Employment at the coffee shop provides the stability and support they need to find and maintain housing. Income, structure, and skills gained from employment at the cafe are the springboard needed for the young adults to secure stability. 

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  • Youth incarceration fell when California required counties to pay more for juvenile detention: New research

    When a California law shifted the costs of incarcerating youth from the state to its counties, judges suddenly sent 40% fewer youth to state-run juvenile facilities. That reduction began a long-term trend that combined with a state commitment to evidence-based approaches to rehabilitation instead of punishment, especially for less-serious offenses. The end result is that state juvenile jails have been all but phased out of existence and California, a longtime tough-on-crime state, now has what one advocacy group considers the nation's most humane juvenile justice system.

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