Youth Advocacy Foundation
YAP is a community-based project with an innovative approach to advocating for youth in the courtroom and the community. YAP recognizes the need to address the many issues that face young people in order to prevent chronic court involvement. They have spearheaded many creative partnerships with state and local organizations, schools, and programs to develop new services and identify existing resources that meet the needs of young people in Boston's neighborhoods.
Project
With USHRF's current support, YAP will formally establish a Massachusetts Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth. This Campaign will draft a model bill based on the recommendations of a report released in Summer 2009 detailing the impact of the state's JLWOP sentence. Additionally, YAP will seek legislative leadership for the bill, and conduct outreach to stakeholders for support of the bill.
Simultaneously, YAP will support strategic litigation by preserving constitutional arguments, and representation that could avert or reverse a JLWOP sentence and avoid creating harmful precedents. YAP anticipates that ending JLWOP in Massachusetts will require coalition building, advocacy expertise, and directed litigation, including the potential for an incremental legal challenge to the current law. Significant campaign development is needed to transform these early efforts into real opportunities for changing the law, but strong groundwork has already been laid.
Contact Representative
Roxbury, MA 02119
Fax. (617) 541-0904