About Us
Since its founding in 2003, The Advocacy Foundation has become recognized as an effective provider of support to those who receive our services, having real impact within the communities we serve. We are currently engaged in several community and faith-based collaborative initiatives, having the overall objective of eradicating all forms of youth violence and re-vitalizing entire communities. In carrying-out these initiatives, we have adopted the evidence-based strategic framework developed and implemented by the Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). The stated objectives are:
(1) Community Mobilization
(2) Social Intervention
(3) Provision of Opportunities
(4) Organizational Change and Development
(5) Suppression [of unlawful activities].
Moreover, it is our most fundamental belief that in order to be effective, prevention and intervention strategies must generally be Community Specific, Culturally Relevant, Evidence-Based, and Collaborative.
The Violence Prevention and Intervention programming we employ in implementing this community-enhancing framework include the programs further described herein. We sincerely appreciate your review of our programs, as well as your consideration for tax deductible contributions.
Always feel welcome to contact us directly with any questions, comments or great ideas!
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In A Nutshell
In a nutshell, here's what we're all about:
Eradicating Juvenile Delinquency Takes a Multi-Disciplinary Approach
Proverbs 31:8-9
The Juvenile Justice system is incredibly overloaded, and Solutions-Based programs are woefully underfunded. Our precious children, therefore, particularly young people of color, often get the “swift” version of justice whenever they come into contact with the law.
Decisions to build prison facilities are often based on elementary school test results, and our country incarcerates more of its young than any other nation on earth. So we at the Foundation labor to pull our young people out of the “school to prison” pipeline, and we then coordinate the efforts of the legal, mental health, governmental and educational professionals needed to bring an end to delinquency.
We also educate families, police, local businesses, elected officials, clergy, and schools about restoring whole communities, and we labor to change their thinking about the causes of delinquency with the goal of helping them embrace the idea of restoration for the young people in our care who demonstrate repentance for their mistakes.
The way we accomplish this is a follows:
1. We vigorously advocate for charges reductions wherever possible in the adjudicatory (court) process, with the ultimate goal of expungement or pardon in order to maximize the chances for our young clients to graduate high school and progress into college, military service or the workforce without the stigma of a prison record;
2. We then enroll each young person into Data-Driven Restorative Justice projects designed to facilitate their reintegration back into the community;
3. While the projects are operating, we conduct a wide variety of ComeUnity-Building seminars and workshops on topics ranging from Juvenile Justice to Parental Rights, to Domestic issues to Police friendly contacts, to CBO and FBO accountability and compliance;
4. Throughout the process, we encourage and maintain frequent personal contact between all parties;
5. Throughout the process we conduct a continuum of events and fundraisers designed to facilitate collaboration among professionals and community stakeholders; and
6.** We disseminate Quarterly publications, like our e-Advocate series Newsletter and our Quarterly e-Advocate Magazine to all monthly donors in order to facilitate a lifelong learning process on the ever-evolving developments in the Justice system.
And in addition to the help we provide for our young clients and their families, we also facilitate community engagement with the Restorative Justice process, thereby balancing the interests of local businesses, schools, clergy, elected officials, police, and all interested stakeholders involved.
Through these efforts, relationships are rebuilt & strengthened, local businesses and communities are enhanced & protected from victimization, young careers are developed, and our precious young people are kept out of the prison pipeline.
This is a massive undertaking, and we need all the financial support you can give!
We seek to help 75 young persons per quarter-year (a total of 250 per year) in each jurisdiction we serve at an average cost of under $2,500 per client, per year.*
Thank you in advance for your support!
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* FYI:
1. The national average annual cost to taxpayers for minimum-security youth incarceration, is around $43,000.00 per child, per year.
2. The national average annual cost to taxpayers for maximum-security youth incarceration is well over $148,000.00 per child, per year.
- (US News and World Report, December 9, 2014);
3. In every jurisdiction in the nation, the Plea Bargain rate is over 99%.
The Judicial system seeks to balance Rehabilitative Justice with Community Protection and Judicial Economy, and, although the practitioners work very hard to achieve positive outcomes, the scales are nowhere near balanced where people of color are involved.
We must reverse this trend, which is right now working very much against the best interests of our young.
Our young people do not belong behind bars.
- Jack Johnson
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** In addition to supporting our world-class programming and support services, all monthly donors receive our Quarterly e-Newsletter (The e-Advocate), as well as The e-Advocate Quarterly Magazine.