Partner Highlight: Youth Justice Milwaukee

Urban Underground, the social justice organization from which Youth Justice Milwaukee stemmed, was founded in 2000 with the goal of rallying young people to advocate on the issues that most affect them. In 2016, following a lawsuit regarding abuse at two local prisons, Youth Justice Milwaukee took shape.

“We started Youth Justice Milwaukee to say we have to do better,” said Sharlen Moore, co-founder and executive director of both organizations. “We have to advocate for young people, especially those that are most vulnerable, and just do better in our youth justice system.”

Moore and Assistant Executive Director Darrin Madison grounded their presentation in some stark statistics. Currently, Milwaukee ranks fourth among major cities in terms of children living in poverty, with communities of color disproportionally affected, and Black youth are 15 times more likely than their white counterparts to be incarcerated.

The solution lies not in creating more prisons, they said, but in investing in our youth – in after-school programs, summer and year-round job opportunities, development services and mental health options – in order to reduce the root causes of youth incarceration.

“It costs $420,000 a year to incarcerate one – not two, not three. One young person,” said Moore. “You can absolutely imagine what we can do with $420,000. We have to use those support services not when young people get incarcerated, but before a young person gets into the youth justice system.”

For those that are currently in the system, Youth Justice Milwaukee is advocating for a smaller space within the city, with a maximum of 32 beds, where incarcerated youth can receive the supports they need from professionals, their families and the surrounding community.

“As we think about the ability to ensure that young people are able to have an impact and be their best selves,” said Madison, “if we're not protecting them at this critical period in their lives, we are failing them, and we see the impacts of these failures on our society today.”