Mar 21, 2025
BUILDING SAFER COMMUNITIES & BRIGHTER FUTURES Do children as young as ten years old end up shackled and in prison? In PA, yes, they do. Imagine seeing a 10-year-old lying on a bare floor in shackles. State Rep. Rick Krajewski from Philadelphia did. At a...
Feb 7, 2025
More than 17,000 Pennsylvania children were charged in juvenile court in 2023, and 2/3 of the charges were for misdemeanors or summary offenses, like loitering and disorderly conduct. For those children and their communities, diversion is a better alternative than...
Jan 17, 2025
PHILLY COURTS DOUBLES DOWN ON LOCKING KIDS UP Just when we thought it was safe(r) to be a kid in Philadelphia, we learn that Philly locks up young people at a rate about four times the national average; more than New York, Chicago or Los Angeles. In our...
Jan 10, 2025
Children First Condemns Use of Youth Seclusion at the Philadelphia Juvenile Justice Services Center January 10, 2025 Children First is deeply disturbed by the findings in a recent Philadelphia Office of the Youth Ombudsperson (OYO) report on the use of seclusion at...
Jan 3, 2025
HOPE FOR THE FUTURE There is good news already this year for Philadelphia children and teens – fewer of them will be locked up and more of them are taking advantage of programs that brighten their futures. It hasn’t always been this way. When Mayor Parker...
Oct 31, 2024
THERE OUGHT TO BE A LAW, RIGHT? For too long, the “lock ’em up” mentality ruled, and children who crossed the law were locked up in facilities that offered little teaching and lots of trauma. In addition to widespread physical and sexual...
