We conduct workshops in the young women and girls unit at Juvenile Hall each week using a three-month, recurring curriculum called Lift Us Up, Don’t Lock Us Down. Lift Us Up, Don't Lock Us Down explores topics including self-care, self-advocacy, political education and cultural history. Because the curriculum is recurring, we encourage young women and girls who either have long sentences at Juvenile Hall or who cycle back into detention to become mentors and teachers of the curriculum along with our staff. In support of Lift Us Up, Don’t Lock Us Down, we provide one-on-one support, court accompaniment and case advocacy for young women facing California Youth Authority commitment or trial as adults.
The Lift Us Up, Don’t Lock Us Down curriculum is available for purchase.

We offer a peer-led reentry program called Sister Circles to young women upon their release from detention. Sister Circles combines weekly healing circles and community building activities with conversations about the issues young women face trying to stay out of the system. The program allows formerly incarcerated young women to build a community of support that sustains them and helps keep them off the streets and out of the system.

The Know Justice: Your Rights in the Juvenile Justice System handbook is the first of its kind resource for youth involved in the juvenile justice system in California. Available in both Spanish and English, the handbook provides explanations of legal terminology and user-friendly information about juvenile justice processes. Know Justice was born out of questions posed by young women incarcerated in Juvenile Hall and developed in collaboration with the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights. We have printed and distributed 15,000 copies of the handbook and we released the Second Edition in August 2005 (see covers to the right).

The Second Edition includes updates on laws that passed or changed in 2003 and 2004. It will includes information about drug-related offenses, custody visitation and prenatal rights targeted at an older population of young people, 18 to 24 years old, who have aged out of the juvenile system and have entered the adult system. We plan to distribute at least 10,000 copies of the Second Edition to the 32 counties in California with the highest youth incarceration rates.

Because of the enthusiastic response to the Know Justice handbook, we developed a companion Know Justice training using the handbook as a curriculum. We offer this training across the state. It is instructed by our staff and young women who were formerly incarcerated and now provide courtroom outreach to young women in the system. The training expands on the information in the handbook and includes general training as well as a training for trainers. Our goal is to train both youth and adults to be able to conduct Know Justice trainings in their communities.

We consistently engage our members and young women coming out of Juvenile Hall in advocacy campaigns so that they may learn about empowerment and the importance of having a civic voice. Our current political advocacy campaign responds to the fact that approximately one-third of the young women in San Francisco’s juvenile justice system are pregnant or parenting. Currently there are no policies in place to guide the treatment of these young women and to protect their rights. Young women are often denied visits with their children or are only able to visit their children in shackles. We are organizing formerly incarcerated young women to draft and campaign for a Young Mother’s Bill of Rights (see left column).

Our aim is always to develop a comprehensive alternative to incarceration that best serves the needs of the young woman. We develop legal and courtroom advocacy plans that involve the young woman, her parents or guardians, other community-based agencies, the faith-based community, the Public Defender’s office and (in some cases) the District Attorney’s office and the presiding judge. The goal is to empower the young woman to advocate for herself and have a voice in determining what will happen to her. When young women and their parents are involved in the process, it is more likely to be successful. In addition to reaching the young women that otherwise do not get the support they need from overburdened public defenders and social workers, courtroom outreach also serves to train previously incarcerated young women and parents of previously incarcerated youth to be peer educators and advocates. We provide case management and courtroom advocacy with the full support of the San Francisco Public Defender’s office, which distributes our materials and refers clients to our services.

Partnering with the Girls Detention Advocacy Project Coordinator, the Wellness Coordinator provides case management services to ensure that our programming is meeting the needs of the young woman in every aspect of her life journey. Each young woman that walks through our doors is encouraged to meet with our Wellness Coordinator during her drop in hours to “check-in” and consult about resources that she needs, advice on a personal issue or to just talk. This is key in helping a young woman reflect on her participation in our programming, as well as helping her progress with her personal goals. The Wellness Coordinator partners with the young women to create realistic goals for their lives and help them find the resources to become self-sufficient.

Young Mothers United (YMU) is a youth-led advocacy project that works to ensure the rights of pregnant and parenting young women during incarceration. YMU provides support and advocacy services for young mothers’ ages 16 to 24. YMU Project Coordinator works predominately with young mothers who are in lock-up and/or have an active CPS case. Support services include: Department of Human Services certified, 12-week, peer led parenting class, court advocacy and accompaniment. Our parenting classes cover topics such as healthy relationships, the impact of family violence, gender roles and more. The parenting class meets every Monday from 4pm-6pm and continues throughout the year.

In addition to support services, YMU coordinator engages young mothers and community members in organizing to change policy on a local, state and national level. Currently YMU is working on the Incarcerated Young Mother’s Bill of Rights and have membership meetings on the 4th Tuesday of every month from 4:00pm to 5:30 pm. The YMU coordinator also facilitates a Juvenile Hall Leadership Workgroup consisting of community leaders, young mothers, system staff, and city department heads that meet quarterly regarding the successful implementation of the CYWD Incarcerated Young Mothers’ Bill of Rights inside San Francisco’s juvenile hall. This Bill ensures that every incarcerated pregnant young woman will have the right to prenatal vitamins, adequate nutrition and access to medical services, and to have someone with her while giving birth, and that every parenting youth will have the right to visits and phone calls with their child. For more information contact YMU Project Coordinator, LeaJay Harper, at 415-703-8800 x212 or leajay@cywd.org.