e-Newsletters

From guidance on interactions with law enforcement officers to helping young people understand and process trauma to developing life skills before leaving foster care, Juvenile Justice Jeopardy—in all of its iterations is making a real impact in the lives of young people across the country.

With the return of students, the debate over whether law enforcement officers should be placed in the nation’s public schools continues to rage. SFY offers parents and school decision makers practical resources to help them keep the schools safe and productive for all students.

Strategies for Youth is sending you a Big Thank You for supporting our Keep Kids Safe This Summer campaign in June. Your generosity has enabled us to customize different versions of Juvenile Justice Jeopardy games for youth living in different regions of the country.

With the return of students, the debate over whether law enforcement officers should be placed in the nation’s public schools continues to rage. SFY offers parents and school decision makers practical resources to help them keep the schools safe and productive for all students.

Abby Howard joined SFY as a Northeastern Law School Co-op during the summer of 2022. Below she writes about the conclusions she drew from her research on policies and standards for law enforcement officers’ interactions with youth and playing Juvenile Justice Jeopardy in the metro-Boston area.

Dear Friends,

The results of the second annual Youth Voices Contest are in!
A group of 14 judges—attorneys, artists, youth advocates, and young people—chose 3 essays and 3 pieces of artwork created by young people, aged 14 through 17, as this year’s winners. Thanks to a generous grant from the We are Family Foundation, we awarded cash prizes to all prize winners.

Dear Friends: In this enewsletter, I am highlighting exciting news about SFY’s “impact.” First, 3 peer-reviewed articles, published in highly respected journals, and a fourth about to be published, help to answer the $50 million dollar question about SFY’s interventions: “Do they work?”

Today, SFY released a groundbreaking report, Catch & Stun, regarding the use of tasers on young people who are unarmed, engaged in minor or no criminal activity, in distress or emotional crisis, and pose no public safety threat.

It’s been a long time since I have felt hopeful. When I first learned about Strategies for Youth and their mission to connect cops and kids in a meaningful way, I knew I had to get involved. For me, this work represents real progress that translates to safer children and better-prepared police officers. An SFY survey found that police officers spend just 1% of their training time in the academy — that’s just six hours — on youth-focused issues. That’s simply not enough.

This year’s YOUTH VOICES contest asks young people to reflect on the role of policing and democracy—and we promise to make sure their answers and viewpoints are heard and seen.

This fall, Dastherlie Dorlus — or “Dash” — a second year Northeastern Law School student, interned at Strategies for Youth. One of her projects was to update SFY’s October 2019 report, Two Billion Dollars Later: States Begin to Regulate School Resource Officers in the Nation’s Schools A Survey of State Laws

On October 14, Lisa Thurau, Executive Director of Strategies for Youth, was invited by Tricia Long, Director of Resilience Beyond Incarceration (RBI), to co-lead two four-hour workshops for law enforcement officers in two Vermont counties. The workshops promoted a trauma-informed approach to interacting with children who are present when a parent or caretaker is being arrested.

As we move through these last, precious days of sun and warmth, I wanted to briefly highlight some recent national attention that SFY has received in the media, and a new social media campaign we are launching to help law enforcement and other practitioners improve the quality of their interactions with youth.

As the summer comes to an end, learn more about our summer interns and their experience at Strategies for Youth!

We’re excited to share a piece that ran in the New York Times on Monday: “What Do Police Know About Teenagers? Not Enough.”

We are excited to announce the launch of SFY’s second annual Youth Voices contest in collaboration with You(th) Matter!

Dear Friends: I am pleased to report that this spring, the Board of Directors of Strategies for Youth elected four new Board members!

Strategies for Youth is turning 11!
Help us celebrate our new status as a ‘tween.

SFY’s new report, Forging Partnerships with Law Enforcement, results from SFY’s work with the Annie E. Casey Foundation and with local partners implementing Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiatives (JDAI) over the last 10 years.

I am delighted to share good news: Kristen Wheeler has joined Strategies for Youth as Staff Attorney.

Strategies for Youth has been working hard to keep the concerns, needs, and special protections owed to young people at the forefront of law enforcement reform initiatives.

Events involving law enforcement and youth in Rochester, New York, Kissimmee, Florida, and now from Aurora, Colorado illustrate the dangers to children when law enforcement agencies and officers do not use policies that restrict use of force with children and youth.

Courtesy of the CARES Act, those who take the standard tax deduction can take a $300 deduction above their adjusted gross income (AGI). The $300 deduction is for donations made in cash, which includes currency, checks, credit or debit cards, and electronic funds transfers.Those who itemize their deductions can take a 100% deduction off of their AGI this year only. Normally, this deduction is phased out at 60%.

As we close out 2020, we want to thank you for your support of Strategies for Youth. In a year with so many challenges, many things have been made clear, chief among them for us have been the importance of Strategies For Youth’s work and the importance of the support of donors like you.

We asked, ‘What do you find useful and compelling about our programs.” For Chief Russell Bentley, the answer was easy. “This is exactly the kind of training I was looking for. It helps our SROs treat the whole child.”