Dear Friends,

We hope this note finds you healthy and cared for in these concerning times. We at YSRP are thinking of you and holding near our client-partners, particularly those who are currently incarcerated, as we weather this pandemic together.

As one of our client-partners -- a young person currently incarcerated in adult prison -- shared with us by phone a couple of weeks ago, “When things like this happen, we’re the last ones people care about.” Because of your past support, we could let this young person know that they matter, and that there is a community working hard alongside them, and others, to bring incarcerated youth home.

The real havoc the COVID-19 virus is wreaking throughout jails, detention centers, residential treatment facilities, and communities, has called us at YSRP to extraordinary action. In response to the pandemic, YSRP:

• Filed an emergency lawsuit, with Juvenile Law Center & DLA Piper, seeking the immediate release of virtually all children in carceral settings in Pennsylvania. The PA Supreme Court denied our petition, but not without providing important guidance to counties across PA aimed at reducing the number of youth in confinement. We won’t stop there. We are actively pursuing additional emergency legal remedies to bring youth home.
• Disbursed nearly $19,000 in emergency relief funds to our client-partners, and will disburse more as we are able. With the extraordinary generosity of one funder, we have supported our client-partners who are home to pay for essentials like rent, groceries and bills; for client-partners who are currently in jail or prison, we are putting money on their books to help pay for essentials like soap, cleaning products and phone calls.
• Continues to convene Intergenerational Healing Circles (IGHCs) in this time of crisis. Now being facilitated virtually, the IGHCs are group sessions that explore issues of trauma, incarceration, healing and growth for youth and Juvenile Lifer client-partners.
• Calls on city and state leaders to act to decarcerate and minimize risk and harm. We continue to build pressure around City and State leaders to immediately release children from Philadelphia’s jails and juvenile detention center and, in the long term, to remove all children from adult jails and prisons in Philadelphia and beyond.