In 2024, YSRP celebrated 10 years of amplifying the voices of client-partners, pushing for policy reforms, and launching new programs like the Speakers Bureau.
Join us in shaping the next decade of change— donate today to help us continue building a future where all children are treated with dignity and are given the opportunity to thrive!
Dear Friends,
We’ve probably told the story one too many times: The two of us were driving across Pennsylvania, preparing to give a presentation to a group of incarcerated women who were told they deserved to die in prison when they were children. We were two young and idealistic lawyers, disgusted by the racism, classism, and other injustices, gaps, and missed opportunities we saw almost daily. Inspired to leverage our privilege to fight against these inequities, we started to daydream together about what might be possible: a future where children would never be charged and sentenced as if they were adults, and a future where the brilliant men and women we met inside of prisons across Pennsylvania would be home with their families, working with us, and leading the movement. What began as a daydream and a kernel of an idea grew into the organization we are so proud of today, 10 years later.
What we could not have possibly imagined is that we would be celebrating YSRP as it currently exists: a vibrant, loving, justice-seeking organization that gets sh*t done—and done well. It sounds like a cliché, but many of the dreams we articulated during that car ride have come true: Hundreds of former juvenile lifers are home, dozens of young people who were charged as adults are contributing to their communities, and many from both groups continue to be part of YSRP’s work today. A new model for advocacy that incorporates sentencing mitigation, comprehensive reentry planning, and, most importantly, partnership, has now been employed in hundreds of cases where children faced charges in the adult criminal legal system.
In and around Philadelphia, young people who are prosecuted as adults are supported as they return home from incarceration. Through Intergenerational Healing Circles, those same young people are building power and community with elders who share similar life experiences. The list goes on, and it is beautiful. While the fight to end the inhumane practice of charging children as adults continues, a fierce, dynamic, powerhouse team carries that work forward, alongside comrades across the country. We are deeply proud of what YSRP has accomplished, and we are so hopeful for the future as the organization continues to grow and evolve under Bianca van Heydoorn’s tenacious and visionary leadership.
The hopes and dreams we had for YSRP didn’t come true in a vacuum. It took a broad community of friends, mentors, colleagues, and supporters to make the vision a reality. You are too many to name, but we hope that you can feel our profound gratitude. From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU.
With love always, and onwards toward a more just future,
Joanna and Lauren
Co-Founders and Immediate Past Co-Directors
Client-Partner Impact
In 2024, YSRP continued to work alongside individual client-partners like Christina. Once silenced by a system that overlooked her humanity, Christina is now thriving as a home health aide and a proud member of YSRP’s Speakers Bureau. With your support, we can continue advocating for young people like Christina, ensuring their voices are heard, their stories are told, and their futures are full of promise.
Coming in 2025:
We are thrilled to announce the release of Disrupted: Injustice, Trauma and Healing, a new film produced by our Senior Reentry Coordinator, John Pace, in collaboration with Represent Justice. This moving documentary explores the structural forces—poverty, environmental racism, and harmful policing—that funnel Black and Brown children into the adult prison system, with a focus on Philadelphia, the poorest large city in the U.S.
Filling the Gaps in Legal Advocacy
Know Your Rights provides essential legal advocacy and education for young people charged as adults, many of whom are held in solitary confinement at Pennsylvania’s Riverside Correctional Facility. These young people, predominantly Black and Brown, face a complex legal system not designed for their needs. Through our program, we offer critical legal support and ensure they understand their rights within that system.
Advancing Policy Initiatives
In 2024, YSRP expanded its impact by elevating the voices of directly impacted individuals and building stronger alliances to advance youth justice reform. Looking ahead, we remain committed to driving policy and system changes that ensure all children are treated as children and supported to thrive in their communities.
Margot Isman - Policy Director
As the dust settles after the election, YSRP is reflecting on what the results mean for youth justice reform in Pennsylvania. While national changes remain uncertain, our mission is steadfast: children do not belong in adult jail or prison. Our policy work is rooted in long-term change—far beyond election cycles.
This year, we leaned into community and narrative change, building alliances across Philadelphia and the Commonwealth to strengthen our collective voice. Through YSRP’s growing Speakers Bureau, directly impacted people engaged lawmakers and decision-makers with lived experiences that informed and inspired policy conversations.
Though HB 1381 didn’t pass this legislative cycle, we are not discouraged. In January, a new two-year session begins, offering fresh opportunities to educate lawmakers on the realities our client-partners face. We’ll share ways for our broader community to support this critical work in the new year.
A particularly exciting milestone this month was the hiring of Shariff Ingram as our first full-time Speakers Bureau & Policy Coordinator. Shariff’s journey is deeply intertwined with YSRP’s mission, and we are thrilled for the expertise he brings to our advocacy work.
Shariff Ingram - Speakers Bureau and Policy Coordinator
My first day as YSRP’s Speakers Bureau & Policy Coordinator was a full-circle moment—exactly 26 years from the day I was found guilty as a 16-year-old kid, charged as an adult for first-degree murder. That was the most traumatic experience of my life, but it shaped my journey and the opportunity I have today.
Now, I am honored to work with YSRP to prevent children from enduring what I went through and to educate policymakers about the harm caused by caging children in adult prisons. Hundreds of formerly condemned children from Philadelphia—once labeled as irredeemable—are now home, thriving and rebuilding the same communities they were accused of destroying.
Our work is about more than just reforming laws. It’s about asking deeper questions: What conditions lead children to commit offenses in the first place? How can we shift our focus to prevention and support?
I am honored to be a part of an organization that not only represented me and helped get me home but can do great things for young people currently in the system. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to be a part of YSRP’s history!