YSRP Creates & Co-Chairs Citywide JLWOP Working Group

In partnership with the Mayor’s Office, YSRP created a new Working Group to address the reentry needs of the more than 300 individual juvenile lifers whose cases originated in Philadelphia County. This JLWOP Reentry Working Group seeks to establish coordinated services for the women and men who are now eligible for resentencing and possible release. To date, we have:

• Developed consistent participation of a diverse group of more than 80 stakeholders (probation, parole, civil and criminal legal service providers, reentry organizations, the Department of Corrections, city agency representatives, and more) over the course of regular monthly meetings since March 2016;
• Hosted substantive presentations from the PA Department of Corrections, the Bureau of Community Corrections, and the PA Board of Probation and Parole about their JLWOP efforts;
• Hosted planning workshops to identify Working Group targets.

We are hopeful that the creation of this group will lead to more thoughtful and comprehensive reentry support for individuals formerly sentenced to life without parole as children as they prepare for, and then come home to the community.