Free the Youth Press Conference
During a recent Free the Youth press conference, local Youth & Transformative Justice organizers and advocates convened to address the LA County Board of Supervisors, demanding them to take action. Specifically, they called for the closure of all youth jails and end system involvement for girls and gender expansive youth.
Community organizers—including Liberty Hill grantee partners from our newly established Liberation Fund—came together to emphasize the urgency of the matter. They urged board members to shut down Los Padrinos, Barry J. Nidorf, and all other youth jails in the county, redirecting $140 million towards community-based programs. This aligns with the decision made by the Board of Supervisors in November 2021, which endorsed the Youth Justice Reimagined model.
In a call to action, Dominique Davis, Senior Program Manager with the Young Women’s Freedom Center, shared, “It is time to close these facilities and provide a pathway to freedom for those unjustly confined. Let us unite in this crucial cause for the betterment of our community and future generations.”
The Young Women’s Freedom Center, a member of Liberty Hill’s Liberation Fund, aims for full decarceration of girls and gender expansive youth in LA County. Their goal is a local, statewide and nationwide blueprint, focusing on housing, health, education, and employment. It also re-imagines a justice system centered on prevention and healing, not punishment.
The Liberation Fund supports community-based organizations who are experts in youth development, legal advocacy, and organizing to prioritize the unique experiences of girls and gender expansive youth, and create strategies that meet their needs, while simultaneously addressing the systemic failures and practices that harm them.
