“Redemption Song”

song by Bob Marley & The Wailers; check out our full curated playlist here – handpicked jams to keep the joy flowing!

Youth Justice is on the Governor’s Agenda

We all grow and change over time and deserve a chance to redeem ourselves when things go wrong. In order to ensure children
reach their full potential, we must provide them opportunities to rebuild and reclaim responsibility for their lives. The Wisconsin
state budget is a major opportunity to advocate for investment in community-based resources that keep youth connected to care, opportunity, and their communities.

Currently, the State of Wisconsin relies too heavily on incarceration. It also places the blame on our children for system-wide disinvestment in basic needs like housing, education, health care, and family supports. Protecting our children means addressing these
root causes of inequity and removing barriers so that justice-involved youth are activated to transform their circumstances.

During this year’s budget season the Governor proposed several critical juvenile justice system reforms that begin to confront systemic inequities and invest in community-based pathways, like:

• investing in smaller facilities focused on rehabilitation,

• providing ongoing funding for the new statewide “Office of Violence Prevention,”

• capping the daily cost counties pay when they send youth to state-run juvenile prisons, and

• researching and implementing evidence-based solutions to reduce youth incarceration.

Pushing the Pen: A Budget Win for a Better Future

Throughout the budget negotiations, we provided decision makers and communities with research, testimony and tools to push for evidence-based changes that emphasize prevention and rehabilitation over criminalization. The result: we elevated a public mandate against wasteful youth incarceration spending. While the 2025-2027 state budget did not deliver everything our youth deserve, a major win was achieved: Governor Evers’ reduced the financial burden on counties by line item vetoing a proposed increase in the daily cost counties pay to incarcerate youth.

Sinking more money into harmful systems means less resources to invest in safe and age appropriate care for our youth. Reducing the daily cost opens the door for counties to fund smarter, more community-centered investments. This decision also signals that the Governor listened to the will of Wisconsinites. Advocates and families alike agree that our state must move away from its dependence on youth incarceration and toward a vision of care, not criminalization. With this reduction, counties can reinvest funds into local resources like mentoring and mental health care. These solutions foster accountability without punitive punishment and keep our young people in their homes and communities.

Reimagining Public Safety: WI Youth Justice Coalition

In just a few short months, we have seen a national increase in the criminalization of youth and their communities, as well as a rollback in investment for initiatives that integrate healing and community-centered care. Punitive approaches to public safety such as increased police budgets, legislation mandating harsher sentences, and advanced surveillance technology don’t prevent crime or address its root causes.¹ These costly approaches capitalize on fear and increasingly fuel the mass incarceration of disproportionately Black and Brown youth. Community violence intervention strategies such as diversion programs, Credible Messenger programs, and mental health services reduce crime.² Poverty reduction levers like child tax credits prevent crime.³
Kids Forward is not waiting for decision makers to reform Wisconsin’s youth justice system. We are taking collective action, activating our network of friends-in-the-work, and holding decision makers accountable for investing in public safety measures that really work. By building a statewide youth justice coalition that develops the advocacy capacity of youth, emerging adults, and the organizations that serve them, Kids Forward is convening statewide partners to engage in narrative change, policy analysis, and educational advocacy. This work will persuade power brokers to reimagine public safety as a community-based continuum of care grounded in dignity, youth voice, emerging adult research, and collaboration. We invite those interested in reimagining public safety to join us on this journey!

Footnotes:

1. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/improving-public-safety-through-better-accountability-and-prevention/
2. https://www.sentencingproject.org/policy-brief/safety-beyond-sentencing/
3. ttps://counciloncj.org/investing-in-children-breaks-cycles-of-poverty-and-criminal-justice-involvement/