There is more consensus than ever that youth incarceration is part of a failed system. Avenues for Justice’s effectiveness provides young people with tools to succeed while keeping our streets safe. AFJ has diverted thousands of NYC youth ages 13 – 24 from a punitive criminal justice system into a community-based support program designed to help them avoid future interaction with the criminal justice system. In addition to their main program of on-going court advocacy, they provide their HIRE UP programs on a hybrid online and onsite platform for workforce training, education, mental health wellness and mentoring.
Launched in 1979, Avenues for Justice (then known as the Andrew Glover Youth Program) was one of the first alternatives to incarceration (ATI) programs for youth in the country. Avenues for Justice has been instrumental in fighting for youth to be separated from adults within the justice system. Through their 40+ years as a Hispanic-led organization, they have maintained among the highest success rates in the country; 95% of their participants do not commit another crime during a three-year tracking period after enrollment. AFJ currently serves 300+ ATI court-involved, at-risk and re-entry youth and young adults per year at their centers in Harlem and the Lower East Side, and at their Manhattan Criminal Courthouse offices.
