Connecting the dots between experience and research

What alternative programs can we create to prevent the incarceration of young mothers and birthing people?

We Were Never Meant to Be Caged

This zine is a container for stories that were never meant to be held in silence. It holds the voices of young people who have given life while locked down. Who’ve laboured under fluorescent lights, surrounded not by loved ones, but by guards.The ones that have nurtured children through steel doors, visitation glass, and the trauma of state control.These are the stories the system tries to bury, but they bloom anyway—in strength, in rage, in truth.

In October 2024, I Am Why participated in Youth Justice Action Month. Through a virtual roundtable, we uplifted stories of pregnant and parenting young people incarcerated in the youth system. At our roundtable, we shifted power. Five young panelists from across the United States shared their stories, expertise and recommendations with representatives from the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, Kansas Department of Corrections, and National Center for Youth Law. After the roundtable, our expert panelists created I Am Why statements and art rooted in their personal stories. In this zine, we amplify the voices and power fo these experts and their visions for liberating young mothers and birthing people.

I Am Why’s Mentorship Model: A Nested Ecosystem of Intergenerational Learning and Growth

This white paper is the result of rigorous research and a deep commitment to advancing mentorship practices. It underscores I Am Why’s dedication to engaging individuals at all stages of their careers, fostering an environment where everyone, regardless of age or experience, can teach and learn. It presents I Am Why’s unique approach to mentorship, which focuses on professional mentorship of transitional-age (17-26) young women and gender-expansive young people, particularly youth of color.

Gender Injustice: System-Level Juvenile Justice Reforms for Girls (Sherman & Balck)

A comprehensive report on girls in the juvenile justice system that underscores deeply rooted, systemic gender injustice. The report’s findings confirm that despite progress in juvenile justice, girls are disproportionately arrested, formally processed, detained, and incarcerated in the juvenile justice system for offenses that pose little or no threat to public safety. The report calls for an end to criminalizing girls’ behavior and an end to girls’ incarceration. It calls for investment in communities, and in trauma-informed, strengths-based, developmentally-appropriate approaches.

The Right to an Equitable Education

See how this understanding of rights can help us rethink education.

Self-Determination and Safety

Learn how centering self-determination can help safety take on a new meaning.