YOUTH JUSTICE 101
Over the past year members of the HODG community have met regularly to better understand our county’s Youth Justice System. This endeavor was inspired by the death of 18 year old Brian Diaz inside his cell in Juvenile Hall.
Former Chair of the Probation Reform Implementation Team (PRIT), and good friend, Saul Sarabia has led us through this labrynthine system. Along the way we have met awe-inspiring people who have worked in the system. One of them is Eduardo Mundo.
Eduardo is a retired deputy and supervising probation officer. During his tenure, he served at five different probation camps. In retirement, he continues to serve as an informal advisor to the Probation Reform and Implementation team. His oral history for the "Decarceration Oral History Project" hosted by the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment is a must read! (See below for link.)
Why am I yammering on about all this? Because Helen and I asked Eduardo if he’d give our community an IN PERSON lesson on how our Youth Justice System works – and mostly doesn’t work -- and he said yes!
You are all invited to come and learn with us. Right now so many of us are – correctly – concerned about the children of Gaza, and Israel, and Ukraine, and Haiti (although let’s be honest, no one is talking about the children of Haiti or Ukraine or Israel but moving on…) The thing is, there are children right here, in our OWN CITY, who are dying at the hands of our government. We vote for the people who don't do enough to keep these kids safe. We pay for the systems that kill them. And in case you are thinking "these are bad kids." The vast majority of them have not been found guilty of anything. They haven’t even had a trial yet.
Please, come join Helen and Stacey and Tanya and Francine and me and Eduardo, and learn about what’s happening to OUR children.
We are better than this. Or we should be.
YOUTH JUSTICE 101
Saturday, April 6
3:00-5:00pm
HODG HQ
153 S. Norton Ave
FREE.
Snacks + Drinks will be served.