Executive Summary

In a nation that imprisons over a quarter million teens each year - with African American youth four times more likely and Hispanic youth 28% more likely to be incarcerated than their white peers - Avenues for Justice (AFJ) has provided a path forward to success for thousands of African American and Hispanic young people, preventing them from being stigmatized with a criminal record for the rest of their lives. Incorporated in 1979, AFJ was one of the first alternatives to incarceration (ATI) programs for youth in the country. AFJ helped to facilitate the creation of Manhattan’s Supreme Court Youth Part where youth are prosecuted and tried separately from adults---a model now used nationwide.

Headquartered in the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse, AFJ serves 500 Participants annually, ages 13 to 24. Along with court advocacy, we provide HIRE Up programs for job readiness, educational support, civic learning and mental health, online and onsite at our community centers in Harlem and the Lower East Side.

AFJ maintains a team of staff who not only look like our Participants, but who come from and live in the communities we serve. This allows us to understand and meaningfully address the individual and systemic issues Participants face, supporting them with second chances.

Our approach is cost effective. It costs NY taxpayers $900,000 a year to incarcerate one young person, whereas it only costs AFJ $6,300 to put one young person through a full year of our wraparound services which lead to long-term stability.

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