ACLU of Ohio Sends Letter to Cleveland Stakeholders Urging Investment in Youth Initiatives to Advance Safety

The ACLU of Ohio sent letters to Mayor Bibb, Cleveland City Council, Cleveland Department of Recreation, Cleveland Public Library, and Cuyahoga County Council, to share findings from focus groups and listening sessions with young people from zip codes most represented in the juvenile criminal legal system, urging stakeholders to invest in initiatives to foster safety, learning, and prosperity. Youth identified two key investments that will improve their lives: expansion of youth-specific third spaces across the city, and access to financial literacy and job training run for and by young people and their older peers.

Over the past two years, the ACLU of Ohio, Children's Law Center, and The Schubert Center for Child Studies conducted focus groups and listening sessions to understand how negative framing in the media and elsewhere can affect young people who are impacted by the criminal legal system. Across these two initiatives, the organizations spoke to over 100 youth to gather their thoughts, feelings, and ideas about safety, community, and opportunity in Cleveland.

"The ACLU of Ohio is eager to work with city leaders in creating a safer, more nurturing, and more humanizing Cleveland for our young people. We urge stakeholders to prioritize these investments and consider how youth-specific third spaces and financial literacy programs can be factored into the upcoming budget cycle," noted Jocelyn Rosnick, Chief Policy and Advocacy Officer for the ACLU of Ohio. "It's past time we treat kids like kids and honor their own lived experiences. Cleveland youth told us what they need to feel safe. We all must listen."

"Our overarching goal is to combat harmful rhetoric about Cleveland's young people and foster a greater understanding about the daily realities and struggles for kids in our city. We hope this research will allow policymakers, law enforcement, and the broader community to lead with empathy and humanity when making decisions that impact the futures and fates of our youth," added Pat Gleydura, Advocacy Strategist for the ACLU of Ohio.