Harris County youth justice reinvestment fund touted as model

Harris County may be a model for other places seeking to change the youth justice system by investing resources into the community, according to a new report from Columbia University. The county is in the final stages of launching a project that will invest $4 million into community groups that serve children and families in an effort to steer young people away from the juvenile justice system. The Columbia Justice Lab released a report this week that documents the years-long process to launch the fund — the first of its kind in Texas — and issues recommendations for leaders doing similar work across the country. "I do imagine that as more and more places take a more community investment focused approach, that something like this could be a useful model to look to," said Vidhya Ananthakrishnan, co-author of the report and co-director of youth justice initiatives at the Justice Lab.

The Justice Lab, a university research center focused on justice policy, became involved in the project several years ago when Judge Lina Hidalgo's administration asked the group to help the county re-imagine its juvenile incarceration system, Ananthakrishnan said. The university group provided support throughout the process and documented the work as community members and government agencies came together to hammer out a new model for juvenile safety. "Over time, it became clear it was a really interesting story," she said. This initiative should show that community safety starts with investing in neighborhoods and supporting young people with opportunities, positive activities and community connection, Ananthakrishnan said. "We'll see some of the benefits of that over time as young people who have that kind of support move through into adulthood," she said. "We do it all the time in upper and middle class white communities where young people do not typically get put into the justice system for mistakes ... We want to see that everywhere."