Ending Girls’ Incarceration: From Campaign to Community Action

Oct 9

What does it look like when young people are at the center of creating change?

The Ending Girls’ Incarceration (EGI) Campaign is creating space to question and imagine what it means to move beyond incarceration as a response to young people. This work is rooted in the belief that young people deserve opportunities to heal, grow, and be supported by their communities.

Here in Santa Clara County, this work has been growing through relationships between young people, partners, community organizations, and stakeholders committed to creating different possibilities for youth. The work has shown us that when communities come together, we can challenge the idea that incarceration is the only way to create safety.

In 2015, Santa Clara County recognized that girls in custody have fundamentally different needs than boys. Community Leaders identified gaps in the experiences of girls and gender expansive youth in the juvenile halls around 2017, leading to the establishment of the Juvenile Justice gender responsive task force (JJGRTF) later renamed Juvenile Justice Gender Responsive Collaboration. It began as simple as changing the girls clothes from pink to purple and continues through the fight to keep youth out of detention.

The campaign grew from recognizing that many girls were being held in custody not because they posed a serious safety risk, but because of circumstances like housing instability, lack of support, and connections to other systems. Over the years, community partners and young people have helped push for alternatives that center healing, stability, opportunity, and community support instead of confinement.

Santa Clara County has already seen what is possible when communities invest in alternatives. Through this work, girls' detention was brought down to zero without an increase in crime, showing the communities can support public safety without relying on incarceration.

This work is part of a large movement to rethink how we respond to young people across California. And now, we're bringing that conversation into a space led by young people!

Coming Together: Ending Girls Incarceration Teach-In

On October 14th, we're coming together for a virtual teach-in focused on the Ending Girls’ Incarceration Campaign and the work that has been happening in Santa Clara County.

The teach-in will give young people and community members space to learn from the history of this work, share knowledge, and hear more about organizing and community efforts that have helped move the campaign forward.

It’s also an opportunity to think beyond what has already happened and ask: What comes next? What can Ending Girls’ Incarceration look like in practice, and what role can young people and communities play in shaping that future?

Bringing the Campaign to the Exhibit

That conversation will continue on October 18th from 12 PM- 3 PM in San Jose at “Wards on the State: Who Gets to Be Kids? The Silenced Stories of Our Youth” Exhibit.”

The exhibit will bring together art, history and organizing to explore California's long history of youth incarceration and its impact on girls, young women, and gender-expansive youth.

Through archived photography, the exhibit will invite us to look at the history of California’s statewide youth prison system, formerly known as California Youth Authority (CYA) and later the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). It gives us an opportunity to learn from this history and reflect on the conditions that contributed to the system's closure in 2023.

But this exhibit isn’t only about looking back.

It connects this history to the work happening today and asks us to think about what we can build instead. The EGI Campaign offers an opportunity to reimagine youth justice by investing in the things young people and families need to heal, grow, and remain connected to the communities.

Young People Leading the Space

All Youth Are Sacred (AYAS) is collaborating with the Young Woman's Freedom Center (YWFC), the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (CJCJ, and) to bring this space together.

Most importantly, young leaders are organizing and leading the event.

The exhibit will be more than a space to learn about the campaign. It will be a space to experience it together and recommit to our community’s healing

The program will feature Danza Mexica, a youth panel, and Polynesian dance, creating opportunities to learn, connect, and hear directly from young people. There will also be free food and drinks for community members to enjoy while coming together.

At the heart of the event is youth leadership– creating a space where young people are not just invited into the conversation, but are helping shape and lead it.

From Campaign to Community Action

Ending Girls’ Incarceration is not only about reducing the number of young people in custody, it is about changing what we believe young people deserve and building the community support needed to make that belief reality.

The work in Santa Clara County has shown that alternatives to incarceration can work when communities invest in them. That means thinking about housing, economic opportunity, healing, connection, youth leadership, and community-based support as part of what creates safety.

The question now is: What can we build together?

This is where community action matters.

Whether you are already familiar with the EGI Campaign or are just beginning to learn about this work, there is space for you to listen, learn, ask questions, and be part of imagining what comes next.

Come Be Part of the Space

We want you to come learn, listen, celebrate, and be part of the conversation.

Join us Sunday, October 18th, from 12 PM- 3 PM in San Jose for the EGI exhibit.