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Every October, we honor Youth Justice Action Month (YJAM), a time to shine a light on the realities faced by young people entangled in our justice system. But for many of us, this isn’t just an awareness month. It’s personal. It’s about faces, stories, and second chances that often never come soon enough.

When I think about youth justice, I think about the kids who were written off before they ever had a chance. Kids who’ve been told they’re problems instead of potential. Many of them grew up in homes full of chaos, poverty, and trauma, not because they wanted to, but because life gave them no roadmap out. And too often, the system that should help them heal ends up breaking them even more.

The Problem Isn’t Just Behavior, It’s the System

Youth incarceration isn’t just about crime. It’s about unmet needs.

It’s about children struggling with mental health, neglect, or abuse who end up behind bars instead of receiving therapy, mentorship, and love. It’s about racial and economic disparities that decide who gets a second chance and who gets sentenced.

In Tennessee, we’ve made progress, but we still have a long way to go. Too many youth are being pushed from the classroom into the courtroom, from foster care into correctional care, and from trauma into punishment. We can’t fix that by locking kids away. We fix it by changing how we see them.

What True Reform Looks Like

True reform doesn’t start in a courtroom. It starts in a community.

It means building restorative justice programs, funding reentry and prevention efforts, and giving youth a chance to rebuild their lives with the right support systems. It means believing that a 15-year-old who made a mistake can still grow into a 25-year-old who changes lives.

At Persevere, we’ve seen what’s possible when opportunity meets compassion. Through our technology training programs and holistic wraparound support, we’ve watched young men and women step out of detention and into careers, hope, and purpose. That’s not luck. It’s what happens when a community chooses redemption over rejection.

How We Can All Take Action

This month and every month, let’s move beyond awareness into action.

Here’s how you can be part of the change:

Mentor or volunteer with youth organizations that focus on prevention and reentry. Advocate for reform that invests in education, not incarceration. Partner with programs that create second-chance pathways into employment and stability. Listen to youth voices. Their stories often hold the key to change.

Every child deserves to be seen as more than their worst decision. They deserve to know that their future isn’t defined by their past.

A Call from the Heart

As someone who has walked through brokenness and found redemption on the other side, I can tell you this: transformation is possible. But it doesn’t happen alone. It happens when people, systems, and communities come together and say, “You still matter. We believe in you.”

That’s what Youth Justice Action Month is about: believing in better.

Because when we invest in our youth, we’re not just changing their story.

We’re changing the world.