Former Justice-Involved Teen Becomes Juvenile Youth Advocate

A moving video on the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange tells the story of a former justice-involved teen. Now a youth justice advocate at the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, Xavier McElrath-Bey had been arrested 19 times by the time he was 13 years old. He grew up in an impoverished area in the South Side of Chicago that was known for its violence, crime, and drugs. His stepfather was abusive, his mother suffered from depression and schizophrenia, and his family was unable to afford basic necessities including gas, electricity and even food, and they were often evicted and forced to move.
Over 250,000 youth are being charged as adults every year. Like Xavier, these are children that have the odds stacked against them to begin with. Most of these youth experience trauma, endure physical abuse, and come from backgrounds with poor education and little opportunity for employment. In addition, these children are disproportionately Latinos and African Americans.
Now an advocate to reform the juvenile justice system, Xavier hopes that through sharing his story, he’ll also change people’s perceptions of formerly incarcerated youth and help them understand that these kids have great potential for positive change.

To learn more about Xavier’s story, watch the video here.

Ashley Heinonen writes the Friday news roundup, opportunity board roundup, and contributes articles featuring information about juvenile justice reform to ReclaimingFutures.org. She graduated from Loyola Marymount University and is currently an assistant account executive for Prichard Communications.