While the number of youth incarcerated in the King County Youth Service (Detention) Center has decreased, racial disparities still persist. In 2014, nearly 75% of youth held in juvenile detention in King County were youth of color. 4Culture and a cohort of community partners developed Creative Justice as innovative arts-based approach to ending racial disproportionality and youth incarceration.
CREATIVE JUSTICE USES ART AS A VEHICLE TO:
- Prepare young people to be leaders in community and the workplace;
- Amplify youth voice as a source of community transformation;
- Promote teamwork, collaboration, and community engagement;
- Help lift up the power of young people of color, youth from low-income families, and LGBTQA youth;
- Increase youth and community understanding of the histories and conditions that create racism, classism, sexism, heterosexism and other forms of oppression;
- and Enhance skills that help young people reflect on their social position, choices, and personal power so they can stay out of jail.
