Justice for Young Families (J4YF) is a long-term initiative that champions young people’s rights to self-determination and bodily autonomy, including their decisions about whether or not to become parents, as well as their right to parent the children they have within a supportive environment. J4YF promotes the health, equity, opportunity and dignity of young families and is directly informed by the experiences of young parents as well as by the individuals that serve them. This initiative raises the most pressing needs for young parents and acknowledges that young people’s ability to determine how they parent and sustain their families is directly linked to the oppressive conditions they face in our communities – racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, classism and xenophobia, among others.
J4YF calls for a shift in our culture, communities and society to uplift and improve the lives of all youth. By working alongside parenting, pregnant, and non-parenting youth, J4YF works towards policies that promote the health, equity and dignity of young families. CLRJ believes that in order to address adolescent childbearing and parenting in the Latine community and beyond, we must collectively change the discourse and norms to include youth sexuality and health needs from a perspective that acknowledges young people’s rights to education, access, autonomy and opportunities.
To learn more:
Young Parents Leadership Council (YPLC)
CLRJ is currently working alongside a new Young Parents Leadership Council (YPLC), to identify the needs of young parents in Los Angeles County. Through this important work the YPLC will be making County wide recommendations on how to support and address the needs of young parents and their children so that they can succeed and reach their goals.
For more on our YPLC please contact: amelia@clrj.org
Young Parents Day of Recognition
In 2012, Bold Futures (formerly Young Women United) in New Mexico, passed SM 25 establishing the first Day of Recognition for Young Parents. In 2016 CLRJ and California followed New Mexico’s example by passing ACR 201 which established August 25th as California Young Parents Day.
Young Parents Day was established as a day to recognize and uplift the stories of young parents in our communities, who are too often stereotyped and left unsupported. At CLRJ we believe that when young parents are supported economically, educationally, and socially, their children do better and so do all our communities.
