OUR MISSION
Juvenile-In-Justice provides unique insight into the lived realities of adults and juveniles impacted by the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems. Juvenile-In-Justice is a collection of images, interviews, audio, and texts drawn from the lives of more than 1,500 individuals at 300 sites across 35 states.
We are the storytellers, conduits for those to share their lived realities.
Data yearns to be understood and articulated in the human experience in fragile voice and portrait. Our work helps to humanize cold statistics. While data is undeniably important on its own, locating the sterile and fluorescence of numbers in the context of a lived experience is critical to creating change.
We work with educational institutions and non-profits to provide educational tools that help to build informed leaders making change in criminal justice, and the lives of these individuals. Our goal is to provide tools to aid in a better understanding of the needs, policies, strategies, and resources required to facilitate better outcomes for the 26,000+ children in custody every day.
OUR TEAM
RICHARD ROSS, DIRECTOR
Richard Ross is an artist, activist, photographer, and distinguished research professor of art based in Santa Barbara, California. As the Director of Juvenile-in-Justice, his work turns a lens to the lived worlds of justice impacted individuals.
Ross has been the recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, MacArthur and the Center for Cultural Innovation. Ross was awarded both Fulbright and Guggenheim Fellowships, collaborating juvenile justice stakeholders and using the images as catalyst for change.
MOLLY ENGELS, EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
Molly is a first-year law student with a passion for social justice and systemic reform. Before attending law school in Denver, she spent four years as a paralegal in Washington, D.C., where she worked extensively on civil rights matters, including a class action challenge to solitary confinement in Virginia's supermax prisons. Molly continues to bring her legal expertise and dedication to Juvenile-In-Justice.
When she’s not advocating for change, Molly enjoys spending time with her English Bulldog, Basil, who keeps her grounded and reminds her to find joy in the little moments. Through storytelling and advocacy, she is committed to amplifying the voices of incarcerated youth and driving meaningful reform.
The project has been generously supported by grants from the Public Welfare Foundation, Guggenheim , Annie E. Casey , and the MacArthur Foundations.
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