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For more than three years, Young Voices youth have been pushing the Providence Public School District to revise its Code of Conduct to include restorative justice practices-ensuring that students are supported to stay in school and succeed.  One of the consistent champions of this effort was Ritsuko Tani, a Young Voices alum who is now a freshman at the University of Rhode Island. Read More

We provided extensive college access support to all our seniors—and we were thrilled when 100% got accepted into college—with 22 youth getting more than $2.1 million in scholarships and financial aid!! 

This summer, we ramped up our Summer WorkForce program to 20 hours a week, connecting young people with all kinds of ways to learn about future careers and the workplace.  Youth were able to have internships, job shadows, and career visits at some of the most innovative and successful organizations in the state, including MojoTech, Coastway Community Bank, Figmints, Cornish Associates, RI Housing, Providence Preservation Fund, Brown University, and Upserve. Read More

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – High school students in two school districts say educators threaten to suspend them for minor disciplinary matters, according to a student survey of more than 1,800 youth.

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Principal Michaela Keegan says:“I was skeptical of transitioning to the use of restorative practices, because I didn’t know much about it.  However, the students gently persisted and always supported their wish to use restorative practices with evidence, data and student voice.  They helped me be more confident in exploring this unknown but obviously needed approach to building community.” Read More

As an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, immigration is a topic that hits close to home.  Last year, I created an independent study project around the issue of DREAMers, young people who are undocumented.  Through this class, we conducted research with administration , institutions and DREAMers themselves.  I was honored to be able to interview them.  I learned so much through their stories, filled with suffering, darkness, pain, tears, smiles, laughter, faith, love and resilience.  We also studied what institutions are doing to create an environment of inclusivity for undocumented students. Read more

For more than 4 years, Young Voices has been supporting students at 4 of RI’s lowest-performing high schools to improve their attendance and graduation rates.  Our youth surveyed thousands of their peers, asking them what could be done to improve attendance rates, and their message was loud and clear:  there needs to be a massive shift in school climate, and the ending of punitive, unfair discipline practices. Read More

Across this country, youth are experiencing extreme hopelessness-drop-out, discrimination, poverty, lack of opportunity.  But in Rhode Island, youth from Young Voices are doing something about it.

Three years ago, our youth surveyed thousands of fellow students in Providence, asking what could be done to raise graduation and attendance rates.  The message from their peers was loud and clear: there is a serious issue with the way discipline is handled in our schools.  A recent report from the ACLU backs them up: “A decade’s worth of statistics have unequivocally demonstrated that racial disparities in suspension rates are pervasive” and there is a need to “take critical steps toward minimizing the use of out of school suspensions in favor of a system that keeps students in school, and away from the school-to-prison pipeline.” Read more