Community Advocacy Education

Knowledge. Preparation. Self-Advocacy.

Everyone deserves to understand the systems that affect their lives and have the tools to advocate for themselves and their communities.

Drawing on more than a decade of experience working alongside children prosecuted as adults and people returning home after decades of incarceration, YSRP provides educational programming that equips directly impacted people with practical knowledge, strengthens self-advocacy, and prepares people for the opportunities and challenges ahead.

We partner with correctional institutions, universities, community organizations, and reentry providers to deliver engaging, accessible programming both inside and outside of correctional facilities.

Topics

  • Know Your Rights

    Helping people understand the legal system, available resources, and the rights they retain while incarcerated and after returning home.

  • Mitigation & Personal Narrative

    Supporting participants in telling their stories with honesty, dignity, and purpose through personal narratives, mitigation writing, and preparation for legal proceedings.

  • Storytelling & Self-Advocacy

    Building the confidence and skills to communicate lived experience, advocate for individual goals, and contribute to systems change.

  • Preparing for Reentry

    Practical education focused on returning home, navigating services, setting goals, and building a foundation for long-term success.

Our Approach

Every session is rooted in YSRP's belief that directly impacted people are experts in their own lives.

Our trainings are practical, trauma-responsive, and shaped by the leadership of people with lived experience. Rather than simply sharing information, we create opportunities for participants to build knowledge, strengthen community, and prepare for what comes next.

Testimonials

Program Trainers

  • Annie Ruhnke is YSRP's Director of Mitigation and has practiced mitigation since 2010. She previously served in the Federal Public Defender for the District of Delaware's Capital Habeas Unit, where she conducted life-history investigations for individuals facing capital punishment. Annie now leads YSRP's mitigation practice and provides training and technical assistance on trauma-responsive mitigation, narrative development, and client-partner centered advocacy.

  • Alicia Doorey, LSW is a Mitigation Specialist at YSRP with more than six years of experience in mitigation and legal defense. They work alongside young people facing adult prosecution, conducting life-history investigations and partnering with defense teams to build client-centered advocacy. Prior to joining YSRP, Alicia provided mitigation services for adults with serious mental illness at the Defender Association of Philadelphia. They hold a Master's in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania.

Bring YSRP to Your Community

Whether you're looking to offer Know Your Rights education inside a correctional facility, provide reentry preparation for a community-based cohort, or engage students in conversations about mitigation and advocacy, we'd love to partner with you.