Youth Art and Self-Empowerment Project (YASP) is an activist group based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that advocates left-of-center criminal justice policies. This includes opposing the construction of detention facilities, ending the prosecution of minors as adults, and diverting criminals into so-called “restorative justice” programs instead of trial and sentencing. The group also sponsors “creative arts workshops” for minors in Philadelphia jails, and it touts the fact that it has hired “many” former inmates as “primary decision-makers in the organization.” ¹

Background

Youth Art and Self-Empowerment Project was founded in 2006 and was originally a project of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). This influential Quaker activist group backs a broad range of left-wing causes, including defunding law enforcement, abolishing prisons, eliminating funding for border security, and opposing the use of fuels and nuclear energy. The AFSC is also a leading supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, which pushes for governments and corporations to cut ties with the state of Israel over its perceived mistreatment of non-Jews and oppression of the disputed Palestinian territories. The AFSC eventually discontinued the program which administered the YASP, and the project is now fiscally sponsored by Movement Alliance Project. ²

YASP has also received support from a fund of the Unitarian Universalist Association, another group with Christian origins that now primarily supports left-wing social causes such as wealth redistribution, environmentalism, and open borders. Other financial backers of the YASP have included the private, for-profit philanthropic organization Arnold Ventures and the racial identity interest advocacy grant maker Borealis Philanthropy, as well as the Silicon Valley-based Open Philanthropy Project. In addition, the project has received grants from the taxpayer-funded Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. ³

Programs and Impact

Participatory Defense

The Youth Participatory Defense Hub is a legal advisory resource for teenagers and young adults with open court cases. The hub offers explanations of the legal process and assists with legal strategies. The Youth Art and Self-Empowerment Project launched the hub in April 2019. ⁴

Care Not Control

The Care Not Control campaign aims to end incarceration of minors in Pennsylvania, regardless of circumstances. The YASP launched the campaign in late 2020 in partnership with the Juvenile Law Center, another left-of-center activist group based in Philadelphia, which has also worked to abolish sex offender registration for minors convicted of sex crimes. ⁵

Treat Kids As Kids

The YASP aims to eliminate the prosecution of minors as adults, including for crimes such as homicide. The project has pushed for the repeal of so-called “direct file” laws, which mandate that suspects of certain severe offenses be prosecuted as adults and not directed to the juvenile court system. ⁶

Lawsuit

The YASP was a plaintiff in a 2020 complaint against the city of Philadelphia which accused courts of unconstitutional cash bail practices. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed with the complaint’s merits and ordered several changes to how judges implemented cash bail in the state. ⁷

Leadership

Joshua Glenn is the founder of the Youth Art and Self-Empowerment Project. He was arrested at the age of 16 for an unspecified crime which he claims he did not commit; the case was ultimately dismissed. He has also acknowledged that he “started getting in trouble” as a teenager due to “hanging around with the wrong crowd.” Glenn has advocated that the Philadelphia municipal government to end cash bail, the detention of accused criminals prior to their trials, and the practice of charging teenagers as adults in certain cases. He has claimed that these changes will “reduce crime.” ⁸

Financials

Financial backers of the Youth Art and Self-Empowerment Project have included the Unitarian Universalist Association, Arnold Ventures, Borealis Philanthropy, and the Open Philanthropy Project, as well as the taxpayer-funded Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. ⁹

1. “Our History.” YASP. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://www.yasproject.com/about/defense-hub-copy
2. “Our History.” YASP. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://www.yasproject.com/about/defense-hub-copy
3. “Funders.” YASP. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://www.yasproject.com/about/funders
4. “Youth Participatory Defense Hub.” YASP. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://www.yasproject.com/programs/defense-hub
5. “Care, Not Control Campaign.” YASP. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://www.yasproject.com/programs/care-not-control
6. “Treat Kids As Kids.” YASP. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://www.yasproject.com/programs/treat-kids-as-kids
7. “The Philadelphia Community Bail Fund, the Youth Art Self Empowerment Project, and Individual Plaintiffs v. Arraignment Court Magistrates of First Judicial District.” ACLU of Pennsylvania. July 2020. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://www.aclupa.org/en/press-releases/pennsylvania-supreme-court-affirms-counties-must-follow-rules-when-assigning-cash
8. “Statement from Joshua Glenn.” Philadelphia City Council. April 18, 2016. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://phlcouncil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Statement-from-Joshua-Glenn.4-18-16.pdf
9. “Funders.” YASP. Accessed August 14, 2023. https://www.yasproject.com/about/funders