A local nonprofit that helps teens and their families navigate grief is partnering with the DeKalb County Juvenile Court in an effort to stop the prison-to-grief pipeline.
On Tuesday’s edition of “Closer Look,” Lisa Aman, the executive director of Kate’s Club, said that grief is hard to understand: it’s invisible and you won’t know how a child is processing it unless you ask them.
Fatima El-Amin, the Chief Judge of DeKalb County Juvenile Court, further explained that in her courtroom she sees children daily who are struggling with layered trauma and the loss of a loved one, often without tools and resources to navigate the situation.
“When you are hurting and grieving and you don’t have the proper outlet and tools, you’re much more likely to find yourself in the criminal justice system, so this is huge,” said Judge El-Amin. “This is about saving children and saving our community.”
During the conversation, El-Amin and Aman talked with Scott about their new partnership to launch a new free pilot program called Disrupting the Grief to Prison Pipeline—a partnership between Kate’s Club and the DeKalb Juvenile Court.
