Our Work

AHSHAY works to build up the fortifiers of hope and health for youth and unbuild the fortifications of youth incarceration. Explore our projects below.

WHAT WE DO

Unbuilding Harm

We are deepening and expanding our partnerships. We nurture spaces where partners can see their role in unbuilding youth incarceration.

Building Hope

We are cultivating spaces for communities to name where they want to go. Our work centers and honors youth voice.

Joy-Based Work

This work is rooted in joy. Joy that is broader than a moment and deeper than a circumstance.

Fortifying Futures for our Youth

Co-creating joyful solutions to youth homelessness and incarceration

Narrative Strategies

Changing the story, transforming lives

True Dawgs Documentary

Youth reclaiming their narrative

King County Youth Wellbeing Project

Helping youth thrive

Storybook Project

Showcasing youth brilliance

Closure Convenings

Communities sharing knowledge to end youth incarceration

All young people deserve more than just the absence of harm or incarceration. They deserve lives filled with growth and possibility.

Learn more about the data

1 PERCENTAGE POINT DAILY

Detention does not reduce crime or make communities safer. A Washington State study found that each additional day in detention increased the odds of future rearrest by one percentage point.

3 TO 4 TIMES

The foundations of youth detention are rooted in racism. Black and Indigenous youth are 3 to 4 times more likely to be detained than white youth.

Communities know best

There are many promising community-based programs that can be more successful than detention and incarceration.

$87,540 annually

Washington state spends $87,540 annually to incarcerate a single youth. Community-based programs are less expensive, more effective, and rooted in hope.

“Mass incarceration – not attacks on affirmative action or lax civil rights enforcement – is the most damaging manifestation of the backlash against the Civil Rights Movement.”