Dear Community Leader,

We invite you to join Mid-City CAN, in collaboration with Youth Empowerment, Community Wraparound, the California Alliance for Youth & Community Justice, and The Young Women’s Freedom Center, for a powerful evening of conversation, connection, and action at our next Networking Night: Ending Girls’ Incarceration, taking place:

🗓 Thursday, September 4th
🕕 6:00 PM
📍 City Heights, San Diego (Price Philanthropies Building, 6th Floor)

🔥 Why This Event Matters:

Across California and here in San Diego, the incarceration of girls—particularly Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and gender-expansive youth—continues to be a crisis hidden in plain sight.

Nationally:

• Girls make up 15% of the juvenile justice population, but are disproportionately detained for non-violent offenses like running away, truancy, or behavioral issues—many of which are linked to trauma, abuse, or poverty.

• LGBTQ+ and gender-expansive youth are twice as likely to be incarcerated compared to their cisgender peers.

In San Diego County:

• A 2021 analysis showed that Black girls are overrepresented in juvenile hall by nearly 5 times their population share.

• The majority of girls in detention have experienced sexual abuse, domestic violence, or system-involvement in child welfare prior to being criminalized.

💡 About the Initiative:

Ending Girls’ Incarceration (EGI) was launched in 2017 by the Vera Institute of Justice, with a mission to end the incarceration of girls and gender-expansive youth nationwide. In 2023, Vera partnered with California’s Office of Youth and Community Restoration (OYCR) to scale this work across the state.

• San Diego County received $150,000 in 2023 to begin local stakeholder convenings.

• In 2025, $1 million was awarded to San Diego Youth Services to expand community-led, trauma-informed, and culturally competent supports that keep girls out of cages and connected to care.

But funding alone isn’t enough—our community must be informed, engaged, and leading the change.

🗣 Hear from Those Who Know the System Best:

This event will be youth-facilitated and centered around the voices of directly impacted girls and gender-expansive youth. You'll also hear from grassroots organizations that have been on the frontlines of justice work for decades.

This is not just another panel or meeting—it’s a call to collective action, rooted in love, equity, and liberation.

✅ RSVP Today

Please share this with your networks, allies, and friends.

Let’s come together in solidarity to end the incarceration of girls in San Diego County and build a future where healing, not punishment, defines our response to harm.

We look forward to seeing you in community.

In solidarity,
Mid-City CAN & Partner Organizations