Consider this: Pennsylvania spends approximately $200,000 each year to incarcerate a single child. The amount basically equals the cost to attend the University of Pennsylvania for four years.

That fact doesn’t sit well with Coatesville resident Laurie Shannon-Bailey and – truth be told – keeps her up at night.

As a result, she has established a faith-based nonprofit to put a dent in society’s school-to-prison pipeline and to prevent recidivism among youth offenders 11-18 years old. The goal of the agency, known as the Coatesville Area Juvenile Alliance (CAJA), is to partner with parents and law enforcement to provide face-to-face mentoring to help reduce youth violence, truancy, and curfew violations.

“I started this because so many Black and Brown students in the Coatesville Area School District were being referred to the juvenile probation program,” said Shannon-Bailey. “It bothered me that this was the answer our youth were given. Many of these kids, through no fault of their own, have parents who are in and out of incarceration and suffer themselves from a history of abuse and neglect. Unfortunately, society decides that because of those family dynamics, they will have them go the route of the juvenile justice system.”

With a blueprint of long-term mentoring, educational advocacy, and free legal and mental health counseling, CAJA hopes to keep youth out of the juvenile justice system. To do this, it needs to connect with at-risk youth who are positively motivated to receive help, and to assemble a dedicated staff to follow through with the organization’s goals.

Both have been challenges thus far. So has becoming known as a resource in the community.

“We are struggling to let youth offenders know that we are here,” said Shannon-Bailey. “We’re having trouble getting the word out.”

So far, she has relied on outreach through churches and social media, along with brochures and word of mouth. She has also used her own money to fund operations. And while she has mentors on staff from local police departments and a lawyer to help, CAJA needs more staff to fulfill its goals.

“I don’t care about money or my own recognition,” she said. “I care about keeping these Black and Brown youth out of the juvenile justice system, and it has been difficult finding people to share that mission.”

Shannon-Bailey brings a wealth of advocacy experience to her position as President of CAJA. Her activism is rooted in the many challenges she has faced.

“I am a youth justice advocate, parent advocate, and community activist, but also a teenage suicide survivor and domestic violence survivor,” she said.

Shannon-Bailey grew up on welfare in a dysfunctional home, was abandoned by both parents and raised by an alcoholic stepmother, and is a survivor of abuse. Fortunately, her oldest sister and a 10th-grade teacher gave her the encouragement and inspiration to lift herself out of poverty and eventually graduate from college.

Shannon-Bailey understands the struggles that youth encounter when family dynamics provide no structure, no discipline, and no support or accountability.

“I am deeply passionate about this work,” she said. “It is meaningful and important to have organizations like CAJA to provide these children with a positive support system and get them out of the school-to-prison pipeline.”

Learn more about the Coatesville Area Juvenile Alliance, and how you can help.