TRENTON – Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Juvenile Justice Commission (JJC) today announced successful outcomes for a recently launched program to provide meaningful employment experience for youth released from JJC custody.

Established in October 2021, the Youth Worker Apprentice Program hires youth released from JJC custody as part-time, youth worker trainees at JJC residential community homes. This program was made possible through $250,000 in State Fiscal Year 2021 budget from the Murphy Administration as part of ongoing efforts to ensure that youthful offenders have opportunities for success when they are released from juvenile facilities. Since the program’s implementation, four young people have been selected to participate in the apprentice program; one apprentice has already transitioned into full-time employment as a youth worker at a JJC residential community home.

“We are committed to ending cycles of incarceration for New Jersey’s youth, and the Juvenile Justice Commission’s apprentice program helps do exactly that,” said Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin. “Thanks to the support of the Murphy Administration, we are able to provide essential work experience to youth who have been involved in the justice system so that they can pursue full-time, successful employment with the JJC or in the private sector.”

Youth Worker Apprentices can be placed at any of the JJC’s 10 residential community homes located throughout the state....

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