Milwaukee County

Under My Wing, INC

4/1/2026-9/30/2026

Funds will be used by Under My Wing, Inc. to pilot a trauma-informed, culturally responsive professional development initiative for educators and youth-serving professionals in Wisconsin. The project will provide training focused on adolescent brain development, trauma-responsive communication, restorative practices, and culturally affirming approaches to responding to youth behavior.

The training is designed to improve adult decision-making, reduce punitive and exclusionary responses to youth behavior, and support alternatives that divert youth from formal involvement in the juvenile justice system. Youth-centered application and reflection will be embedded through real life scenarios, restorative dialogue, and feedback loops to ensure training aligns with the lived experiences of youth, particularly girls of color.

This pilot project aims to strengthen professional capacity, reduce racial and ethnic disparities at points of system contact, and promote safer, more equitable outcomes for youth and communities across the service area.

Your Move MKE Inc.

4/1/2026-9/30/2026

The Intentional Impact training series is a technical assistance initiative designed to strengthen the capacity of Your Move MKE Inc. staff and youth leaders to respond to youth behavior using restorative, trauma-informed, and healing-centered approaches. The training emphasizes practical skills, shared language, and consistent implementation across programs to reduce harm, improve accountability, and support healthier responses to conflict in community settings. The initiative will also incorporate mental health awareness and stigma reduction training, leadership development for the Executive Director, and ongoing coaching to ensure staff and leadership are supported as they integrate these practices into daily programming and mentoring relationships.

The series will begin with a two-day in-person retreat led by Dr. Heather Sattler that focuses on the history, philosophy, and intention of restorative practices, grounded in Indigenous wisdom. Participants will build skills in circle facilitation, restorative conversations, identity and power awareness, addressing blocking beliefs, and planning for organizational implementation of restorative practices. Dr. Sattler will also provide ongoing coaching to staff and the Executive Director following the training to support the application of restorative practices within daily programming, mediation sessions, and organizational leadership.

Staff and youth leaders will also participate in two trauma-informed care trainings facilitated by Ajamou Butler. These intergenerational sessions will address the impact of trauma on youth behavior, emotional regulation, and relationship-building, while providing culturally responsive strategies for supporting youth in high-stress and conflict-prone situations. Youth leaders will participate alongside staff to strengthen peer leadership and support the implementation of restorative approaches within youth programming.

To further strengthen the organization’s response to youth trauma and emotional well-being, licensed therapist Tarsha Wiggins of Trap Therapy will provide two mental health workshops and ongoing coaching focused on recognizing and addressing stigma surrounding mental health in communities impacted by violence and systemic inequities. These sessions will help staff and youth leaders better understand barriers that prevent youth from seeking support, while providing strategies to incorporate therapeutic and healing-centered approaches into mentoring, restorative dialogue, and daily youth engagement. Ongoing coaching will assist staff and the Executive Director in strengthening rapport with youth and integrating mental health awareness into programming.

In addition, all staff will complete an online de-escalation training focused on responding to challenging situations with empathy rather than authority. This training will strengthen staff capacity to prevent escalation, communicate effectively, and manage conflict safely, reinforcing the restorative and trauma-informed approaches introduced throughout the series.

The Executive Director will also participate in leadership development training focused on strengthening restorative leadership, staff supervision, and organizational implementation of trauma informed and restorative practices. This component will ensure that leadership is equipped to guide staff, reinforce training outcomes, and sustain these practices across programs.

Together, these trainings, leadership development opportunities, and ongoing coaching supports will create a strong foundation for consistent, effective, and sustainable practice across Your Move MKE Inc., strengthening staff and youth leader readiness to support youth, families, and community partners in reducing harm, addressing trauma, and interrupting cycles of violence.

Your Move MKE Inc.

4/1/2026-6/30/2027

Your Move Motivators (YMM) is a youth-led, youth-developed mediation and conflict prevention program designed to address the high rates of youth violence, behavioral incidents, and justice system involvement in Milwaukee, particularly among Black and Brown youth who experience disproportionate minority contact. Milwaukee youth are more likely than their peers statewide to be arrested, referred to juvenile court, or suspended from school, often due to unresolved conflicts and limited coping skills. YMM directly responds to this need by equipping youth ages 9–19 with tools to manage conflict, regulate emotions, and prevent escalation before involvement with the justice system occurs.

Created by Your Move MKE’s Youth Board Members and Youth Mentors, the program begins with a two-month planning and design phase in which youth co-develop curriculum, mediation tools, and workshop structures grounded in lived experience and community realities, including exposure to violence, trauma, and systemic inequities. Following preparation, trained Youth Mediators facilitate 12 months of monthly workshops focused on social-emotional learning, restorative communication, de-escalation strategies, and peer-led conflict resolution. Youth participants are supported with ongoing training and supervision to model pro-social behaviors, mediate peer disputes, and facilitate restorative dialogue. By centering youth voice and intervening early, YMM provides a community based alternative to suspension, arrest, or formal justice involvement while promoting safety, resilience, and racial equity for Milwaukee’s most impacted youth.

Your Move MKE Inc.

10/1/2024-9/30/2025

Your Move MKE Inc. proposed holding monthly community hub meetings entitled Hip Hop Healing Hubs, creating a space for intergenerational open discussions on social justice issues and recent events in the community. These monthly hub meetings will focus on fostering safe communities by facilitating difficult conversations that aim to break the stigmas and miscommunications between law enforcement and community. The conversations are designed to humanize the youth within systems, creating a platform for open dialogue and understanding. The two-hour sessions will bring together youth, law enforcement officers, circuit court judges, legislators, and community leaders to foster community building and solution-based discussions. The Healing Hubs will be an intergenerational space, involving participants from various age groups including youth, adults, and elders. The intergenerational approach is will support diverse perspectives, build empathy, support community cohesion, facilitate mentorship, and break down miscommunications. The intergenerational nature of the Healing Hubs is essential for creating a holistic and inclusive platform where all voices are heard, fostering community building empathy, and collaboration towards safer and more just communities. 

Your Move MKE Inc.

4/1/2024-6/30/2025

Your Move MKE Inc is dedicated to strengthening our commitment to establishing a secure refuge
for youth and families. Functioning as a central hub for intergenerational and innovative
programming, our community center is steadfast in providing a nurturing environment where
marginalized youth can explore their interests and passions. With the aid of this funding, we plan to
extend our programming beyond Restorative Justice Cyphers to encompass YMRJ Academy. YMRJ
is the acronym we have created for: Your Move Restorative Justice. This academy will feature two
additional weekly program options. We will complete this initiative in partnership with contractors
from Fueling Your Fire Music Academy and enhancing our hip hop chess club by incorporating
producer workshops. This initiative aims to provide alternative avenues for youth expression beyond
rap/singing. Your Move MKE Community Center strives to persist as a space of support, healing,
understanding, and empowerment for young underrepresented and vulnerable individuals, thereby
fostering enduring positive change in our community. YMRJ Academy actively promotes youth
accountability, while our outreach initiatives instill a prosocial dimension, and our intergenerational
and creative program events cultivate a safe community for youth and families. Our key partners are
deeply committed to social impact, collectively contributing to the growth of the socioeconomically
challenged area we serve.

Wauwatosa School District

7/1/2022-6/30/2025

Funds will be used by Madison Elementary School in Wauwatosa, and additional collaborating staff in the district to strengthen, expand, and level up our fledgling restorative justice/practices action plan established in the 2020-2021 school year. We are asking for funds for training, coaching, consultants, and supplies to help us move from the stage of reading and theory to the stage of application and implementation. Our core focus will be on 4th and 5th grade (ages 10 and up) though we expect that this work will impact the entire school. Our request includes funds to invite some of the peer staff at the middle school where most of our students go for 6-8th grade to participate as they are able in trainings and as observers in coaching consultations.

WestCare Wisconsin, Inc.

5/1/2023-4/30/2024

Funds will be used by WestCare Wisconsin, Inc. (WC-WI) to conduct a program evaluation study on the programs that serve at-risk and justice involved youth. Group, individual and family mentoring activities, restorative justice healing peace circles, Forward Thinking, Transformational Change along with Social Capitol and Botvin Life Skills Training curriculum is provided weekly. The program goal is to improve outcomes (such as improved academic performance and reduced school dropout rates) for at-risk and system-involved youth, and reduce negative outcomes (including juvenile delinquency, substance use and gang participation) through face-to-face, teleconference and mobile mentoring platforms in the Milwaukee County community. The objective is to sustain and
serve as many at-risk youth as possible while tracking the types of support they may need in the future, reflecting on accomplishments, success stories, challenges and progress.

Your Move MKE, Inc.

4/1/2023-3/31/2024

Funds will be used by Your Move MKE Inc to facilitate restorative justice circles with youth and
families weekly. These circles will be based on specific topics such as: sexual molestation,
homicides, racial & ethnic disparities, and more. After discussing these topics for one hour, the
second hour will be used to create a 4-6 song self-titled project. This project will provide a space for
families with victims of gun violence, sex trafficking or risk of recidivism, a space to express their
feelings and use music to heal from trauma while promoting accountability, reflection, and family
interaction through intergenerational encounters. This project is split into two sessions with 32
weeks focusing on circles, songwriting and recording and 16 weeks focused on video production,
performances, and promotions. We plan to recruit youth from group homes, including LGBTQ
homes, the community, and alternative schools. The area this project will benefit is Milwaukee
County.

Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) – Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) contracted with the Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) National Resource Center for Juvenile Justice to continue existing efforts and initiate new efforts surrounding the implementation of the 18 recommendations from the probation system review of Milwaukee County.  This collaboration improved the practices and policies within the youth justice System in Milwaukee County. 

Milwaukee County Circuit Court will expand and strengthen Milwaukee County's diversion and alternative response options for low and moderate-low risk youth referred for delinquency. Technical assistance is requested from the Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) National Resource Center for Juvenile Justice to implement steps outlined in their Alternative Response Workbook and to increase restorative justice resources and responses for diverted youth. In order to implement the full Alternative Response initiative process, Milwaukee County will be providing an overmatch of approximately $14,000 beyond the $25,000 requested here.