YJEP
Detroit, MI · Est. 2026

Education
Before &
Beyond the
Courtroom.

From justice-impacted to justice-informed. YJEP gives young people the legal and systems literacy traditional classrooms rarely provide.

Explore Programs Our Mission
200+ Youth Served Year 1 Goal
3× Better Outcomes Youth with legal & systems literacy show significantly higher school engagement and lower disciplinary rates. See: OJJDP (2020); Borgmann & Jacobs, Journal of Legal Education.
100% Community-First
Legal Literacy· Know Your Rights· 200+ Youth Served — Year 1 Goal· Systems Literacy· Constitutional Foundations· School Discipline & the Law· Court System· Digital Citizenship· Community Advocacy· Legal Literacy· Know Your Rights· 200+ Youth Served — Year 1 Goal· Systems Literacy· Constitutional Foundations· School Discipline & the Law· Court System· Digital Citizenship· Community Advocacy·
Why We Exist

Built From Within.
For the Community.

Too many young people are expected to navigate legal and institutional systems they were never taught to understand. YJEP exists to change that — ensuring youth have access to the knowledge they need to protect themselves, advocate for their futures, and stay connected to educational opportunity.

We don’t extract value from vulnerable communities. We build from within them, led by people who are accountable to them.

See Our Programs

“When young people understand their rights and the systems that shape their lives, they are better equipped to make informed decisions, stay engaged in school, and advocate for themselves and their communities.”

— Youth Justice Education Project
What We Do

Our Programs

Proactive after-school and community programming for youth in justice-impacted communities, built around six core units of legal and systems literacy.

01
Constitutional Foundations

Understanding the structure of rights, government authority, and how the Constitution shapes everyday life for young people.

02
Know Your Rights

Practical legal literacy — what students and families can do when they encounter law enforcement, school officials, or court systems.

03
School Discipline & the Law

Demystifying suspension, expulsion, and disciplinary processes — and how to exercise rights within school systems.

04
The Court System

A clear view of how courts operate, what happens at each stage, and how young people can navigate them with confidence.

05
Community Advocacy

Building the skills to speak up, organize, and advocate for change in schools, neighborhoods, and civic spaces.

06
Digital Citizenship

Rights, responsibilities, and risks in digital spaces — online speech, privacy, and what the law says about virtual conduct.

The Case for Change

Why It
Matters

The school-to-prison pipeline is not an accident. It is the product of systems that were never designed to explain themselves to the people they govern. YJEP interrupts that pipeline at its root: with knowledge.

Systems literacy — not just civic education — is how young people become equipped to protect themselves, their families, and their futures.

⚖
Rights Without Knowledge Are Rights Denied

Having legal protections means nothing if you don’t know they exist. YJEP makes rights real, practical, and usable.

🏫
Schools Rarely Teach This

Traditional curricula don’t cover what happens when a student gets stopped, searched, or suspended. We fill that gap.

🧠
Informed Students Make Better Decisions

Legal literacy correlates with higher school engagement, reduced disciplinary involvement, and stronger future outcomes.

🤝
Community Must Lead

YJEP is built and led by people accountable to the communities we serve — not extracting from them, but investing in them.

👪
Parents Are Partners

Our Parent Advocacy Workshop (PAW) series ensures families have the same literacy as their children — amplifying impact at home.

Our Founder
Margina Cohen
Juris Doctor, Ed.S. · Social Justice Advocate & Executive Consultant

With nearly two decades of experience as a teacher, principal, district leader, and Juris Doctor graduate, Margina Cohen founded the Youth Justice Education Project to address a gap she witnessed at every level of the education system: young people entering institutional spaces completely unprepared for what they would face there.

Her legal education, Innocence Project work, and published research on digital liability and youth all converge in YJEP — a program that exists at the intersection of educational equity, legal literacy, and community power.

Juris Doctor · Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, 2025
Ed.S. · Education Specialist, Educational Leadership
Published Author · Cooley Law Review — Virtual Misdeeds: Parental Liability in Cyberbullying Cases
Innocence Project · Exoneration & wrongful conviction advocacy
18+ Years · Classroom teacher to Interim Superintendent
Full Bio →
Margina Cohen, Founder of YJEP

Ready to Bring
YJEP to Your Community?

Partner with us to bring legal literacy programming to students, families, and communities in Detroit and beyond.

Call (313) 683-9847 Support Our Work