United Community Corporation (UCC), the Community Action Agency for the city of Newark in partnership with Essex County, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony in February to officially launch the first-ever Restorative and Transformative Justice Hub (RTJ Hub) that UCC was selected to lead by the Essex County Youth Service Commission last year. In addition to the RTJ Hub, UCC serves members of the community through UCC YouthBuild, NJBUILD, emergency sheltering, utility assistance, free community refrigerators, a food pantry, mobile outreach, housing assistance, lead remediation/abatement, weatherization, recreational youth, family and senior programs, and much more.
The creation of the RTJ Hub was sparked by S2924, legislationthat was championed by the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice and created a two-year RTJ pilot program focused on “reducing initial and repeat youth involvement with the youth justice system, and making an appropriation.” This pilot was made in hopes of combating the racial disparities, high recidivism rates, and underfunded community-based services of the youth justice system.