OneRouge Community Check-In: Week 264

Jordan Howard
Jul 19
3 min read

Power Moves: Breaking the Cycle – Reentry, Reform & Supporting Youth

This week’s OneRouge call brought together passionate community leaders to tackle the pressing challenges of youth reentry, housing, addiction recovery, and systemic reform. With powerful insights from Dr. Emily Tilley of O’Brien House and Attorney Ryan Beaulieu, the conversation highlighted the gaps in support for 18–20-year-olds, the barriers created by probation and housing systems, and the urgent need for mentorship, early intervention, and policy change. Attendees emphasized that now is the time to move beyond conversation into coordinated action, with strong support for forming a policy-focused steering committee to prepare for the 2026 legislative session.

Meeting Notes:

OneRouge Community Call Summary – July 18, 2025

Topic: Breaking the Cycle – Reentry, Reform & Supporting Youth

This week’s OneRouge call focused on the urgent need for better systems of support for young people and individuals reentering society after incarceration. Led by Jordan Howard, the conversation spotlighted challenges and opportunities around reentry, addiction recovery, housing, and systemic barriers for youth and young adults, particularly those ages 18–20 who often fall between the cracks of youth and adult services.

Key Themes & Highlights:

Gaps in Services for Transition-Age Youth: Dr. Emily Tilley of O'Brien House emphasized a critical service gap for 18–20-year-olds, who are too old for youth programs but often ineligible for adult residential facilities due to Medicaid rules. She highlighted addiction as a major driver of incarceration and called for more early interventions, treatment alternatives to jail, and consistent mental health support in schools and communities.
Cycle of Incarceration & Systemic Barriers: Attorney Ryan Beaulieu spoke about representing youth in serious legal cases and called out the profit motive of the prison industrial complex. He advocated for systemic reform, including better probation practices, more mentors and exposure for youth, and policy change that prioritizes people over institutions. He also encouraged building collective power through consistent engagement and political action.
Calls for Coordination & Policy Impact: Community leaders like Lyn Hakeem, Neron North-Green (Job One), and Verna Jackson (One Touch Ministry) stressed the need for transparency, collaboration beyond silos, and actionable next steps. Suggestions included forming a policy-focused steering committee and positioning OneRouge to influence legislation during the 2026 session.
Fatherhood & Family Engagement: Mr. Martin from the Louisiana Head Start Collaboration Office shared updates on SC-9, a statewide resolution and task force focused on fatherhood engagement. He encouraged OneRouge to define shared goals and policy recommendations that could be presented to state leaders.
Future Action – Steering Committee & Mobilization Strategy: Jordan Howard proposed transitioning OneRouge from conversation to action by forming a core group of steering members to plan a focused campaign leading up to the 2026 legislative session. Attendees emphasized keeping the weekly virtual format but expanding outreach, networking, and inter-agency coordination.

Next Steps:

Attendees supported maintaining weekly virtual calls for accessibility and consistency.
Interest was expressed in forming a OneRouge Policy & Action Steering Committee to lead advocacy efforts.
Leaders called for cross-agency collaboration, mentor development, resource sharing, and deeper community engagement.
A call to bring new voices to the table each week to broaden reach and collective impact.

The meeting closed with a strong sense of urgency and encouragement, with a collective agreement that transformation will take unity, strategy, and follow-through.

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