Juvenile Law Center

We believe that youth should remain in their families and communities whenever possible. We must strive to limit their contact with the child welfare and justice systems in the first place. When they do engage these systems, we need to ensure that institutions do not harm the youth they were designed to support.

Juvenile Law Center addresses structural injustice and works to eliminate existing disparities through impact litigation and policy reform at the state and local levels. We also seek to ensure that the laws, policies, and practices that impact youth in the child welfare and justice systems are grounded in principles of adolescent development and human rights.

Juvenile Law Center’s youth advocacy programs create opportunities for youth in the child welfare and justice systems to lead advocacy efforts in their communities. Youth in Juvenile Law Center’s youth advocacy programs work to affect policy change through policy advocacy, media outreach, and public education. Youth develop leadership skills, political knowledge, communication and storytelling skills, and a sense of community. By sharing their personal experiences with Juvenile Law Center staff, youth also provide insight into the organization’s advocacy priorities.

Each year, Youth Fostering Change and Juveniles for Justice select an area of focus, determine a strategy to address it, and implement their project. Projects areas include juvenile records expungement, access to education, preventing youth homelessness, and improving foster care placements for older youth. Juvenile Law Center provides essential support, ensuring that the participants develop the skills they need to succeed.

Juvenile Law Center is one of the leading national organizations working to abolish solitary confinement, protect youth from harsh conditions, and safeguard them from physical, emotional, and sexual abuse.

We advocate for reforms that address extreme conditions and help establish sound policies such as access to counseling and supports that keep children safe while in prison. We also promote alternatives to incarceration entirely. Research demonstrates that, with the right help, young people do better with their families and in their communities.

We do this important work through federal and state legislative advocacy, impact litigation, and research and education. Our efforts focus on:

Eliminating solitary confinement, strip searches, and excessive force used against kids; Keeping kids safe from harm from facility staff, other youth, and themselves; Ensuring kids have developmentally appropriate care and activities; Fair treatment, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability status; and Minimizing the amount of time kids spend in youth prisons.

It's working. Some states have curtailed the use of solitary confinement and seen a reduction in youth violence, not an escalation. And while the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child established solitary confinement as a human rights violation, the US is one of the only countries remaining who has not signed this agreement. There is clearly much more work to do.