The Youth Law Center advocates to transform foster care and juvenile justice systems across the nation so every child and youth can thrive.
Attorneys at YLC utilize a variety of traditional and creative advocacy strategies, including policy advocacy; litigation; legislative and administrative/regulatory work; collaborative systems-reform campaigns; public education and media advocacy; legal and non-legal writing; training; and technical assistance. YLC’s advocacy approach is grounded in the belief that those most directly impacted by systems are best positioned to transform them. As advocates, we seek out the spaces and places where we can hear from those young people and their families and offer them the support they need to lift up the vision they have for change. We believe that change comes from deeply listening to young people and the organizations that support them, from helping them to translate their ideas into practice and policy change, and from working in partnership to move forward a new narrative about what’s needed to transform systems.
Our advocacy goals include:
- Ending incarceration of youth in juvenile justice and reimagining new approaches to youth justice
- Ending use of congregate care for youth in foster care and juvenile justice and ensuring youth receive excellent parenting
- Improving access to education, including postsecondary education, for system-involved youth
- Ensuring healthy transitions to adulthood for system-involved youth and access to required services to make that transition
- Advocating for improved conditions in foster care and juvenile justice systems