Recent news

The Pennsylvania Juvenile Justice Task Force released its Final Report two years ago.  This report highlighted the many issues plaguing Pennsylvania’s juvenile justice system and contained 35 recommendations for reform.  Youth, their families, and advocates around the Commonwealth supported these recommendations. 

For nearly seven years I have worked in communications on the issues of youth, juvenile justice, and the legal system. In that time, I have had the distinct pleasure of getting to know individual young people who have been ensnared in the system, and heard their stories. Far too often, when media covers these youth and their stories, they focus only on the shocking, the salacious, the violent – an angle which likely not coincidentally drives clicks, traffic and revenue to their sites.

Juvenile Law Center’s Youth Advocacy Program collaborates with youth to engage in advocacy and direct action that protects youth rights, ensures their well-being and advances freedoms so all youth can thrive. Each year, Juvenile Law Center works with approximately 25 youth and 20 program alumni.

This blog aims to celebrate the young achievers of the future and explore ways to support their aspirations and dreams.

Dr. Peter Leone is Professor Emeritus of Special Education in the Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education at the University of Maryland, and serves as a member of the Juvenile Services Education Program Board for the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services and previously served on the Board of Directors of the Maya Angelou Public Charter Schools for 12 years. Dr. Leone has spent almost 50 years working to support the well-being and educational rights of youth with lived experience in the child welfare and juvenile legal systems.

Dr. Amanda Alexander is the founding Executive Director of the Detroit Justice Center and is currently a Senior Research Scholar at the University of Michigan Law School. Holding both a PhD in International History from Columbia University and a JD from Yale Law School, Dr. Alexander is committed to ending mass incarceration.

Xavier McElrath-Bey, Co-Executive Director of the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth (CFSY) and Co-Founder of the Incarcerated Children’s Advocacy Network (ICAN), is being honored as a recipient of Juvenile Law Center’s 2023 Leadership Prize. In his work with CFSY, Xavier played an instrumental role in abolishing life without parole for youth in Nevada, Utah, Arkansas, South Dakota, and North Dakota.