Child Welfare
For over thirty years, JLC has developed and promoted policies and practices to ensure that the child welfare system responds in the best possible manner to the full array of needs of children and youth in foster care and to young adults who are “aging out” of the system. JLC approaches all aspects of youth involvement in the child welfare system from a holistic point of view; these children are not just foster children, they are young people who deserve the opportunity to grow and develop, to obtain an education and acquire job skills and to advance in their communities.
Policies of Interest to JLC
JLC Spotlight
JLC leads in the promotion of successful transitions to adulthood of youth turning 18 and “aging out” of the foster care system by helping courts and welfare agencies improve discharge planning so that youth have access to housing, education, employment and other supports.
JLC works to ensure the best educational outcomes, including access to higher education, for children in the foster care system.
Our Publications
Know Your Rights
Dependent Youth Aging Out of Foster Care
Our Litigation
JLC’s brief urges appeals panel to adjustment the status of an immigrant minor who turned himself around so that he can remain in the United States and eventually become a citizen.
JLC challenged the constitutionality of a Pennsylvania law (Act 53) which allows courts to order involuntary civil commitments for minors found to be drug dependent.
JLC briefed the issue of a juvenile’s right to have his name removed from a statewide central register as a perpetrator of child abuse. Research reveals that juvenile sex offenders are less likely to commit future crimes than are adult offenders.
JLC’s brief argued that the PA Juvenile Act authorizes child welfare courts to retain jurisdiction over foster children aged 18 to 21 and to order agencies to continue to serve those youth in a course of treatment or instruction. The Superior Court agreed.
