Each year two million young people are arrested in the United States. JLC approaches all aspects of youth involvement in the justice system from a holistic point of view; these children are not just delinquents, they are young people who deserve the opportunity to grow and develop, to obtain an education and acquire job skills and to return to and advance in their communities. JLC works to ensure that the systems young people come into contact with, whether juvenile courts or adult courts, juvenile detention facilities or adult prisons, disciplinary or regular schools, serve them in a manner which will provide the best possible outcomes. JLC employs the best research available on adolescent development to reform policies and improve practices in systems that serve juvenile offenders. JLC’s goal is the establishment and promotion of fair, effective, rational and developmentally appropriate juvenile justice systems and the fair and effective treatment of juveniles in the adult criminal justice system.