Recent news

National children’s rights advocacy organization applauds the legislature for advancing this urgent bill to the House floor for educational attainment for youth in the child welfare and justice systems.

Seeking to join the roster of states that have sought to ease the financial impact of juvenile court fees on families, a bipartisan group of Florida state lawmakers filed two companion measures that would prohibit such charges in the Sunshine State.

Throughout my time in the juvenile justice system, the education I received seemed very mediocre. Not only was it not challenging, but it was not on the grade level of education I was supposed to receive. This made me believe that education was supposed to be like that from here on out, but I realized that was not the case as I got older.

The system is not working as it should. Sometimes, it seems like people in power pick and choose who they want to incriminate. I have heard about youth that have minor cases who get tried as adults and are no more than 15 or 16 years old. This is sad because they are legally minors in the state of Pennsylvania but the state is considering them to be adults to criminalize them.

Wisconsin still doesn’t know when it will close its two youth prisons. In 2018, then-Governor Scott Walker signed a law to shut the ‘schools’ at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake, but they’re still open. And while conditions have been improving, the kids being held there still face tremendous mental health challenges.

Florida Looks to Follow Lead of Texas & Louisiana, Which Enacted Similar Reform in 2021

Tallahassee – This week, a bipartisan group of Florida lawmakers

National children’s rights advocacy organization appoints Sixto Cancel, Sacha M. Coupet, Judge Andre Davis (retired), Matt DeAngelo, and Abd’Allah Lateef.

“YES, SOME KIDS MAKE MISTAKES IN LIFE BUT WE ARE NOT OUR MISTAKES. THEY DO NOT DEFINE US,” YOUTH LEADER NYKIA WATKINS TOLD ESSENCE.

Advocacy organizations applaud the bills’ introduction, urging members of Congress to support.

Building the Field of Ethical, Authentic, and Youth-led Advocacy: Key Components of a Youth Advocacy Program is twelve years in the making with countless social workers, attorneys, graduate interns, fellows, and young advocates with lived experience working and re-working to craft a model for developing youth-led advocacy efforts and programming.