Recent news

The COVID-19 crisis has laid bare the very real and dangerous problems of educational inequity in this country — and it has exacerbated them. Nowhere is this more stark than in the experiences of youth in the juvenile justice system — youth already routinely ignored, disenfranchised and left behind.

Amidst the COVID pandemic, the racial justice reckoning in our hearts and in our streets, and the increasingly toxic rhetoric of the 2020 elections, many of us are looking for ways we can step out of our usual routine, make connections despite our COVID precautions, and perhaps learn something new.

As the U.S. Senate continues its mad dash to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett for a life term on the United States Supreme Court, not one senator has questioned how youth might fare under this Court.

A new report found students in the juvenile justice system often don’t get credit for their school work and end up falling behind and in more trouble.

In this episode Christina Sorenson, 2019 Soros Justice Fellow at the Juvenile Law Center shares how she has turned the pain from growing up in the foster care system into a passion for helping create space for youth caught up in the child welfare. She acknowledges that her experience was traumatizing, yet it was contrary to what Black youth, especially Black girls experience.

Efrén Pare­des Jr.’s life out­side prison was over before he was old enough for a driver’s license.

A new report puts some weight behind arguments that young adults should not be prosecuted in adult court in Illinois.

Steven “Speedy” Yates was separated from his mother when he was a 5½-year-old and placed into Philadelphia’s foster care system. The traumatic experience caused him to act out in anger and confusion, throwing frequent temper tantrums. At age 6, Yates was put on medication for his behavior, at the recommendation of a physician.

Youth advocates share two projects entitled Road Map to Reform, focused on broad system reform for juvenile justice and child welfare systems.