Recent news

Youth First Initiative's recent national public opinion poll shows that most Americans overwhelmingly favor shifting the focus of the juvenile justice system from punishment and incarceration to prevention and rehabilitation. Juvenile Law Center is a national partner with Youth First, and their national poll results align with what we know does – and doesn’t – work when it comes to how we treat youth in the juvenile justice system.

Youth in foster care often describe normalcy as being able to do all the things their friends who are not in foster care get to do: sleep over at a friend’s house, play on a school team, or go on vacation. But foster youth are routinely denied these typical childhood experiences because of the real or perceived need to get advance approval from the child welfare agency or the court.

In an important win for children who may face transfer to adult court, the Oregon State Supreme Court today interpreted the state’s transfer statute to require juvenile courts to consider juveniles’ unique emotional and intellectual capacities before they may be transferred to adult court. In doing so, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the Court of Appeals and remanded the case of State v. J.C.N.-V. back to the juvenile court for consideration under the proper interpretation of the standard.

Youth homelessness is multifaceted, complex, and very different from adult homelessness. A major contributor to youth homelessness nationwide is the failure of the child welfare system to find permanency for all youth in care. Older youth, regardless of age, need and deserve to be connected to a permanent family and support system that both lifts them up and cushions them if they fall.

On April 28, 2016, President Obama signed a proclamation to recognize May as National Foster Care Month. This year, the theme for Foster Care Month is "Honoring, Uniting, and Celebrating Families."