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Usually, a stranger called Lexi Andino on her cellphone — “They would just tell me I’m getting a new caseworker.”     Andino, now 25, received that call throughout her 11 years in foster care. “I would guess it was 15 or 20 caseworkers I had. I stopped counting.”

On Wednesday, the Juvenile Law Center’s annual Leadership Prize was awarded to outstanding individuals working in the field of law, government, the arts, media, entertainment, sports, business, or any other sector — who are fighting for the rights and well-being of youth in the child welfare and justice systems.

James Baldwin’s quote, “Our crown has already been bought and paid for. All we have to do is wear it” was interpreted by Shaiheed Days, Youth Move Philadelphia Coordinator, as “Our experience is already, you know. They’ve already spoken for themselves that we were the ones for folks to listen to.”

Washington, D.C. (April 20, 2023) – Youth advocacy groups today celebrated the release of a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) “Dear Colleague” letter encouraging states and localities to eliminate fines and fees imposed on youth in the juvenile legal system. The new guidance revises and updates a 2016 letter the DOJ issued regarding fines and fees imposed on adults and a 2017 advisory about juvenile fines and fees.

When Philadelphia passed a bill in December to make permanent a 10 p.m. curfew for anyone younger than 18, city officials said it would help keep kids safe and out of trouble. But James Aye has seen otherwise.

Peter Leone, a professor emeritus of special education, was awarded the 2023 Leadership Prize by the Juvenile Law Center for decades of research on educational services for youths with disabilities in institutional settings and for those excluded from schools.

Advocates with the Delaware Campaign to End Debtors’ Prison (CEDP) are celebrating a new law that will help restore driving permissions for people coming out of the criminal justice system. After nearly three years of lobbying lawmakers to make the change, HB 244 was approved last year and is now in effect.

The number of young Americans in juvenile detention dropped by 77 percent over the last two decades, from more than 100,000 to just over 25,000, according to federal data published late last year. Despite this huge reduction due to changing laws and policies, experts say young people still face stubborn barriers that make it more difficult to successfully reenter society after their release from incarceration.