Recent news

This year was another great year for our youth advocates. Both programs were passionate about improving access to higher education for youth in the child welfare and justice systems. Each group developed a unique project that tackled this issue from slightly different angles.

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.