Recent news

On May 13, 2014, the Stoneleigh Foundation held the symposium “What About the Girls?” to address these unique risk factors. Panelists included Malika Saada Saar, executive director of the Human Rights Project for Girls; Leslie Acoca, president of the National Girls Health and Justice Institute; Gwendolyn Bailey, executive director of Youth Service, Inc.; and Larbriah (Briah) Morgan, a Juvenile Law Center Youth Advocate.

Juvenile Law Center intern Claire Glass sat down with Briah after the symposium (and her final exams). They discussed the realities she’ll face when she turns 21 and “ages out” of the system in early June, and how she thinks the system could be improved to help more foster youth both make it to and succeed in college and find stable housing.

Following a successful nationwide theatrical run, the acclaimed documentary Kids for Cash will be released across all leading Video On Demand and digital platforms today!

While National Foster Care Month reminds us of the unique situation of youth who are removed from their families and placed in foster care, it is also important to think about how strongly youth in foster care just want to be treated like “average” kids. 

Far too often, the foster care system creates barriers to youth having the “normal” experiences of adolescence. Most people don’t realize that in many states, foster youth cannot date, go to sleepovers, work, or participate in extracurricular activities.

The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was signed into law in 2003 to protect our country’s bloated prison and jail population from sexual abuse, and in particular, to address the widespread sexual assault and rape of youth housed in adult facilities. More than a decade later, however, youth are still being raped, waiting for the protection they deserve in facilities nationwide.

The movie Kids for Cash chronicles the devastating effects the juvenile justice system can have on youth. Many people who see the film—from parents to experts—invariably ask one question: “If this film is meant to depict the devastation done to children in the justice system, why are there no kids of color represented in the film?”