Recent news

Marsha Levick took her seat at a conference table at the Juvenile Law Center on a recent Wednesday for what would be one of her last meetings. She walked colleagues through the basic principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the 1989 treaty that laid out, in clear terms, what the world said it owed young people.

Kristen Yeckley was not happy with her 13-year-old daughter. The principal called on a September afternoon and said the teen was in trouble for having a vape in her Ohio middle school. They searched her gym and school lockers, according to court filings.

Juvenile Law Center has been a leader in the fight against unnecessary family policing and in favor of family preservation for 50 years. Our litigation helped to create pressure for the federal law that required family preservation services. Subsequently, widely referenced publications, trainings, and advocacy led by youth with lived experience in the family regulation system gave the law teeth and led to additional reforms. Despite this work, the over-reach of the family regulation system continues, and Juvenile Law Center remains committed to safely keeping families together.

Today, Juvenile Law Center announced the appointment of its next Chief Legal Officer, Jessica Feierman. 

Youth partnerships have been a cornerstone for advocacy work at Juvenile Law Center for decades. Although our approach to engaging youth partners has evolved over time, the core value of experience-led advocacy persists.

Our country stands on the precipice of dangerous cuts to the social safety net. SNAP benefits will be cut off on Saturday, pulling food assistance from 40 million people in this country – the majority of which are children.

State lawmakers held a hearing Tuesday on a set of bills intended to reduce burdens on students and families involved in Pennsylvania’s juvenile court system.

A new report by the Juvenile Law Center found that fines and fees that courts charge juvenile offenders leave many in debt, harming their chances of becoming productive adults.

Youth should not be tried in adult court because it does not promote rehabilitation, does not deter youth crime, and imposes immense harm on children. The United States has a long history of over-criminalizing and policing youth, especially Black and Brown youth. Despite the formation of a separate juvenile court system specifically designed to “treat, rather than punish,” this over criminalization and policing has resulted in youth being pushed into the adult criminal system.