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Juvenile Law Center has been a national leader advocating for the rights of young people in the justice system for 50 years. One of the ways in which Juvenile Law Center is unique, however, is in the role it has played shaping international law, policy and thinking on juvenile justice and in inspiring those who advocate for justice for children. This has happened in three principal ways.

Pennsylvania lawmakers are debating juvenile justice reform proposals aimed at improving Pennsylvania’s approach to supporting youth offenders and holding providers and public officials accountable.

Young people also shared their report Broken Promises: Futures Denied, which details the harms of the Commonwealth’s juvenile detention system

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Ian Manuel, sentenced to life in prison in 1991 for attempted murder in a downtown Tampa botched robbery at 14 years old, is now sharing his story as an adult. Manuel is advocating against solitary confinement, where he says he spent 18 years within the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC).

And it’s turning over geolocation data to law enforcement, no warrant required. Kids in Philly call it being “on the band.” In recent years, the city’s juvenile justice system has rapidly expanded its use of GPS-equipped ankle monitors to enforce curfews and house arrest.

Google “disparities in the juvenile system” and you’re likely to land on the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) website with the note: “No information is available for this page.” Earlier this year, the site provided robust data demonstrating that, despite years of reforms, the juvenile legal system reflects deep inequality. 

During the month of May, advocates turn their attention to those with experience in the foster care/family regulation system. What is the impact on youth mental health after surviving these systems? What approaches allow for trauma-informed collaboration to center youth mental health needs? Juvenile Law Center’s Youth Advocacy Program has developed two new tools to help advocacy organizations incorporate a trauma-informed lens into their advocacy efforts.

The child welfare system purports to protect children but it inflicts physical, emotional, and mental pain on families caught in its web.  In 2020, 215,000 children were removed from their homes and placed in foster care.  Twenty-five percent of those children were Black, yet Black children only account for approximately 14% of the youth population in the United States.