National Center for Youth Law

Youth Justice & Equity: Together with youth, their families, community leaders, and system officials, NCYL is working to create a justice system that fosters growth rather than punishment. We spearhead campaigns to erase burdensome juvenile fines and fees in states across the country, and through coalition building, communication strategies, training and technical assistance, work to build a justice landscape where all young people can heal and thrive.

Legal Strategies: NCYL defends the rights of children across the country through a comprehensive docket of impact litigation at the school district, county, state, and federal levels. Our class-action lawsuits focus on bringing about systemic change in each of our core issue areas, which include: immigration policy affecting children, education policy, the youth justice system, child welfare, and children's health and wellbeing.

Children's Human Rights & Dignity: NCYL believes that no circumstance strips a child of their inherent dignity, whether that circumstance is migration, family crisis, or poverty. As co-counsel in Flores, NCYL represents children in federal immigration custody, advocating for humane conditions and reuniting children with their families in accordance with the law. We also lead efforts to dismantle practices that harm children in the foster system, fight to ensure that youth have access to health care and education, and promote youth-centered, community-centered, and family-centered policies that preserve families and reduce reliance on the foster system.

Other small programs unrelated to the significant programs currently listed.