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The budget bill passed today by California's legislature would make it the first state to hold schools and school districts accountable for the educational outcomes of foster children.
The No Child Left Behind act requires states to evaluate schools and school districts based on the progress of different subgroups of children, including students of color, students with disabilities, and students who primarily speak a language other than English. California’s budget bill adds foster youth to this list, creating an incentive for schools to focus on the educational progress of the approximately 42,000 school-age foster children in California.
Students in Dallas County truancy courts are being denied their constitutional rights, handcuffed and arrested for missing school, and subjected to substantial fines, according to a complaint filed June 12, 2013 with the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of seven Dallas area students.
Attorneys with the National Center for Youth Law, Texas Appleseed and Disability Rights Texas serve as legal counsel to the Complainants.
Press Coverage
June 5, 2013 — Kate Walker, attorney and Equal Justice Works Fellow at the National Center for Youth Law and Judge Stacy Boulware Eurie, Presiding Judge of Juvenile Court in Sacramento, presented a project plan to the California Child Welfare Council, outlining the strategy to combat the growing problem of sex trafficking of California's youth. The project plan provides guidance on implementing recommendations contained in the report Walker wrote entitled "Ending the Commercial Sexual Explotiation of Children: A Call for Multi-System Collaboration in California." The Council unanimously approved the project plan and adopted the recommendations. As a result, the CSEC Action Team will be formed and co-chaired by the CSEC Action Team, co-chaired by Secreatary of Helath and Human Services, Diana Dooley, and co-chaired by Secretary of Health and Human Services, Diana Dooley, and Executive Director of the Children's Law Center of California, Leslie Heimov. A segment featuring Walker was aired on NPR's California Report.
February 28, 2013 — Today the National Center for Youth Law released a new report, "Ending Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children: A Call for Multi-System Collaboration in California."
Worldwide, human trafficking is a $32 billion industry, involving 100,000 children in the U.S. The FBI has determined that three of the nation's thirteen High Intensity Child Prostitution areas are located in California. Studies estimate that between 50 and 80 percent of commercially sexually exploited children (CSEC) are or were formally involved with the child welfare system.
View Press Release
Download Report
March 1, 2013, the Stuart Foundation released a report entitled, "At Greater Risk, California Foster Youth and the Path from High School to College," that provides compelling data establishing that California children and youth in foster care need intensive and tailored services to support their educational goals. The data makes a strong case to require state and local agencies to count foster youth when allocation needed services, an issue currently under consideration by the legislature with the elimination of Foster Youth Services under Governor Brown's new education plan.
View "At Greater Risk"
February 22, 2013 -
The National Center for Youth Law, together with Santa Cruz County Human Services Department, Santa Cruz County Office of Education, and the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Cruz, Juvenile Division, launched FosterEd: Santa Cruz County today.
The project, part of the national FosterEd Initiative (www.Foster-Ed.org), will improve the educational outcomes of the hundreds of school-age children in foster care living in Santa Cruz County.
AUSTIN, Texas — Bryan Independent School District's use of school resource officers to issue criminal sanctions for a range of minor student misbehavior unlawfully impacts African-American students, who are "cited" at a rate four times that of other students, according to a complaint filed Feb. 20, 2013 with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR), on behalf of the public interest law center Texas Appleseed and the Brazos County branch of the NAACP.
Attorneys with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the National Center for Youth Law serve as legal counsel to the Complainants.
View Press Release
View Complaint and Appendices
The National Center for Youth Law (NCYL) invites you to participate in a campaign to end the inappropriate and harmful sedation of tens of thousands of foster children. High doses of psychotropic “antipsychotic” drugs produce lethargic, “zoned out” children, preventing their normal development. Medical guidelines do not sanction such sedation. The year 2012 may be the year that federal and state governments act to curb excessive drugging of our nation’s foster children.
The California legislature has passed State Senate Bill 9, the Fair Sentencing for Youth Act! This bill, authored by Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) allows inmates who were sentenced to life without parole as juveniles the chance to request a resentencing hearing after serving 15 years.
Program Modeled on National Center for Youth Law's Foster Youth Education Initiative
May 15, 2012 - The Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) has announced the creation of FosterEd: Indiana, a statewide program to improve the educational success of children in foster care. The DCS program will employ 16 education specialists and a statewide manager to ensure foster children receive the educational opportunities they need to succeed in school, and in life.
May 4, 2012 - The National Center for Youth Law (NCYL) won a major victory today on behalf of foster children in Clark County (Las Vegas), Nevada. The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned a lower court’s dismissal of the foster care reform case brought by NCYL on behalf of Clark County's abused and neglected children, ruling that these children have a constitutional right to safety and adequate medical care. The appeals court also said that the county, and county and state officials, are liable if they fail to ensure that those constitutional rights are protected.
Spearheading Efforts to Protect Children with Histories of Abuse and Neglect from Sexual Exploitation
By Kate Walker
The thought of a 12-year-old girl being sold to older men to perform sex acts on a nightly basis is deeply disturbing. Even more troubling is the fact that it happens every day in cities throughout this country.
More than a year of negotiation with the State yields a collaborative agreement to suspend litigation and build a framework for reform of the mental health system for children on Medicaid.
Two state agencies and several advocacy groups have reached an interim agreement to develop a framework for reforms in the Washington state mental health system for children and youth enrolled in Medicaid. The agreement temporarily suspends litigation in a class action lawsuit filed against the Department of Social and Health Services and the Health Care Authority. View press release
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The San Francisco Chronicle, July 10, 2012
National law group joins Idaho class-action
A national group focused on childrens' legal issues is stepping up to represent roughly 18,000 poor and mentally ill Idaho children in a long-running federal lawsuit against state leaders.
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Ensuring foster children receive the education support they need.
A site for all people helping children and youth in California's foster care system succeed in school.
A site designed to help CA adolescent health care providers understand the many laws that affect their work, with a focus on reproductive health.
Photographs that appear on this website were produced independently of articles and information, and bear no relationship to cases or incidents discussed therein.
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