Check out recent media coverage of NCYL and its work.
Teen Health Rights
NCYL Senior Attorney Rebecca Gudeman was interviewed on students’ right to confidential medical leave from school in the San Juan (CA) Unified School District.
The Sacramento Bee November 14, 2009 San Juan district debates excusing students for medical services without parental consent By Diana Lambert A proposal to allow students in the San Juan Unified School District to be excused from school without parental consent for “confidential medical services” has stirred up a debate that’s been playing out throughout the state.
Fox 40 LIVE! (Sacramento) November 17, 2009 Should Teens be Allowed to Leave School for Doctors’ Appointments Without Their Parents’ Permission? It’s an old debate that dusts up occasionally in California. Several times it has ended up as a proposition on our statewide ballot. It’s a controversy getting fresh steam in the San Juan Unified School District.
Capitol Public Radio (Sacramento) November 17, 2009 District to Update Parental Consent Policy By Steve Milne The policy is already state law. And district spokesman Trent Allen says San Juan’s been complying. Trustees just need to sign off on updated language that puts the district’s policy in line with the state Education Code. Not doing it could jeopardize state funding.
Child Welfare
The Sacramento Bee did a story about foster youth Dalton Dyer one year after he made national news when NCYL defended his right – and the right of all California foster youth – to play high school sports and participate in other extracurricular activities without burdensome requirements not imposed on other youth.
Photo by Bryan Patrick (Sacramento Bee)
The Sacramento Bee Placer High football star, a foster youth, overcomes and inspires November 20, 2009 By Ailene Voisin AUBURN – Dalton Dyer insists he’s just a normal kid now. He has a home, a family, and a promising future. He was introduced to snow last winter and went on a trip to Canada last summer. He is planning for college. He is consumed by schoolwork, Placer High School football and the California Interscholastic Federation playoffs that begin tonight. "I’m a nervous wreck on game day," Dyer says, with a grin.
NCYL attorney Bryn Martyna with Dalton Dyer and NCYL Director John O’Toole after a game
Stanford Law School’s public interest newsletter featured NCYL attorney Bryn Martyna, a member of the NCYL team that took Dalton Dyer’s case to court and won.
Create Change Stanford Law School’s Public Interest Law Newsletter Fall 2009 Alumna Scores Major Victory for Foster Care Youth In 2008, Placer High School’s football team in Auburn, California secured a spot in the division playoffs for the first time in eight years. Yet their dreams were dashed when the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), which governs interscholastic sports in the state, forced the team to forfeit their wins and lose their berth in the playoffs.
LA Times story about the implementation of California’s child death disclosure law, SB 39, which became law in 2008. NCYL co-sponsored the legislation and is in the process of testing the law, requesting records from the state’s 15 largest counties. NCYL shared its results to date with the LA Times.
LA Times Nov. 4, 2009 California falls short in examining deaths of children A law designed to allow public scrutiny of fatal abuse and neglect is unevenly enforced and leaves many unaccounted for By Kim Christensen and Garrett Therolf A new law aimed at exposing child deaths to public scrutiny has given Californians their most complete view yet of the toll of abuse and neglect but falls short of legislators’ intent and leaves many fatalities uncounted, according to interviews and The Times’ review of previously confidential records.
Jesse Hahnel
Inside Indiana Business did a story about the two new Mind Trust Fellows, including NCYL Attorney Jesse Hahnel, who will begin his Mind Trust Fellowship in September 2010, upon completion of his Skadden Fellowship, continuing work on NCYL’s Foster Youth Education Initiative. The initiative is focused on helping foster youth receive the educational advocacy and opportunities they need.
Inside Indiana Business Dec. 11, 2009 New Mind Trust Fellows Announced Indianapolis-based nonprofit The Mind Trust has selected two new Education Entrepreneur Fellows. The pair was chosen from an applicant pool of 405 people from 44 states and 20 countries. They will each receive two years salary at $90,000 per year and a start-up stipend to develop, build and launch their education ventures.
Juvenile justice
LA Times and SF Chronicle editorials supporting legislation in California to allow parole eligibility for juveniles sentenced to life in prison. The bill, SB 399, has been approved by the Assembly Public Safety Committee and now goes to Appropriations. If approved, it will go to the full Assembly. Co-sponsored by NCYL and Human Rights Watch, the bill cleared the Senate with bi-partisan support.
LA Times Jan. 14, 2010 When Life is Cruel The United States is the only nation in which someone can be locked up forever, with no chance for parole, for a crime committed in his or her youth. The Supreme Court is expected in coming days or weeks to rule on whether states may continue this costly, foolish and cruel practice of extinguishing a youth's hope and chances at redemption, even in cases in which no one died.
East Bay Express article about Alameda County’s Juvenile Collaborative Court. NCYL's role in the Court is to coordinate the civil advocacy component (representation on matters outside the juvenile court’s jurisdiction), and promote potential for diversion and access to mental health services. Most fundamentally, civil advocates improve access to resources and services, and NCYL and other advocates have been assisting youth apply for Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) – both critical entitlements for adolescents needing intensive mental health services. NCYL Attorney Allison Crapo is the Court’s Civil Advocacy Coordinator.
East Bay Express October 28, 2009 A Safe Place for Troubled Teens Alameda County's path-breaking new mental-health court seeks to help youth with psychiatric problems who have broken the law. By Laurie Udesky In 2008, Judith Crane made one of the hardest decisions of her life. She called the police on her teenage daughter Cindy. Doing so meant her daughter would soon be headed for juvenile detention for violating probation.
Arthur Liman Fellows Tianna Terry and Zahra Hayat.
The Arthur Liman Program Public Interest Newsletter (Yale Law School) features Arthur Liman Public Interest Fellow and NCYL attorney Zahra Hayat, who received an extension of her fellowship. Zahra’s project at NCYL focuses on serving foster children with unmet mental health needs, particularly those with serious mental illnesses who are placed in foster homes across county lines.
Arthur Liman Program Public Interest Newsletter Yale Law School Fall 2009 Liman Program Grants Extensions for Two Fellows Through matching grants from the host organizations, two of the 2008-09 Liman Law Fellows have received extensions. Zahra Hayat continues for an additional year at the National Center for Youth Law in Oakland, CA.
Crosscut.com article about class-action lawsuit filed by NCYL, Disability Rights WA, and other advocacy groups against Washington state for failure to provide intensive, community based mental health services to children.
Crosscut.com December 1, 2009 Getting 'downstream' treatment dollars diverted 'upstream' A class-action lawsuit would force Washington to provide "evidence-based treatment" for children with mental illnesses. The goal is to head off big problems by letting families remain together. By Judy Lightfoot Last week the advocacy group Disability Rights Washington filed a class-action civil rights lawsuit against Washington State on behalf of children and youth suffering from mental illness. The complaint cites the state’s failure to provide home- and community based services that would effectively address these children’s health needs.
