The National Center for Youth Law
works to ensure that low-income children have the resources, support, and opportunities they need for healthy and productive lives.
Although advocates and policymakers have paid more attention to improving educational outcomes for foster youth in recent years, these efforts have largely ignored the role that extracurricular activities can play in youths' overall academic performance.
R. Sargent Shriver, 1915-2011
The National Center for Youth Law mourns the death of Robert Sargent Shriver, a champion of equal rights and opportunities for all Americans. We work every day to live up to his example.
Sara Kruzan, who was sentenced to life without parole when she was just 16 for killing her 37-year-old pimp, was granted clemency by outgoing California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Governor reduced Sara's sentence to 25 years to life, allowing the possibility of parole.
A California Superior Court judge has ruled that relative caregivers are entitled to cash assistance when the children they care for get in trouble with the law and are returned home on probation.
NCYL will appeal a recent District Court ruling dismissing its lawsuit against Nevada officials to reform the foster care system in Clark County (Las Vegas), arguing that the Court erroneously denied foster children the legal protections they are entitled to.
The California Child Welfare Council (CWC) has unanimously approved a framework for ensuring access to mental health services for "out-of-county" foster youth. The plan's intent is to essentially shift responsibility for authorizing and providing mental health services from the child's county of jurisdiction to his or her new county of residence.
Ten Berkeley Law students recently completed their training to become educational representatives for foster youth. This brings the total number of ed reps in the law school's Education Advocacy Project to about 20. The fall training marked the start of the project's sixth year.
The CA Foster Youth Education Task Force website is up and running! The site includes information on the upcoming Education Summit, Task Force publications, and other information.
Please note our name change to www.TeenHealthLaw.org (formerly TeenHealthRights.org), which we believe more accurately describes our adolescent health work.
As a state support center, funded in part by the State Bar of California's IOLTA program, NCYL provides services to qualified legal services programs free of charge.
Unless otherwise noted, all photographs that appear in Youth Law News were produced independently of articles and bear no relationship to cases or incidents discussed therein.
