Reducing Institutional Placements for Children
As part of our commitment to family-based care, the Youth Law Center has led sustained advocacy to eliminate the inappropriate use of emergency shelters and group facilities for children-particularly for babies and toddlers, where the developmental harm is most severe. However, research and experience also show that congregate care can be harmful to children of all ages, disrupting relationships, delaying healing, and reducing the likelihood of successful long-term outcomes. Whenever possible, children should be raised in families-not institutions.
Eliminating the Use of Shelters for Babies and Toddlers
For decades, YLC has worked to end the use of shelter placements for children under the age of six. This advocacy has included:
- Advancing legislation to limit the use of congregate care for young children and require a specific regulatory framework;
- Helping develop and enforce licensing regulations under California law that cap shelter stays at 10 days and restrict the use of shelters for very young children;
- Monitoring shelter use and collecting data to expose violations of state licensing rules;
- Engaging with state agencies to improve oversight and enforcement;
- Providing training and tools for dependency attorneys, legal advocates, and community partners to challenge unlawful shelter placements.
Together with youth, families, and advocates, we have identified the systemic practices and policies that lead to inappropriate shelter use and have helped counties pursue alternatives focused on family care. Through litigation, administrative complaints, public education, and hands-on support, we are working to ensure the law is followed-and that babies and toddlers are placed in homes, not facilities.
Reducing Congregate Care for Children and Youth of All Ages
Our advocacy also addresses the broader overreliance on congregate care placements for older children and adolescents. Many young people- especially those who have experienced repeated loss and trauma- are funneled into congregate care rather than being supported in families. We work to challenge the systemic failures that lead to these placements, including the lack of services, appropriate case planning, and placement practices.
YLC’s advocacy includes:
- Investigating shelter and residential stays that exceed legal time limits and fail to meet children’s developmental or clinical needs;
- Holding agencies accountable for placing youth in restrictive settings without appropriate services or planning;
- Advocating for the expansion of family-based alternatives and specialized supports to meet the needs of older youth in the community;
- Supporting public system reform through litigation, policy change, and collaboration with system leaders;
- Providing guidance to attorneys and advocates to fight unnecessary congregate placements and push for individualized, family-centered planning;
- Supporting agencies in re-aligning practice, policy and culture to support families as the most important intervention for youth.
Our ultimate goal is to ensure that no child-regardless of age, background, or circumstance- is left in a harmful institutional setting when a family-based alternative is possible. By combining state-level policy advocacy, legal strategy, and grassroots engagement, we are transforming systems to uphold every child’s right to grow up in a family.