Financial Aid for Juvenile Justice System-Involved Youth

This resource is meant to help youth who are about to graduate from higher school and/or who are under the age of 26 with juvenile justice system involvement maximize the amount of financial aid they receive to attend college. The guide covers what financial aid is and how to get it, offers tips for troubleshooting […]

AB 2306 – Request for Signature

Letter requesting Governor Brown’s signature on SB 2306, a bill to give students transferring from juvenile court schools the same options to meet the state high school graduation requirements providing in existing law for foster youth.

Request for Depublication

Request for Depublication in In re Ivan N., an opinion issued by the California Court of Appeal holding that foster youth educational rights to not apply to probation supervised foster youth.

YLC Fellowship Annoucement

Notice that YLC is seeking applications from third-year law students and judicial clerks who are interested in working on juvenile justice and child welfare advocacy issues and in applying for fellowships offered by the Skadden Fellowship Foundation, Equal Justice Works Foundation, or other sponsored fellowships for fellowship to begin in September 2017.

Executive Summary: Educational Injustice: Barriers to Achievement and Higher Education for Youth in California Juvenile Court Schools

Summary of Report detailing a study of the education system for youth confined to detention facilities within California’s juvenile justice system. In the report, entitled Educational Injustice: Barriers to Achievement and Higher Education for Youth in California Juvenile Court Schools, Youth Law Center examines areas of challenge for the system and fundamental ways in which […]

Implementation Fact Sheet – AB 2276

This is a fact sheet explaining how advocates can ensure that AB 2276 is actually implemented. This bill addresses the re-enrollment rights of juvenile justice youth when they transfer from a juvenile court school back into a regular school district.

SB 1111 Chaptered Text

The text of SB 1111 addressing transfer rights of students referred to county community schools.

YLC Letter in Support of SB 1111

Letter by YLC Staff Attorney Deborah Escobedo requesting the Governor’s signature on SB 1111. This bill addresses the transfer rights of students referred to county community schools, makes the statute consistent with state and federal laws governing the educational placement rights of foster care and homeless youth, and closes an existing loophole in the discipline […]

Tommy P.v. Board of County Commissioners Memorandum and Judgment

Tommy P. v. Board of County Commissioners was a state court action to insure that children in detention facilities would have a right to adequate education services during long terms of confinement. After trial, the Superior Court held that children have both federal and state constitutional rights to education during confinement, and ordered Spokane County […]

Tommy P. v. Board of Commissioners First Amended Complaint

Tommy P. v. Board of County Commissioners was a state court action to insure that children in detention facilities would have a right to adequate education services during long terms of confinement. After trial, the Superior Court held that children have both federal and state constitutional rights to education during confinement, and ordered Spokane County […]

Step 6 – Children in the Child Welfare System – Tools for Promoting Educational Success and Reducing Delinquency

According to the National Center on Education, Disability and Juvenile Justice, the Tools for Success, is a “compendium of best practices for promoting the educational stability of youth with disabilities and those at risk of developing disabilities. Designed for teachers and administrators, Tools for Success includes research-based effective practices for meeting the needs of children […]

Policy Brief – Early Childhood Education Programs

Early childhood education programs can provide critical education and other services for children in foster care, but not all eligible foster children are enrolled in an appropriate program.  This California Foster Youth Education Task Force’s policy brief on early childhood education programs provides a list of early childhood education policy issues and proposed courses of […]

Getting Out of the Red Zone – Youth from the Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Systems Speak Out about the Obstacles to Completing their Education, and What Could Help

This publication describes the process the Youth Law Center underwent to conduct a series of focus groups of youth who were or had been in the juvenile justice or foster care systems, parents of such youth and foster parents. It also contains comments from the participants on such topics as school disruptions, suspensions and expulsions, […]