Legal Rights of Teens in Out of Home Care (2014)

This booklet, based on California law, covers some of the concerns of a youth in out-of-home care, including types of placements, guardianship, independent living, role of the courts, visitation, confidentiality, pregnancy, money, religion, driving, emancipation and rights and responsibilities of youth in out-of-home care, group or foster homes

Op-Ed: Incarcerating Disturbed Youth Is a Flawed Response

YLC staff attorney Sue Burrell, wrote an op ed piece for the CT Mirror, Incarcerating Disturbed Youth is a Flawed Response (LINK to uploaded article), published September 22, 2014. The piece follows Connecticut’s decisions to lock a transgender teenager, first in an adult women’s facility in Connecticut, and then in a boys’ institution. The piece […]

Using Research to Reduce Incarceration as a Disposition

Recent policy research offers rich opportunities for reducing the use of incarceration as a “sentencing” disposition. It makes arguments much more compelling; helps courts and other juvenile system professionals to see beyond their normal horizons; and gives you support for points you wanted to make anyway. (Adolescent development, problems with group care, facility abuses in […]

Reducing Placement Delay/Placement Failure

This CPDA Juvenile Defense Seminar presentation focuses on what we know about placement delay, and what public defenders can do to reduce placement delay for their clients

Difficult to Place: Summary of Findings

This is a shorter version of the original report that presents the findings of Youth Law Center’s research into placement issues for juvenile justice youth with mental health needs in 10 California counties. The focus of the research was youth with mental health needs who have been ordered by the juvenile court to be placed […]

AB 2496

The Youth Law Center helped draft this legislation and sponsored it. It was passed by the legislature but vetoed by the governor.

Mental Health Issues in California’s Juvenile Justice System

Youth Law Center’s work on placement delay was cited in this Berkeley Center on Criminal Justice Policy Brief, Mental Health Issues in California’s Juvenile Justice System (May 2010). The Policy Brief discusses a range is issues in serving youth with mental health needs in the California juvenile justice system, including the need for uniform definitions, […]

Difficult to Place: Youth with Mental Health Needs in California Juvenile Justice

This report presents the findings of Youth Law Center’s research into placement issues for juvenile justice youth with mental health needs in 10 California counties.  The focus of the research was youth with mental health needs who have been ordered by the juvenile court to be placed in a non-secure placement, but who remain incarcerated […]