Join us at the 2023 QPI National Virtual Conference

YLC first launched the Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI) in 2008. QPI is a strategy, method, and approach to transforming a foster care […more…]

YLC’s Policy Director Awarded ABA’s Fearless Children’s Lawyer of the Month

We are so proud of YLC’s Policy Director, Jenny Pokempner, on being named the American Bar Association’s Fearless Children’s Lawyer […more…]

Join YLC for the 2022 virtual Unsung Heroes celebration!

Please join us for the first virtual Unsung Heroes event on Thursday, December 8th, 2022 from 3-4:30pm PST. We will be celebrating […more…]

Youth Law Center Carves Paths to College for Justice-Impacted Youth

At 20, Jacqueline Rodriguez found herself at a critical junction in her life. If she continued on her path, the […more…]

YLC Convenes National Conference of QPI Champions

YLC launched the Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI) over a decade ago as a national movement committed to ensuring that all […more…]

Victory for California Children and Youth’s Access to Extracurriculars, One of the Most Important Interventions

While extracurricular and enrichment activities like summer camp, dance lessons and sports are a key part of most children’s childhood, […more…]

Power in Partnership: Elevating Shared Parenting Policies and Practices Through The Lens of Lived Experience

Youth Law Center’s Quality Parenting Initiative has created a national movement to change the policies, practices, and culture of foster […more…]

YLC Litigation Protects the Rights of Youth to Participate in Juvenile Justice Reform 

The participation of directly impacted youth in reform of our punitive and ineffective juvenile justice system is both necessary and […more…]

Advocating for Access to Higher Education Programs for Juvenile Justice Involved Youth

California’s juvenile justice system intervenes in the lives of some of the children who have experienced the greatest challenges, and […more…]

Designed to Fail: New YLC Report Reveals Abusive, Inhumane Treatment of Black Children with Disabilities in TN

YLC’s new investigative report, Designed to Fail,  in partnership with Disability Rights Tennessee (DRT) exposes the inhumane and abusive treatment […more…]

Support YLC During National Foster Care Month

May is #NationalFosterCareMonth, a time to recognize and highlight the experiences of those impacted by foster care systems. But at […more…]

YLC Transforms Foster Care Nationally through the Quality Parenting Initiative

YLC launched the Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI) over a decade ago as a national movement committed to ensuring that all […more…]

40 Years of Transforming the Lives of Children and Youth in the Foster Care and Juvenile Justice Systems

The Youth Law Center’s Executive Director Jennifer Rodriguez knows just how hard being a child in the foster care and […more…]

Youth Law Center

Donate now!

http://www.ylc.org
(415) 314-4386
Executive Director: Jennifer Rodriguez

Mission

The Youth Law Center advocates to transform foster care and juvenile justice systems across the nation so every child and youth can thrive.

Begin to Build a Relationship

We know you care about where your money goes and how it is used. Connect with this organization’s leadership in order to begin to build this important relationship. Your email will be sent directly to this organization’s Director of Development and/or Executive Director.

YLC is, quite simply, effective. The team, led by Jennifer Rodriguez, is top notch, bringing together legal expertise, lived experience, a commitment to being youth-centered, and the advocacy chops to effect systemic change. A recent example is the advocacy around out-of-state placements for foster youth. YLC researched 16 facilities housing CA kids and found abuse, neglect, appalling conditions, and rights violations. YLC’s advocacy campaign resulted in the State of CA halting admissions to those facilities and beginning the process to decertify them in favor of family-based placements. Systems change work takes time but is deeply satisfying, and why the Foundation continues to support YLC.
Nancy Wiltsek, MNA
Executive Director, van Loben Sels/RembeRock Foundation
The Youth Law Center is truly a cornerstone organization, successfully building a network of nonprofit and public sector advocates committed to promoting pathways to and through postsecondary education for youth connected to the juvenile justice system. By fostering links between the probation system and California’s higher education institutions, YLC and its policy advocacy strategy have advanced the notion that justice reform must meaningfully include youth. The team at Youth Law Center is a valuable thought partner to Cal Wellness as we consider our investments to help improve the wellbeing of youth who are too often ignored.
Jeffrey S. Kim, JD
Program Director,
The California Wellness Foundation

Give to Create Opportunity for Justice-Impacted Youth

Donations to the Youth Law Center will directly support its advocacy to transform foster care and juvenile justice systems so that every young person has access to postsecondary education. 

“With additional funding, we can expand our advocacy to ensure that more youth become tomorrow’s leaders,” says Jennifer Rodriguez, Youth Law Center’s Executive Director.

To illustrate the important impact of donations:

•A $1,000 gift would allow YLC to invest in the leadership of a justice-impacted youth to work in partnership with advocates on policy reforms.

•$20,000 is enough to fund an entire advocacy leadership academy to give young people the skills they need to change the very systems that so often hurt them.

•With $100,000, YLC could launch a campaign to secure additional state investment in postsecondary education for justice-impacted youth in order to ensure equitable futures for tens of thousands of vulnerable young people.

Key Supporters

Alyssa Martin Anderson
Babak Naficy
Chrystie Chung
Fatima Goss Graves
Heidi Foreman
Honorable Tomar Mason
Howard and Carol Fine
Iris Hu
Joy Singleton
Katee Peek
Matthew and Moon Gemello
Mehrzad Khajenoori
William S. Koski and Sundari Wind
Akonadi Foundation
Andrus Family Fund
Annie E. Casey Foundation
The California Wellness Foundation
May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust
Tipping Point Community
van Löben Sels/RembeRock Foundation
The Walter S. Johnson Foundation
Zellerbach Family Foundation