Youth Justice

  • Youth Justice

    The Juvenile Justice System Should Treat Kids Like Kids

    CDF joined more than 50 organizations writing to Congress in support of this legislation to reduce children’s contact with the criminal justice system; address racial disparities in criminalization, arrests, and sentencing; and create more equitable and age-appropriate measures for those children that do encounter these systems.

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  • Child Health

    2021 Legislative Session Report Card

    With the conclusion of the 2021 Legislative Session, we pause to take stock of progress for New York’s children and families, celebrate our victories and assess where further advocacy is needed to level the playing field for the youngest New Yorkers.

  • Youth Justice

    We Must Put an End to the Racist and Counteractive Practice of Juvenile Fees and Fines

    Juvenile fees and fines are not rehabilitative – instead, they increase recidivism and destabilize families, criminalize poverty, and heighten existing racial disparities within the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems. It's time we move beyond reforming broken policies and put an end to these harmful practices altogether.

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  • Child Health

    What President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Means for Our Nation’s Children and Families

    President Biden recently released his Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Budget request to Congress to strengthen the economy, address longstanding racial disparities, and ensure a more equitable future for our children. After a year marked by such dramatic change and drastic negative impact on children’s lives, we need meaningful investments in supports for children and families. President Biden’s FY22 budget request starts to do just that.

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  • Youth Justice

    Fact Sheet: Price of Juvenile Phone Calls

    Many county juvenile facilities charge high prices and profit from phone calls to fund their operation. Parents and young people pay the price. Learn how much California parents pay to talk to their children who are locked up.

  • Youth Justice

    The Supreme Court Decision on Juvenile Life Without Parole Goes Against Decades of Law and Understandings of Adolescent Development

    Last month, the Supreme Court ruled on the Jones v Mississippi case making it easier for children and teens to be sentenced to life without parole—a decision that shifts away from decades of law recognizing that children are distinct from adults and that their age should be considered in situations where they face severe punishment in the criminal justice system.

    | National

  • Child Health

    What the American Families Plan Means for our Nation’s Children

    On the eve of his 100th day in office, President Biden released the American Families Plan, outlining a bold proposal with $1.8 trillion in historic investments in our nation’s children and families including expanded tax credits, investments in child care, universal preschool, two years of tuition-free community college, a national paid leave program, and more.

    | National