About Us
The Center for Children’s Law and Policy (CCLP) is a public interest law and policy organization focused on reform of juvenile justice and other systems that affect troubled and at-risk children, and protection of the rights of children in those systems. The Center’s work covers a range of activities including research, writing, public education, media advocacy, training, technical assistance, administrative and legislative advocacy, and litigation.
CCLP has a central role in major foundation-funded juvenile justice initiatives in the United States, supporting reform work in more than 20 jurisdictions around the country. For the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Models for Change initiative (www.modelsforchange.net), CCLP staff provide on-site technical assistance to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice systems of three counties in Pennsylvania, two parishes in Louisiana, two counties in Washington state, and statewide in Illinois. CCLP also operates the Models for Change DMC Action Network, which brings together twenty jurisdictions from eight states working to reduce their racial and ethnic disparities. For the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI), CCLP staff provide training and technical assistance nationwide on assessing conditions of confinement in juvenile facilities and serve as lead consultants for the foundation in Washington, DC, and Baltimore, Maryland.
CCLP’s location in Washington, DC allows staff to engage in efforts to improve juvenile justice systems in DC, Maryland, and Virginia as well as federal juvenile justice legislative reforms. In addition to the JDAI work in DC and Baltimore, CCLP trains staff of the DC Department of Youth Rehabilitative Services (DYRS) about the rights of youth in confinement, helps the DYRS community oversight board to conduct regular reviews of conditions in DYRS facilities, and works with other children's advocacy organizations on Congressional reauthorization of the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. CCLP staff also investigate potentially abusive conditions for youth in locked juvenile and adult facilities in the area, and advocate needed changes to the Prison Litigation Reform Act.
CCLP is developing a comprehensive training and mentoring program for the next generation of attorneys, experts, and practitioners involved in juvenile justice reform (The Future Project), and coordinating with the National Disability Rights Network to bring expertise on the rights of disabled youth to the juvenile justice process.
CCLP has a central role in major foundation-funded juvenile justice initiatives in the United States, supporting reform work in more than 20 jurisdictions around the country. For the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Models for Change initiative (www.modelsforchange.net), CCLP staff provide on-site technical assistance to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice systems of three counties in Pennsylvania, two parishes in Louisiana, two counties in Washington state, and statewide in Illinois. CCLP also operates the Models for Change DMC Action Network, which brings together twenty jurisdictions from eight states working to reduce their racial and ethnic disparities. For the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI), CCLP staff provide training and technical assistance nationwide on assessing conditions of confinement in juvenile facilities and serve as lead consultants for the foundation in Washington, DC, and Baltimore, Maryland.
CCLP’s location in Washington, DC allows staff to engage in efforts to improve juvenile justice systems in DC, Maryland, and Virginia as well as federal juvenile justice legislative reforms. In addition to the JDAI work in DC and Baltimore, CCLP trains staff of the DC Department of Youth Rehabilitative Services (DYRS) about the rights of youth in confinement, helps the DYRS community oversight board to conduct regular reviews of conditions in DYRS facilities, and works with other children's advocacy organizations on Congressional reauthorization of the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. CCLP staff also investigate potentially abusive conditions for youth in locked juvenile and adult facilities in the area, and advocate needed changes to the Prison Litigation Reform Act.
CCLP is developing a comprehensive training and mentoring program for the next generation of attorneys, experts, and practitioners involved in juvenile justice reform (The Future Project), and coordinating with the National Disability Rights Network to bring expertise on the rights of disabled youth to the juvenile justice process.