Center for Juvenile Law & Policy

The core mission of the Center for Juvenile Law and Policy is to foster systemic reform of the Los Angeles County juvenile justice system, through the direct legal and social services we provide to court-involved youth and their families. The heart and soul of the Center are our community legal clinics, where since 2004 the Center has advocated for children in the juvenile justice and education systems while shaping law students to serve in the public interest. From legal representation in juvenile court (JJC), due process hearings, disciplinary hearings, and IEP meetings (YJEC) through to post-conviction advocacy for youth sentenced to unjustly disproportionate adult prison sentences (JIFS Clinic and the CCCJP), and culminating in support upon re-entry (CCCJP), the CJLP intercedes on behalf of court-involved children at every stage of their legal trajectories.

CJLP’s system reform efforts aim to reduce minority over-representation in the juvenile justice system; decrease the rate at which children are prosecuted as adults; interrupt the school-to-prison pipeline; and re-direct the juvenile justice system to its original purpose of individualized, community-based rehabilitation. In furtherance of these efforts, in addition to direct representation through the clinics, CJLP engages in advocacy, symposia, research and strategic litigation.