Defending Immigrant Youth in Custody

For decades, immigrant children detained by the U.S. government have faced human rights violations—separated from their families, denied basic hygiene, and held in unsafe conditions without adequate medical care. We’re fighting to ensure immigrant children are treated with dignity and care. 

Your support has been instrumental in protecting their rights and holding the government accountable for upholding their legal and moral obligations to children. In a major victory for kids, we secured a court order affirming our right to visit detention sites, collect data, and advocate for children in federal custody. Our efforts also led to a court ruling requiring Border Patrol to provide safe and sanitary conditions for migrant children in open-air detention sites. And in Tennessee, we won a settlement ensuring migrant youth in the foster system—children who have been abandoned, abused, or neglected—can secure immigration relief, allowing them to legally work and access critical resources like healthcare and financial aid.

Ending Unnecessary Institutionalization

Every day, thousands of children endure abuse, overmedication, trauma, and isolation in institutions. With your unwavering support, we’re working alongside partners and young advocates to close harmful institutions and ensure children grow up in safe, loving homes.

In New York, we’re collaborating with the Are You Listening Collaborative—a group of young leaders using their first-hand experiences to drive systemic change. Together, we’re working to de-institutionalize the foster system and strengthen community resources so families can stay together.

Securing Mental Health Access for Children

The mental health crisis continues to devastate children, while essential programs like Medicaid—which provides health coverage for 37 million children and is the largest payer of behavioral health services—are increasingly coming under threat. Thanks to dedicated advocates like you, we’re fighting to ensure kids get the care they need at home and in their communities, keeping more families together.

Last year, we reached critical milestones in advancing mental health access for children. In Rhode Island and New York, our advocacy is driving systemic reforms to address barriers to care, eliminate prolonged waitlists, and prevent unnecessary institutionalization. In Maine, our lawsuit is challenging the unmonitored use of psychotropic drugs on children in the state’s foster system, protecting their safety and well-being.

Combating Racial Disparities

Families have a Constitutional right to be together, yet every three minutes, a child is separated from their family and placed in the foster system—a system that disproportionately surveils and harms marginalized communities. Black children are three times more likely than white children to be permanently separated from their families. 

In Minnesota, we partnered with the NAACP to demand a federal investigation into the state’s discriminatory treatment of Black families. With your help, we are pushing for policies across the nation that keep Black families together and end these injustices.

Housing Justice for Young Adults Aging out of the Foster System

Every year, more than 20,000 young people age out of the foster system on their 18th birthday—often without a permanent family, home, or support, leaving many homeless and struggling to survive.

In Los Angeles, where homelessness rates are among the highest in the nation, nearly one in five transition-age (16 to 21) foster youth in California experience homelessness while still in extended foster care. With your support, seven young adults won a significant legal victory, holding Los Angeles County and the State of California accountable for failing to provide them with safe housing and mental health services. This legal win affirms the government’s responsibility for youth beyond the age of 18, setting a critical precedent for the future.

Championing LGBTQ+ Youth Rights

LGBTQ+ youth face immense challenges that leave many feeling unsafe and alone. Systemic racism, discrimination, and poverty push a disproportionate number of them into the child welfare system, where they are often further harmed. 

Together, we are fighting to protect their rights and well-being. Last year, the Children’s Rights community sent hundreds of messages of love and affirmation in response to rising discriminatory policies. 

We also published a powerful report, in collaboration with LGBTQ+ advocacy groups and young leaders calling for protections for trans and nonbinary youth—and detailing strategies that keep youth safe in their communities, prevent system involvement, and protect those already in child welfare, juvenile legal, and homelessness systems.