2024 Impact Report

Ensuring critical protections for migrant children detained at the U.S. border, reshaping conversations and approaches to combat child sex trafficking, defending students' access to supportive and equitable education services — and so much more.

These are just some of the noteworthy highlights featured in NCYL's 2024 Impact Report, which uplifts groundbreaking reports, hard-fought legal challenges, and other impactful programs and initiatives spearheaded by the organization over the past 12 months.

Cover of NCYL 2024 Impact Report

A year of impact

"It’s been a year filled with challenges, victories, and moments that reminded us why this work matters," NCYL Executive Director Shakti Belway said of her first full year at the helm of the organization. "Each step forward — no matter how small or large — has moved us closer to a world where every child has the opportunity to thrive."

The report focuses specifically on NCYL's impact in the areas of education, youth health and well-being, youth justice and equity, the protection and advancement of young peoples' rights and dignity, and NCYL's strategic litigation efforts.

 

 

Among the highlights of NCYL’s impactful year:

  • As immigration debates dominated headlines, NCYL, which serves as Flores counsel, delivered critical victories for children detained at the U.S. border. In response to alarming and inhumane conditions at open-air detention sites, where children faced freezing temperatures, hunger, and lack of shelter, NCYL successfully argued before the District Court for the Central District of California that these youth fell under the protections of the Flores Settlement. 
  • NCYL's Collaborative Responses to Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSEC) Initiative made significant strides in 2024 and spearheaded development of Los Angeles County’s Five-Year Strategic Plan to Prevent and Address Child Trafficking, released in October. The Plan focuses on increasing prevention efforts to avoid harm when possible, and building community-based pathways to supporting youth and families impacted by exploitation outside of the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. 
  • NCYL co-authored a report that explores deep inequities within school district spending structures, as well as a first-of-its-kind report examining post-COVID school discipline and disparities among racial and housing lines, uncovering troubling findings.
  • NCYL's Compassionate Education model, which pairs students experiencing homelessness or related challenges with supportive liaisons, led to significantly increased graduation rates at multiple sites.
  • After years of advocacy in Michigan, NCYL's Debt Free Justice campaign helped with the historic implementation of laws that abolish juvenile court fees and fines. This overdue reform means freedom from crushing financial burdens that perpetuated cycles of poverty and systemic harm, erasing debts in some cases of more than $100,000.

The report includes more on each of these initiatives, plus many others, including NCYL's role in the implementation of a California law that expands young people's access to needed health services, the growth of youth- and community-led podcasts produced by NCYL, and the publication of a first-of-its-kind examination of the potential impacts of Artificial Intelligence and related technologies on youth.

All of this work was possible thanks to the trust and partnership of incredibly resilient young people and their families and communities, plus support from organizations, advocates and other contributors who share NCYL's belief that every child deserves the opportunity to thrive.