Legal Advocacy & Impact Litigation

We work strategically and collaboratively with co-counsel partners, community organizations, and named plaintiffs to bring impact litigation that represents broad classes of children and youth across multiple public systems.

Browse Legal Cases

Focus AreaCase Jurisdiction

StatusCase TypeLocation

E.L. v. Claps

Filing Date2025-10-28

The National Center for Youth Law joins with co-counsel Public Justice, Civil Rights Corps, Maxted Law, Spero Justice Center, and Singleton Schreiber in representing children and families in the third case filed under the national Right 2 Hug project. It seeks to end Adams County’s unlawful and profit-driven visitation ban by restoring in-person, contact visitation between children and their parents.

Active

LGML v. Noem

Filing Date2025-08-01

This lawsuit challenges the Trump administration’s unlawful plan to secretly remove unaccompanied Guatemalan children from the United States. The National Center for Youth Law, National Immigration Law Center (NILC), and Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) serve together as co-counsel.

Active

Lucas R. v. Azar

Filing Date2018-06-29

In 2018, NCYL and co-counsel filed Lucas R. v. Azar, which alleges violations of rights afforded to unaccompanied immigrant children under the U.S. Constitution, federal statutes, and the Flores Settlement Agreement.

Active

Black Parallel School Board v. Sacramento City Unified School District

Filing Date2019-09-06

The suit alleges flagrant districtwide disability and race discrimination against students with disabilities, especially Black students.

Active

Flores v. Reno

Filing Date1985-07-11

NCYL and co-counsel filed Flores v. Reno in 1985 to address the egregious harms immigrant children in federal custody faced. The case was settled in 1997 and remains under the supervision of U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee in the Central District of California.

Active

J.N. v. Oregon Department of Education

Filing Date2019-01-22

The State of Oregon has effectively denied hundreds of children with disabilities the opportunity to attend school for a full day, in violation of federal laws, the Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA), the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Rehabilitation Act.

Active

M.J. v. The District of Columbia

Filing Date2018-08-01

This class action was filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. on behalf of all Medicaid-eligible District of Columbia children who have a mental health disability and are not receiving medically necessary intensive community-based services as required by federal law.

Active

Angelica S. v. HHS

Filing Date2025-05-08

In May 2025, the National Center for Youth Law and co-counsel Democracy Forward filed Angelica S. v. HHS, which challenges new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) policies that have resulted in the separation of families and the prolonged detention of unaccompanied children in federal immigration custody.

Active

Duchitanga v. Lloyd

Filing Date2018-11-06

In 2018, as part of the National Center for Youth Law's efforts to keep immigrant children in communities rather than in government custody, we filed, in partnership with the New York Civil Liberties Union and American Civil Liberties Union, Duchitanga v. Lloyd.

Inactive