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

Braam v. DSHS

Filing Date1998-11-03

This case was originally brought by 13 current and former foster children seeking damages for injuries they suffered as a result of the state's practice of shuttling them from one foster care placement to another.

Active

D.P. v. School Board of Palm Beach County

Filing Date2021-06-22

Police employed by the School District of Palm Beach County illegally use the Florida Mental Health Act, also known as the Baker Act, to subject hundreds of students each year to involuntary psychiatric examinations, without their parents' input, consent and, sometimes, over their objections.

Active

Women’s Student Union v. U.S. Department of Education

Filing Date2021-03-08

The Women's Student Union (WSU) at Berkeley High School in Berkeley, California filed a legal challenge to Trump-era Department of Education regulations that put students nationwide in greater danger and represent a radical departure from the way previous Democratic and Republican administrations applied Title IX to school sexual harassment, including sexual assault.

Inactive

Katie A. v. Bontá

Filing Date2002-07-18

NCYL is co-counsel in the case of Katie A. v. Bontá, a child welfare reform class action against the California Department of Health Services (DHS), Los Angeles County’s Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), and the California Department of Social Services (CDSS).

Inactive

COPAA v. DeVos, 2020

Filing Date2020-08-10

In August 2020, NCYL, on behalf of The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education and Secretary Betsy DeVos for attempting to siphon emergency federal COVID-19 funding away from K-12 public schools and the students they serve.

Active

Clark K. v Willden

Filing Date2006-11-30

The National Center for Youth Law first filed suit to reform the child welfare system in Clark County (Las Vegas), Nevada in 2006. That lawsuit, Clark K. v. Willden (formerly Clark K. v. Guinn), was a class action on behalf of all children in the county's child welfare system.

Inactive

T.R. v. Dreyfus

Filing Date2009-11-24

NCYL is co-counsel in the case of T.R. v. Dreyfus, a child welfare reform class action lawsuit against the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS).

Active

Brazwell v. Wagner

Filing Date2010-03-23

This case challenged California's policy of denying cash assistance to relative caregivers when the children they care for get in trouble with the law and are returned home on probation.

Inactive

Henry A. v. Willden

Filing Date2010-04-14

This lawsuit charges Nevada and Clark County officials with failing to protect the health and safety of children in foster care. The suit seeks money damages for 13 children named in the lawsuit, as well as system improvements for several classes of children that represent more than half of the 3,600 children in foster care in Clark County, which encompasses Las Vegas.

Inactive

Browse Resources

Rights of Children Potentially Subject to the Laken Riley Act

The Laken Riley Act (LRA), signed into law on January 29, 2025, amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by expanding mandatory immigration detention to include individuals who are arrested for, charged with, convicted of, or admit to committing specified crimes. This guide addresses questions that are likely to arise if the LRA is enforced against children under the age of 18.

From school to court: New report details extensive harms tickets inflict on students

A new report that examines the experiences of young people who become ensnared in Colorado's municipal court system due to being ticketed at school and in their communities highlights several disturbing trends and calls on community leaders to implement needed reforms.

Legal Rights of Unaccompanied Children in ORR Custody

Providing Mental Health Education to Students is Critical — and Achievable

Since the 2021 enactment of California's Senate Bill 224, public middle and high schools that offer health courses are required to include mental health instruction within those courses. The law additionally called on the state to develop plans to expand this instruction to schools across the state.

Los Angeles County Five-Year Strategic Plan to Prevent and Address Child Trafficking

The Los Angeles County Five-Year Strategic Plan to Prevent and Address Child Trafficking is a bold and ambitious proposal that is meant to serve as a guide-post for the county — the most populous in the U.S. — to confront the commercial sexual exploitation of children and youth (CSEC/Y).