This month, Staff Attorney Jordan Bates is celebrating 10 years at Youth, Rights & Justice. Jordan, a Portland native, shared her thoughts on how her community and the world of public defense has changed since she first started at … Read More
The 2021 Oregon Legislative Session begins this week and, although this session looks different from years past due to the restrictions in place from COVID-19, there are many important bills that could shape the future of juvenile justice in Oregon. … Read More
For many youth, the gateway to incarceration begins with a referral from the classroom to the courtroom. Youth involved in the juvenile justice system are at serious risk of being pushed out of school and pulled into a mass … Read More
The following is an excerpt from a longer memorandum YRJ has written to address the issue of a child’s right to counsel in dependency cases. “High quality legal representation is essential to a well-functioning dependency system.” Oregon Task Force … Read More
By Natalie Hollabaugh | YRJ Law Clerk 2020, Lewis & Clark Law J.D. Candidate 2021 and Maggie Carlson | YRJ Staff Attorney The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) is a federal law that was enacted in 19971 out … Read More
Immigrant children have recently been in the news again as the United States Supreme Court issued a decision addressing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program initiated by President Obama. The Department of Human Services v. Regents of the … Read More
The First Special Session of 2020 was remarkable. In light of a global pandemic, the members of the legislature held hearings remotely and practiced social distancing when voting. Spurred to action by nightly protests condemning racialized policing practices, the legislature … Read More
Dear Friends, June is National Reunification Month. This month we celebrate families and the importance of family reunification for children and youth involved in the child welfare system. Children belong with their families. We join with organizations across … Read More
Now, more than ever, we need to listen. To black mothers, living with constant and well-founded fear that child protective services will remove their children. To black parents, who must explain to their children the brutality and inhumanity of the … Read More
By Amy Miller | YRJ Executive Director The government deprives poor women of their privacy rights. In her well-researched book, The Poverty of Privacy Rights, Khiara M. Bridges explains how the moral constructions of indigent motherhood have empowered society—and, in … Read More