Meet Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights
Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights (LCCR) is a leader in youth advocacy and holistic legal defense.
Contributing to collective progress toward Youth Master Plan solutions and goals in Safety & Justice, LCCR is making strides in ensuring a safer and more just environment for New Orleans youth.
What They’re Doing
Providing youth in the juvenile legal system with a holistic team - a lawyer, social worker, investigator and youth advocate - to address both the causes and consequences of arrest.
Advocating with partners for local and state policies that reduce the number of children in the legal system and provide better alternatives to arrest and incarceration.
Population Data: New Orleans Youth & Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights
112,000: Total youth, birth to 24
1,200: Youth in contact with the juvenile legal system per year, unchanged since 2016
90%: Youth in contact with the juvenile legal system who are represented by Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights
*Numbers are approximations. Data Sources, top to bottom: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (2020); Orleans Parish Juvenile Court (2022); Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights (2023)
How They’re Youth Master Plan Aligned:
✓ SAFETY & JUSTICE
Youth Master Plan Goal:
Decrease the # of young people who enter, and return to, the juvenile legal system with a focus on addressing equity and racial disparities
Youth Master Plan Solutions:
Restorative Justice Approaches (SJ2)
Juvenile Justice Agenda (SJ3)
“At Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights, our goal is to keep kids out of the legal system so that they can thrive where they belong – at home, at school, and in our communities.
We support the Youth Master Plan because it actively involves our youth in a collective process that challenges the status quo, dreams of solutions that increase their quality of life, and envisions a world where their needs and desires are prioritized—making it easier for them to thrive.”
— Kristen A. Rome, Executive Director
Follow & Connect With Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights
Follow @lakidsrights for data, news, updates, and opportunities to learn more about the inequities and systemic failures of the juvenile legal system and how to advocate for Louisiana youth through policy initiatives and holistic approaches to juvenile defense.
