Juvenile Law Center works to bring young people in the child welfare and justice systems home from institutional placements, and to ensure that youth placed outside of the home are in the most family-like and least traumatic conditions possible.

Through the child welfare or juvenile justice systems, hundreds of Philadelphia youth are placed in residential institutional settings throughout the commonwealth, which include secure (lock-down) facilities, nonsecure institutions and treatment facilities. Youth placed in large juvenile justice facilities often face harsh conditions including solitary confinement, strip searches and physical restraints. Children in both the justice and child welfare systems typically receive inadequate education when in congregate care, making it more difficult for them to transition successfully home and to adulthood. Youth in both systems may come into the system with trauma histories or disabilities that make abusive treatment even more devastating. Youth of color, LGBTQ youth and youth with disabilities are more likely to be placed in institutional care and are more likely to suffer abusive conditions of confinement than their peers.