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This PSA from the American Bar Association Children's Rights Litigation Committee (CRLC), on which Juvenile Law Center Associate Director Lourdes Rosado serves as co-chair, makes clear the importance of why children—especially those in the child welfare system—need lawyers. Lawyers can improve outcomes for foster youth and help them to secure a permanent home faster. 

At least one third of youth in foster care have disabilities—ranging from minor developmental delays to chronic and severe health and behavioral health impairments—that will require treatment and care after they age out of the child welfare system. These youth are entitled to the same independent living, permanency, and transition planning services as all foster youth in the system. They also are entitled to all the protections of federal and state law that prohibit discrimination based on disability and require that reasonable accommodations be made in the provision of benefits and services.

All children deserve to grow up in a safe place with people who care for and love them, and who guide and support them as they grow. Having that safe, stable, and nurturing place to live provides a foundation to learn, dream, and set and meet goals for the future.

Federal and state laws establish policies for foster care, which is meant to be temporary. Goals are to return children to their parents, or place them with family members, or find a home for foster youth with individuals who are committed to making a family with them. While states have made progress in reducing the number of youth in foster care, many youth—especially older youth—remain in the system. Sometimes they stay in care for many years. Far too many of these youth are not placed, as the law requires, in the least restrictive, most family-like setting; they are instead placed in group homes and institutions.

Last night, at the 17th Annual Webby Awards at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City, Juvenile Law Center was honored for having the best website in the "Law" category by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS). 

Youth are in foster care often talk about feeling different from their peers. They feel they do not get to take part in the activities and opportunities that most teenagers take for granted. Things like going to a friend's house, a school trip, taking an after-school job, or participating in an extracurricular activity can be beyond a youth's reach. This is because of rules that exist in the foster care system, or, more commonly, misunderstandings about what is legally prohibited and what is not. The result is that many youth in care not only feel different and separate from their peers—they also miss out on crucial opportunities to enjoy activities and to build skills and relationships.

Nationally, nearly half of youth in foster care do not complete high school by age 18 (according to this data sheet). Although many youth in foster care long to go to college, they have lower college enrollment and completion rates than their peers who are not in care. 

Frequent school moves are a big part of the problem. Children in foster care are often bounced from living placement to living placement, typically changing schools each time—sometimes in the middle of a semester. These school moves disrupt students' academic progress and often lead to delayed re-enrollment, missing records, lost credits, and difficulties maintaining relationships with peers and supportive school staff.