LCCR’s fiscal year came to a close on June 30th. Here’s a look at what your support helped accomplish:

Standing with Kids 

LCCR attorneys defended the rights of 453 children (through 550 cases) in Orleans Parish courtrooms this past year, and we served an additional 172 children in East Baton Rouge. Meanwhile, our social workers and youth advocates connected our kids with the resources they need to grow up healthy and leave the legal system behind for good. Support from people like you helped: 

174 children enroll in school 

20 children secure new or improved special education supports (IEPs) 

29 children defend their right to an education in school disciplinary hearings 

141 children connect with jobs or job training programs 

52 children connect with mentoring programs 

179 children access counseling and care for mental health and substance use disorder 

2140 visits get conducted to ensure that our children’s needs were being met at home, school, and in the community.

Collectively, these efforts are helping kids like Xavier, Keenan, Lucia, and Marcus stay at home with family, remain in school without disruption, and see their prospects for success grow. 

LCCR Turns 20! 

Since 2006, LCCR has helped thousands of arrested children achieve the safety and stability needed to thrive. In doing so, we have become a nationwide leader in showcasing what an effective response to youth arrest can and should look like.

On April 2nd, LCCR recognized 20 years of service to our community by welcoming more than 170 guests to our annual Celebration for Children’s Rights event, raising a record-breaking $137,000 in the process. In honor of this special occasion, we debuted two brand-new videos: one on the many ways LCCR helps arrested kids and our community as a whole and the other a heartfelt testimonial from a client who is now thriving. Many thanks to everyone in our community for helping us celebrate this important milestone.

2026 Legislative Session: Defending Kids at the Statehouse

The 2026 legislative session is over; however, the impact on Louisiana’s children is not. This year, lawmakers debated bills affecting nearly every stage of a child’s interaction with public systems. From schools and courtrooms to detention centers and police interrogations, some proposals would have expanded punishment while others would have weakened due process protections.

LCCR is one of the only youth justice organization defending the rights of kids in the legislative chambers. Through testimony, advocacy, and negotiations, we helped narrow some of the session’s most harmful proposals and secured key protections for children and families:

✔️ HB 140 – Juvenile Court Trial Timelines: This bill would have greatly extended the amount of time children could be held in the juvenile legal system before trial, creating longer delays and undue trauma.

• Our win: LCCR successfully negotiated major reductions to the proposed timeline expansions, preventing some of the most harmful delays. We also secured added confidentiality protections for children’s arrest photos and intake records.

✔️ SB 396 – Review Hearings for Incarcerated Youth: This bill sought to eliminate in-person review hearings for incarcerated children, limiting young people’s ability to appear before a judge during critical review proceedings.

• Our win: LCCR secured amendments requiring incarcerated youth to receive in-person review hearings at least every six months, while also guaranteeing confidential attorney access before any virtual hearing.

 ✔️ HB 283 – School Expulsions: This bill would have required expulsions for incidents involving battery of a teacher or another student.

• Our win: LCCR helped narrow the bill so expulsions apply only to on-campus battery & children facing expulsion still have access to alternative educational placement.

✔️ HB 133 – Mandatory Minimums for Battery of a School Teacher: This bill would have imposed mandatory minimum sentences on children accused of battery of a school teacher.

• Our win: LCCR helped to remove the mandatory minimum sentencing, preserving judicial discretion.

To see a more robust recap of this year’s legislative session, click here. 

#ItTakesAVillageNOLA in the Community 

In April 2025, LCCR launched its first-ever narrative change campaign, #ItTakesAVillageNOLA. The campaign’s focus calls upon New Orleanians to take responsibility for their youth. ITAVN is led by LCCR’s new Strategic Storyteller, Cierra Chenier, as part of a wider effort to combat the harmful narratives surrounding Black youth and promote alternative, positive narratives that reassert the humanity of young people in our city. In response to the negative stereotypes youth have been labeled with post-Katrina, the concept of ‘The Village’ extends accountability from solely the kids to also include those responsible for them–all of us.

In it’s inaugural year, ITAVN achieved the following:

• Convened monthly story circle events with kids incarcerated at the Juvenile Justice Intervention Center (New Orleans’ juvenile jail). These events give kids the opportunity to voice their thoughts on how the city can better meet the needs of its children so that fewer slide into the youth justice system.
• Published an op-ed in The Lens written by by Cierra with support from incarcerated youth. It captures the essence of what we all know about the young people LCCR serves—that they are, indeed, the most vulnerable among us and deserve to be protected at all costs.
• Hosted the city’s only youth-led mayoral candidate forum, with questions written by incarcerated kids addressing the policy goals each candidate had for our city’s young people.

As ITAVN pushes further into 2026, it intends to broaden its public awareness efforts–more to come. In the meantime, the campaign invites all to join The Village by learning more at www.ittakesavillagenola.org, signing the community pledge, and becoming a partner. 

That’s another year on the books for LCCR and the kids we serve. Your support made this all possible. Thank you! 

Fiscal Year 2026 Financials: 

LCCR’s 990 and audit report will be completed in December 2026

Click here to see what your support made possible in FY 2025