At the close of January, Aaron Clark-Rizzio concluded his 8.5 years of service as LCCR’s Executive Director and (later) Legal Director, leaving behind a legacy of thoughtful, dedicated stewardship of LCCR’s mission. Here we take a moment to reflect back on his impact at LCCR.

Join us on Thursday, April 3rd at our annual benefit event -- the Celebration for Children’s Rights -- as we celebrate our successes and come together to make Louisiana a better place for all children. We will also be presenting our Calogero Champion of Justice Award to Dominque Jones-Johnson, Founder & Executive Director of Daughters Beyond Incarceration, for her incredible work uplifting Black girls with incarcerated parents in our community.

We first met “Deondre” as an 11th grader arrested for carrying a gun for his own protection. Deondre had been struggling for a while—he wasn’t attending school, feared being robbed or killed in his neighborhood, and was working at a smoothie shop to support himself and his baby son. Here's how LCCR helped.

We first met “Amira” as a high school senior arrested for simple battery. While navigating her court case, she aged out of the foster care system, leaving her homeless and without a safety net. Here's how LCCR helped.

When we first met "Tyrell," he was a high school senior struggling with his mental health and disconnected from school. He was arrested for stealing his uncle's car and crashing it. Here's how we helped him to enroll in college and improve his mental health.

“There are so many existing, false, and damaging narratives that need to be confronted,” says Cierra Chenier, who recently started in LCCR’s brand-new Strategic Storyteller role. “There are also many positive narratives about Black youth that need to be uplifted.” As the Strategic Storyteller, Cierra will be leading LCCR’s efforts to combat the harmful narratives surrounding Black youth.

We are proud to report that Shon Williams, LCCR's Reentry Specialist, was recently accepted into the Greater New Orleans Foundation’s Emerging Leaders Program. This program is designed to cultivate leadership skills and systems-level thinking among nonprofit leaders with a focus on sustainability and community impact.

On Wednesday, August 28th, LCCR and Daughters Beyond Incarceration decided to take a different approach in raising awareness about juvenile justice by hosting a youth justice town hall. Unlike the legislative session recaps of the past, this event was focused on engaging the community and shedding light on recent changes in Louisiana's juvenile justice system, with a particular focus on how these changes will affect young people. 

It's been another big year for LCCR. We served more than 700 kids between New Orleans and East Baton Rouge, rolled out our new Second Chances Youth Reentry Project, scored two legislative wins on the vital records front, and welcomed CJ McCollum for a visit. Click here to read all about what your support helped us achieve in FY 2024.

In February, the state legislature gathered for a special session aimed at decreasing “surging” crime. Children were a specific target of this session, which saw a repeal of the Raise the Age law. Louisiana is now the first state ever to roll back this reform and return to prosecuting all 17-year-old children as adults.