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.

We first met “Emmett” as a 12th grader shortly after his arrest at school for having a small amount of marijuana on him. As if an arrest for simple misbehavior weren’t destabilizing enough, his school was also pushing for expulsion. Here’s how we helped Emmett stay in school.

WOW! Just Wow! On March 21, LCCR welcomed more than 230 guests to our annual Celebration for Children’s Rights event. Collectively, we raised a record-smashing $106,483 to fund our work with arrested and incarcerated youth in Louisiana. We can think of no better way to spend a beautiful (if slightly rainy) spring evening than to come together with so many of our friends and supporters. Thank you for joining us and making this our biggest Celebration ever!

With our Celebration for Children’s Rights coming up on March 21st, we’re excited to introduce our Pascal Calogero Champion of Justice awardee for 2024: Ubuntu Village. “Partners like Ubuntu Village remind us that our children are a reflection of our values, and we must unify if we want to create a Louisiana where Black children and families are seen and valued,” says LCCR Executive Director Kristen Rome.

Join us on Thursday, March 21st 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 Ubuntu Village for its incredible work helping families advocate for themselves and their children in New Orleans’ juvenile legal system.

Shon Williams has worked at LCCR the past five years, and prior to that, he was incarcerated for 26 years for a crime he committed as a teenager. As our new Reentry Specialist, Shon is now using that lived experience to guide young people through their first steps back into the community after leaving prison.

When we first met "Amaya" as a high school sophomore, she had already been sentenced to 10 years in one of the state's most infamous youth prisons. Our team knew that for her safety and well-being, we needed to get Amaya out of that facility. Here's how we helped her on her journey to freedom.

At an early age, "Joshua" was forced to be the "adult" of the household--getting his younger siblings off to school and coming up with money for groceries. He stopped going to school, fell in with a bad crowd, and began committing armed robberies--resulting in his imprisonment for 7 years. Here's how we helped.

CJ McCollum, the Pelicans’ starting shooting guard and president of the National Basketball Player Association, stopped by LCCR's office and the city's juvenile jail to learn more about the juvenile legal system landscape in New Orleans. Here's what McCollum says he learned through his visit with our staff and New Orleans' incarcerated youth.

In September, a judge ordered the removal of incarcerated youth from Angola. Shortly after, the state announced it would end its contract with the Ware Youth Center. While we support both these moves, we remain concerned about conditions for Louisiana's incarcerated youth.