By Anjanae Goins The holiday season tells a story of abundance. But for families like mine growing up in New Orleans, it was a season of stretching what little we had. SNAP never covered enough, and my high school job at McDonald’s sometimes determined how much food would be on our table. While other kids […]

On September 20th, our New Orleans community met with candidates vying for our city’s top leadership positions. The Youth Connections Festival and Town Hall offered the opportunity for community members to ask questions about the candidates’ policy goals for youth. Through a storytelling circle, LCCR made sure that youth voices were heard.

Joshua Thompson-Rodriguez joined LCCR as our new Civil Legal Services Attorney in April of this year. With experience working with families in immigration law, Joshua has already had a significant impact on LCCR’s educational advocacy work.

When Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005, nearly 150 children were locked inside Orleans Parish Prison as floodwaters rose. Many had not been convicted of any crime. Trapped without food, water, or medical care, these young people endured days of fear, neglect, and abandonment before being evacuated to juvenile prisons across Louisiana. This report, originally […]

It’s been a great year here at LCCR. We served more than 700 kids between New Orleans and East Baton Rouge, defended against punitive policies like Amendment 3 and SB74, and launched our #ItTakesAVillageNOLA narrative change campaign. Click here to read about what your support helped us achieve in FY 2025.

LCCR’s policy team has been hard at work during the 2025 legislative session, working to defend against tough-on-crime policies and rollbacks that had the potential to harm Louisiana’s children. Throughout this session, LCCR tracked three bills that represented the greatest threat to youth justice reform. Here are the results that were achieved.

Last year, Louisiana's Office of Juvenile Justice spent $165.6 million to operate the state’s prison system. Gov. Landry is now proposing spending $93 million more this year. Here are some better ways we can invest taxpayer dollars that will enhance public safety in Louisiana. 

Children incarcerated on the former death row unit of Louisiana’s Angola prison were locked in their cells without air conditioning for several days this month amid scorching summer temperatures, according to a teenager held at the facility. The child, identified by the pseudonym Charles C., said in a statement to his attorney that the kids were only let out […]

The state of Louisiana is considering transferring at least 20 minors incarcerated in its juvenile correction system to be housed on death row. The state alleges these children are amongst its most problematic incarcerated minors, and that placing them on death row is in line with government obligations to rehabilitate juvenile offenders. Lana Charles, who […]

Inside Story travels to Louisiana, where we find a community group protesting the state’s decision to move some youth to Angola, a notorious prison for adults.