Lawyers For Children

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Lawyers For Children

When children are in crisis, Lawyers For Children is at their side to provide protection, support and hope.

LFC offers free legal and social work services, ensuring that every child we represent finds safety, love, and a true sense of family.

06/01/2026

🌈 Keep being unapologetically you.

This Pride Month, we celebrate LGBTQ+ young people & community, and their right to be proud of who they are.

You deserve to be heard, respected, and supported. You deserve to live authentically, fully, and without fear.

Your voice matters. Your identity matters. You belong.

We see you, we support you, and we're rooting for you every step of the way. 💜

05/29/2026

🎓 "Use your voice not only when it is easy, but when it is hard."

Last weekend, Lawyers For Children Founder and President Karen Freedman received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from her alma mater, Wesleyan University.

In her remarks, Karen shared the story that led to LFC's founding: when her boss told her she couldn't represent more children in foster care, Karen didn't take no for an answer. Lawyers For Children was born from that conviction.

More than 40 years later, that same determination has helped transform the lives of over 100,000 young people.

Congratulations, Karen, on this extraordinary and well-deserved honor. 💜

05/27/2026

Doesn't it feel good to win? Especially when it's a win for children & families?

New York’s highest court was not convinced you can create a “shadow foster care” system and just call it something else. Last week, after a four-year fight, the Court made clear that due process and existing law still apply when the government is involved in separating children from their families.

✅ Court said we had the right to sue as attorneys representing children in foster care.
✅ Court held the State had no authority to create a parallel “shadow foster care” system outside the law.
✅ Court acknowledged the critical rights children and parents were being denied — including counsel, court oversight, and accountability.

🫠 Turns out you can’t sidestep due process just because you slapped a different label on it.

Huge thanks to our co-plaintiffs at Legal Aid Society and Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, our pro bono counsel at Proskauer, and the many amici who helped make this victory possible. 🤝

Big win for children and families across New York. ✨🧡

Learn more: https://www.lawyersforchildren.org/news/joint-statement-on-ny-court-of-appeals-shadow-foster-care-decision/

05/12/2026

This spring, our interdisciplinary team at Lawyers For Children — including members of our Youth Justice Practice team — joined other institutional legal providers in visiting NYC’s two juvenile detention facilities. We spoke directly with young people and staff, learned more about the programming being offered, and saw firsthand the conditions children are living in while in detention.

Young people in the youth justice system deserve safe conditions, meaningful programming, and real opportunities for their futures. At Lawyers For Children, we’ll continue advocating to ensure these facilities meet the needs and rights of the children in their care.

Learn more about our Youth Justice Practice: https://www.lawyersforchildren.org/how-we-help/youth-justice/

04/27/2026

Sibling relationships are a right—not optional.

This , we’re breaking myths about sibling relationships in foster care. The truth: these bonds are legally protected and critical to a child’s well-being.

As advocates, we must:

• Fight for sibling placements
• Ensure consistent visitation
• Treat these relationships as a priority—not an afterthought

Because for many children, siblings are their most lasting connection.

04/21/2026

Your voice matters. 💬

If you’ve ever used New York Office of Mental Health (OMH) services—or care about someone who has—this is your chance to speak up.

Take OMH’s quick survey (under 10 min) and help shape what mental health care should look like.
✔️ Quick
✔️ Anonymous
✔️ Confidential

Go to: https://nysomh.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_brqXSkGgQZ8HjQG

Background from OMH: The Office of Mental Health (OMH) is continuing to work hard to reach our goal of a more person-centered mental health system. Part of that work involves including the voices of people who currently receive or have received services in the past in how we measure the quality of mental health programs and services. As we continue to do this inside OMH, we are also asking for help from New Yorkers.

04/15/2026

A sibling is more than a family member. They are a witness to your life. 👫

For youth in foster care, a brother or sister can be the one person who remembers your childhood, who shares your story, who understands the loss.

When the system separates siblings, it doesn't just separate bodies—it separates hearts.

This April, we are standing with the National Network for Fostering Sibling Connections for the first-ever National Sibling Connections Awareness Month. Join us in fighting for policies and practices that prioritize connection.

03/25/2026

New York promised $1.2B for youth justice work, but less than a third of it was actually spent. And NYC got none of it.

The Youth Justice Innovation Fund would put $50M directly into community programs proven to enhance public safety and prevent system involvement: mentoring, mental health resources, jobs, reentry programs, and alternatives to incarceration.

🦋 Demand that elected officials invest in our youth by passing the Youth Justice Innovation Fund: bit.ly/YouthJusticeTakeAction

02/26/2026

4 Key Takeaways from Our Testimony on Racial Disparities in NYC’s Child Welfare System ⬇️

🔎 Disparities start at the front door.
Black and Latino families are investigated at dramatically higher rates than white families — long before any finding of wrongdoing.

🚪 Investigations cause real harm.
Children can be pulled from classrooms, questioned late at night, or subjected to exams — even when reports are unfounded.

🤝 From mandated reporters → mandated supporters.
Nearly 7 in 10 mandated reports are unsubstantiated. Families need housing, food, childcare, and mental health support — not automatic investigations.

📊 City agencies must be accountable.
NYC Schools and other agencies make thousands of reports each year. They should be required to track, analyze, and publicly report data on the types and outcomes of those reports — and ensure staff are trained in racial equity and implicit bias.

We can protect children and reduce racial disparities. That means closing the door to unnecessary investigations and opening pathways to real support.

Read our full testimony: https://www.lawyersforchildren.org/testimonies/testimony-to-the-new-york-city-council-committee-on-children-youth-oversight-examining-racial-disparities-in-new-york-citys-child-welfare-system

NYC KnowYourRights PolicyChange

02/22/2026

Due to weather, LFC's offices will be closed on Monday, February 23rd. NYC Courts are also closed. Stay safe!

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110 Lafayette Street, 8th Floor
New York, NY
10013

Website

http://www.lawyersforchildren.org/

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