Center for Children & Youth Justice

All children and youth deserve a fair chance.

At the Center for Children & Youth Justice (CCYJ), we’re changing the way young people experience the child welfare and juvenile justice systems—for the better. By listening to young people and working with partners across Washington State, we’re helping to redesign our child welfare and juvenile justice systems to meet children and youth’s unique needs. Every year we help improve the lives of 50,000 young people.

Who We Are

The Center for Children & Youth Justice (CCYJ) is creating better lives for generations of children and youth through reform of foster care, juvenile courts, and related systems of care.

Our Mission 

To create better lives for generations of children and youth by reforming the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.

Our Vision

Our vision is that all children, youth, and young adults are healthy, safe and thriving; cared for by their community; valued as they are; and have a sense of belonging.

CCYJ Equity Statement

“Our mission is to create better lives for generations of children and youth by reforming the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Through this reform we seek a state of racial and ethnic equity – where no child or youth’s racial or ethnic identity predicts, in a statistical sense, how they fare. We understand that racial inequities and injustices are the result of racist policies and practices. We act upon this understanding through our organization-wide commitment to anti-racism – the work of actively opposing racism by advocating for changes in the political, economic, and social realms in which children and youth live and grow. Our mission and the active work of anti-racism cannot be separated.” – CCYJ Staff and Board of Director

What We Do

Our Approach

By convening and partnering with parents, advocates, service providers and policymakers, CCYJ develops and advances innovative approaches to systemic change to support kids, stabilize families, and strengthen communities. We work to achieve research-based, data-driven, tangible outcomes for generations of youth.

Our Work Is…

• Youth-centered: We respond to the urgent and critical needs articulated by our state’s most vulnerable youth, including their voices in our research, data collection, and project design.
• Collaborative: We bring together all stakeholders, including families and youth, to plan and implement our reform efforts.
• Data-driven: We research best and promising practices to inform our work.
• Innovative: We seek fresh ideas and interventions, conduct research, test pilot projects, and advocate for new policies that make change possible.