Children in the Justice System

CCE has been working for more than 25 years to improve services and outcomes for the city’s children who are touched by court processes. CCE has employed its full toolkit on behalf of DC children: training, community education, research, evaluation, and advocacy. You can find all project reports in the Digital Library of this website.

Currently, the Council is focused on children who are caught in custody battles between their parents. CCE is advocating that the Family Court adopt practice standards for lawyers who represent those children, to raise the quality of the evidence presented to the judges who must make custody decisions. Read more ...

To improve the District’s foster care system, CCE has facilitated the work of the DC Child Welfare Leadership Team since 1999. The Team’s top priority now is reducing the time children spend in foster care waiting to be adopted. Read more ...

CCE continues to distribute its Guide to the DC Juvenile Justice System. We also advocate for policies that improve public safety through more accountable rehabilitation services close to home for adjudicated delinquents. Read more ...