National Center For Youth Law

What National Center For Youth Law does

National Center for Youth Law (NCYL) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization founded in 1971 and headquartered in Oakland, California, with a second office in Washington, D.C. The organization provides four core service lines: (1) Legal Advocacy & Impact Litigation, bringing strategic class-action cases on behalf of children and youth across education, foster care, health, immigration, and youth justice systems; (2) Laws and Policy Advocacy at federal, state, and local levels; (3) Youth & Community Programs including the Reproductive Health Equity Project (RHEP), CSEC Action Team, and DebtFree Justice Initiative; and (4) Collaborations & Partnerships including the Education Civil Rights Alliance convening 100+ organizations. NCYL's flagship litigation is Flores v. Reno (filed 1985, settled 1997), which remains under federal court supervision and gives the organization ongoing standing to represent unaccompanied immigrant children in federal custody.

NCYL employs 51-100 staff led by Executive Director Shakti Belway, with a senior team including Co-Directors of Litigation, five Managing Directors across Children's Human Rights & Dignity, Health & Well-being, Youth Justice & Equity, Culture and Operations, and Public Affairs & Advancement, plus a former Deputy Assistant Attorney General from the DOJ Civil Rights Division managing Education & Federal Strategic Advocacy. The organization has no proprietary technology products; its core operational technology consists of a standard nonprofit website (with partial WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility compliance) and donor engagement tooling through NGP VAN/FastAction.

NCYL operates a charitable revenue model entirely funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and charitable giving programs including donor-advised funds, securities gifts, cryptocurrency donations, employer matching gifts, and planned gifts. Services are provided free of charge to beneficiaries. A disclosed $3.8 million grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation was secured in May 2022. The organization reaches beneficiaries at scale: 23,000 foster youth served through settlement monitoring in 2025, 6,600+ advocates and policymakers trained annually, $480 million in juvenile fees and fines eliminated for youth, and 1.8 million Illinois public school students protected by anti-fines-in-schools legislation.

Name

National Center For Youth Law

Legal name

National Center for Youth Law

Website

https://youthlaw.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1971

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

National Center for Youth Law is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization founded in 1971 that uses impact litigation, policy advocacy, and community programs to advance the rights of low-income and marginalized children in education, foster care, health, immigration, and youth justice systems across the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Children's Rights Legal Advocacy

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Child and Youth Services (624110)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Child Protection & Child Rights (BPAGABAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Youth Justice, At-Risk Youth & Violence Prevention Nonprofits (BPAGADAM)

Keywords

• Child welfare advocacy
• Youth legal services
• Impact litigation
• Policy advocacy
• Nonprofit legal aid

Headquarters

HQ city

Oakland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: NCYL operates as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization funded primarily through donations from individuals, foundations, and charitable giving programs including donor-advised funds, securities gifts, cryptocurrency donations, employer matching gifts, and planned gifts.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

National Center for Youth Law (NCYL) is a nonprofit legal advocacy organization that provides impact litigation, policy advocacy, and community-based programs to advance children's rights across education, foster care, health, immigration, youth justice, and commercial sexual exploitation. Services are delivered free of charge to beneficiaries and include class-action representation (e.g., Flores v. Garland, Carter v. U.S. Department of Education), federal and state legislative advocacy, coalition building, research and publications, and training for advocates and policymakers.

Product overview

National Center for Youth Law is a legal advocacy non-profit organization (not a technology product company) that provides impact litigation, policy advocacy, and community programs to advance children's rights. The organization's core offerings consist of Legal Advocacy & Impact Litigation services (representing classes of children in cases involving education, foster care, health, immigration, and youth justice), Laws and Policy Advocacy at federal/state/local levels, and Youth & Community Programs including the Reproductive Health Equity Project (RHEP), CSEC Action Team, and DebtFree Justice initiative. NCYL also maintains a Resource Library containing research, impact reports, webinars, and toolkits to assist advocates and policymakers. These services work together through collaborations with community organizations, government agencies, and school districts to drive systemic change for children and youth.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Legal Advocacy & Impact Litigation
• Laws and Policy Advocacy
• Youth & Community Programs
• Collaborations & Partnerships
• Resource Library

Quantifiable outcome

• 23,000 children impacted through foster care settlement monitoring
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ACLUcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 April 2026NCYL and ACLU filed a joint FOIA lawsuit against the Trump administration demanding transparency regarding treatment of pregnant unaccompanied immigrant youth in federal immigration custody. The lawsuit seeks records from the Office of Refugee Resettlement, Administration for Children and Families, and Department of Health and Human Services.
• New York Civil Liberties UnioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 April 2026Joint filing of FOIA lawsuit with NCYL and ACLU to demand transparency about pregnancy-related care access for unaccompanied immigrant youth in federal custody.
• National Immigration Law Center (NILC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNCYL and NILC serve together as co-counsel in LGML v. Noem, challenging the Trump administration's unlawful plan to secretly remove unaccompanied Guatemalan children from the United States.
• Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNCYL and ICAP serve together as co-counsel in LGML v. Noem challenging unlawful removal of unaccompanied Guatemalan children.
• Democracy ForwardcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNCYL and co-counsel Democracy Forward filed Diego N. v. HHS challenging the Office of Refugee Resettlement's sponsor reapplication policy that has resulted in family separations and prolonged detention.
• CALACAPminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition partner supporting California SB 531 for student mental health education expansion.
• CACFSminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition partner supporting California SB 531 for student mental health education expansion.
• NAMIminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition partner (National Alliance on Mental Illness) supporting California SB 531 for student mental health education expansion.
• TCPminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition partner supporting California SB 531 for student mental health education expansion.
• Civil Rights Project at UCLAminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in hosting webinar on California School Discipline Data Webtool; collaborated on school discipline research.
• Public JusticecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-counsel partner in E.L. v. Claps representing children and families in Right 2 Hug project to restore contact visitation between children and parents in detention.
• Civil Rights CorpscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-counsel in E.L. v. Claps under the national Right 2 Hug project.
• Singleton SchreiberminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCo-counsel partner in litigation representing children and families.
• Education Civil Rights AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNCYL convenes a diverse national alliance of organizers, educator organizations, community groups, professional associations, civil rights organizations, and government agencies committed to equitable education opportunities. Over 100 organizations participate.
• CSEC Action TeamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNCYL leads and staffs the California Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children Action Team composed of leaders across the state dedicated to turning knowledge into action.
• Reproductive Health Equity Project (RHEP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNCYL's RHEP engages youth and supportive adult partners to normalize, support, and promote bodily autonomy and healthy sexual development of youth in foster care.
• DebtFree Justice InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNCYL works with a dynamic national network of partners to organize and support state and local campaigns to end fees and fines charged to youth and families in juvenile justice systems.
• Hawai'i Foster Youth AdvocatesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNCYL worked closely with current and former foster youth in Hawai'i, as well as local advocates and service providers, to develop and advance HB900 for legal representation of foster youth.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Children's Defense Fund: National nonprofit advocating for children through policy, research, and community programs across education, child welfare, and juvenile justice. Directly comparable mission and advocacy portfolio to NCYL.
• Juvenile Law Center: Philadelphia-based nonprofit law firm focused on advancing the rights and well-being of children in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems through impact litigation and policy advocacy. Closest direct peer to NCYL on youth-justice litigation.
• National Immigration Law Center: National advocacy organization dedicated to defending and advancing the rights of immigrants, including unaccompanied children. Active co-counsel partner of NCYL in LGML v. Noem; highly comparable in immigration litigation strategy.
• Public Justice: National impact litigation organization that takes on precedent-setting cases. Co-counsel partner of NCYL in E.L. v. Claps; highly comparable operating model in public-interest impact litigation.
• National Disability Rights Network: Nonprofit membership network for the federally mandated Protection & Advocacy systems serving people with disabilities. Closely comparable model of federally backed impact litigation and monitoring on behalf of a protected population.
• National Women's Law Center: National legal and policy advocacy organization advancing gender justice, with significant work on issues affecting girls and women in education, health, and child welfare. Comparable DC-based policy-and-litigation operating model.
• Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund: National civil rights organization using litigation, advocacy, and education to protect the rights of Latinos in the U.S. Comparable impact-litigation-and-policy operating model with overlapping education and immigration portfolios.

Broad incumbents

• American Civil Liberties Union: Largest U.S. civil liberties organization, with nationwide impact litigation and lobbying across many issue areas. Active co-litigant with NCYL on FOIA matters; broader in scope but overlapping on child and immigrant rights.
• Southern Poverty Law Center: National civil rights organization using impact litigation, education, and monitoring to fight discrimination. Operates a comparable impact-litigation-and-policy model to NCYL, though with a wider adult-focused portfolio.

Emerging players

• Lambda Legal: National civil rights organization using impact litigation to advance LGBTQ+ rights. Comparable impact-litigation playbook, though narrower client base; partial overlap on youth-focused education matters.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ncylnews
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCfLhlyA6zO1b0HLLRqHH8Ww
• Facebookfacebook.com/nationalcenterforyouthlaw
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/national-center-for-youth-law
• Instagraminstagram.com/NCYLnews

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles32 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about National Center For Youth Law