Youth Law Center

What Youth Law Center does

Youth Law Center (YLC) is a 501(c)(3) national public interest law firm founded in 1978 and headquartered in San Francisco. It uses litigation, legislative and budget advocacy, training, narrative change, and movement lawyering to transform the foster care and juvenile justice systems in the United States, with operational reach spanning at least California, Tennessee, New Mexico, Minnesota, Washington, and a developing partnership footprint in Japan. YLC's core beneficiaries are system-involved children and youth (foster care and juvenile justice), their families and caregivers, and the legal aid and public agency professionals who serve them; it does not charge for services.

YLC's product surface consists of advocacy programs and supporting infrastructure rather than a unified software platform. Flagship offerings include the Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI), a 30+ year national systems-change strategy deployed across multiple U.S. states and Japan; the Pathways to Higher Education initiative (including Project Change at San Mateo County Community College District); the Just Beginning (Baby Elmo) parenting program operating in California and Ohio; the California Transition Aged Youth (TAY) Civil Legal Practice Exchange; and four interconnected advocacy pillars (Protecting Youth Rights/Ensuring Safety, Prioritizing Families and Communities, Improving Transitions to Adulthood, Resources to Power Advocacy). The supporting technology layer is a 725+ resource searchable library designated as a State Bar of California legal aid Support Center, plus standard web and CRM infrastructure (website, donation portal, BambooHR for careers).

YLC's revenue model is donation- and grant-driven, consistent with its 501(c)(3) status (Federal Tax ID 94-1715280). Revenue streams include individual donations (one-time and recurring via the website portal), foundation grants (Public Welfare Foundation, Andrus Family Fund, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Nippon Foundation, OpenAI Foundation), cy pres awards from class action litigation (YLC is an approved cy pres recipient), workplace giving campaigns (United Way), donor-advised fund grants (BNY Mellon, Fidelity Charitable, Schwab Charitable), bequests and legacy gifts, and special fundraising events (Pickle for a Purpose 2026). There is no product pricing; all beneficiary services are free.

Name

Youth Law Center

Legal name

Youth Law Center

Website

https://ylc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Youth Law Center is a 501(c)(3) national public interest law firm founded in 1978 that uses litigation, policy advocacy, and movement lawyering to transform U.S. foster care and juvenile justice systems for system-involved children, youth, and families, funded by donations, foundation grants, and cy pres awards.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Interest Legal Advocacy (Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice)

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110), Child and Youth Services (624110), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

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

Keywords

• Legal advocacy services
• Child welfare law
• Juvenile justice reform
• Foster care advocacy
• Nonprofit law firm

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: Individual and organizational donations received through the website donation portal, one-time or monthly tax-deductible contributions.
2. Cy Pres Awards: Unclaimed funds from class action lawsuits awarded to Youth Law Center as a highly regarded public interest law firm and national leader in creating better futures for children.
3. Foundation Grants: Grants from foundations including Public Welfare Foundation (IGNITING FUTURES Youth Justice Grant), Andrus Family Fund, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, and Nippon Foundation.
4. Tax-Exempt Organization Status: Youth Law Center is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization (Federal Tax ID: 94-1715280), enabling tax-deductible donations and various charitable giving mechanisms.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Youth Law Center is a national public interest law firm that delivers legal advocacy, impact litigation, policy and budget reform, training, and capacity-building services aimed at transforming U.S. foster care and juvenile justice systems. It operates named programs including the Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI), Pathways to Higher Education, the TAY Civil Legal Practice Exchange, and a searchable Resource Library serving as a State Bar of California legal aid Support Center, all provided free of charge to beneficiaries.

Product overview

The Youth Law Center is a national public interest law firm that has operated since 1978, using litigation, policy reform, budget advocacy, training, and capacity-building to transform foster care and juvenile justice systems. The organization operates several core programs and advocacy initiatives including the Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI), a national systems-change strategy focused on strengthening foster care through relationship-centered policy and practice; the Pathways to Higher Education project advocating for educational access for justice-involved youth; the Transition Aged Youth (TAY) Civil Legal Practice Exchange providing practice support for civil legal advocates; and a searchable Resource Library designated as a State Bar of California legal aid Support Center. These programs are complemented by four interconnected advocacy focus areas: Protecting Youth Rights Ensuring Safety, Prioritizing Families and Communities, Improving Transitions to Adulthood, and Resources to Power Advocacy. The organization also runs the Just Beginning parenting program for at-risk youth in facilities. Rather than a unified software platform, the Youth Law Center's offerings consist of advocacy programs, legal practice support networks, resource libraries, and policy initiatives aimed at systemic reform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI): A national systems change strategy to strengthen foster care by focusing policy, practice, and culture around relationships and excellent parenting for children.
• Pathways to Higher Education
• Transition Aged Youth (TAY) Civil Legal Practice Exchange

Products and services

• Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI) A national systems-change strategy led by Youth Law Center that focuses policy, practice, and culture around relationships and excellent parenting for children in foster care, engaging youth, families, caregivers, and agencies to transform foster care delivery.
• Pathways to Higher Education

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 40 years of advocacy leading to national reforms including ending harmful practices like incarcerating children in adult facilities, extended isolation, and shackling.
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered minor, core and flagship.

• Florida's Children FirstminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Co-hosting the 2nd Annual Pickle for a Purpose pickleball tournament in Aspen, CO, benefiting three premier foster youth charities.
• National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Co-hosting the Pickle for a Purpose 2026 event with Florida's Children First and YLC, benefiting three premier foster youth charities.
• County Welfare Directors Association of California (CWDA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 October 2025YLC co-sponsored AB 896 with CWDA, a new California law that puts youth's relationships at the center of every transition, requiring county child welfare agencies to adopt placement transition planning policies.
• QPI Japan PartnersflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Deepening collaboration with Japanese partners through October visit and U.S. learning exchange, with YLC's Carole Shauffer traveling to Japan to meet with Quality Parenting Initiative partners.
• New Mexico Immigrant Law Center (NMILC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024YLC attorney Christopher Middleton partnered with NMILC through Equal Justice Works Fellowship to clear a critical legal backlog for youth seeking Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), providing timely legal support for youth who have faced abuse, neglect, or abandonment.
• Nippon FoundationflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024The Nippon Foundation, a major social innovation organization in Japan, selected QPI as one of just three projects in North America identified as top advocacy change makers during its global tour of fact finding about foster care systems. QPI hosted a delegation from Japan in May 2024 to share learnings from three decades of advocacy to end use of institutions for infants and toddlers in foster care.
• California Alliance for Youth and CommunitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024YLC provides movement lawyering support to CA Alliance for Youth and Community partners in youth justice transformation efforts.
• Tipping Point CommunitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration between YLC and Tipping Point Community on Bay Area Youth Homelessness Initiative to provide resources and support for advocates addressing youth homelessness.
• Downey BrandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerYLC and Downey Brand joined forces to petition CPUC for modifications to increase mobile phone access for California youth in foster care, successfully removing major policy barriers.
• Institute for the Future (IFTF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIn 2024, YLC partnered with IFTF on the 'On the Threshold of Change' project to analyze forces that could transform future conditions for youth in extended foster care by 2035.
• Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian, & Ho (now Dardarian Ho Kan & Lee)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerLaw firm that named Youth Law Center as Cy Pres beneficiary, recognizing YLC as a worthy recipient for unclaimed funds from class action lawsuits.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/youthlawcenter
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/youth-law-center
• Instagraminstagram.com/youthlawcenter
• Xx.com/youthlawcenter

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Youth Law Center