Litigation As One of Democracy’s Most Powerful Tools for Defending Children’s Rights

The rights and well-being of children are under attack across the nation, from federal changes impacting the funding for their schools to state and municipal actions threatening their health.

Building on lessons from our Fall 2025 Member Meeting & Alabama Learning Tour, and lessons on the role of legal advocacy and litigation in the civil rights movement which played out in Montgomery and Alabama with wide reaching impact for the nation, join us for this “Ask the Expert” discussion with the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL) on the role of strategic litigation in protecting the rights of children, families and communities across the country, and what we can learn from the past to respond in the present.

For over 50 years, National Center for Youth Law (NCYL) has used strategic litigation as a key part of its approach to creating a future where every child can thrive, and transforming the systems that impact the lives of children, from the child welfare system to the juvenile justice system to public schools and to how unaccompanied children are treated in government custody.

Now, in this moment, NCYL’s deep litigation expertise across children’s issue areas is more important than ever.  Across the country, NCYL is using the power of litigation to safeguard the rights and dreams of millions of children, so that every child – no matter their race, family background, gender identity, or immigration status — has the freedom, support, and power to thrive.

On October 31, were joined by Shakti Belway, Executive Director of the National Center for Youth Law. During her career, Shakti has worked in human rights advocacy, as a civil rights attorney, policy reformer and litigator, as an educator, and as a child and youth advocate.

This year alone, NCYL has vigorously fought to secure, protect, and advance the rights of children across sectors including: defending the rights of children separated from their families and held in inhumane conditions at federal immigration detention centers and filing an amicus brief to prevent migrant toddlers from having to defend themselves in court; suing the Department of Education for its gutting of the Office of Civil Rights, which protects children from discrimination in their school; and fighting in federal court to make sure students with disabilities are not forced into shortened school days based on their disability, and instead allowed to attend school for full days like other children.

Drawing on lessons from that work, funders will leave with a better understanding of legal strategies fit into broader change strategies across these different systems, and how litigation could be a part of the portfolio of change they are trying to make.

Recording Access: ECFC members login to view recording and slide deck, or contact Rena Large or Krystal Ivery for assistance.