CPLI was established in 2012 to reform laws, policies and practices that contribute to the criminalization of children in Indiana. It is one of 60 organizations in 43 states that belong to the National Youth Justice Network (NYJN). The NYJN leads a movement of state-based advocacy groups working toward a fairer youth justice system.

The Children’s Policy and Law Initiative seeks to eliminate the excessive criminalization of children and achieve a more just, equitable, and age-appropriate public policy approach for children. CPLI engages in public policy advocacy that includes: preventing children’s entry into the juvenile and criminal justice systems, and the inequitable treatment of children of color, including the over-use of exclusionary practices in school and school-based arrests and referrals to juvenile court; reforming laws, policies, and practices that embody punitive approaches or criminalization of children; increasing the use of research-based alternatives and community-based options for children; and ensuring the fair, equitable, just and age-appropriate treatment of court-involved children.

CPLI 2026 Topgolf Fundraiser

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