Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children (FFLIC) is a statewide membership-based organization that fights for a better life for all of Louisiana’s youth, especially those involved in or targeted by the juvenile justice system. FFLIC has participated in the monitoring of the New Orleans’s local detention center and the state’s youth prisons through its participation on the Calascieu Parish Children and Youth Planning Board. FFLIC meaningfully participates in monitoring efforts and represents one of the largest and most ambitious youth justice advocacy and peer-support organizations in the nation. With four chapters around the state, FFLIC contacts dozens of new families each month. Some come for individual advocacy support while others donate time and energy to helping others in need, even leading advocacy campaigns.
In 2003, efforts by FFLIC and the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana were pivotal in passing landmark legislation—the Juvenile Justice Reform Act (Act 1225)—which led to: (i) the closure of the state’s infamous Tallulah Correctional Center for Youth, (ii) a substantial reduction in youth incarceration, and (iii) new efforts to transform residential placements in the state. FFLIC’s work demonstrates that family-centered advocacy organizations can partner and collaborate with jurisdictions to help ensure the fair treatment of youth in juvenile justice systems.
Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children
