Established in January 2013, the Delores Barr Weaver Policy Center is the outgrowth of the Justice For Girls Reform Movement that began more than 20 years ago. As a national model for a girl-centered approach to juvenile justice reform, the Policy Center advocates for policies and practices that best support the complex needs of girls especially those impacted by the juvenile justice.
The Policy Center is a resource for research, model programming and advocacy. The Policy Center uses political science strategies that integrate the lived experiences of girls in the juvenile justice system. The advocacy platform addresses the policies, processes and practices that result in disparate treatment of girls. The core services of the Policy Center are grounded in rigorous research initiatives to inform the advocacy platform, training and technical assistance, and the development and implementation of direct service model programming along the continuum to provide prevention, court diversion, treatment, and residential and re-entry services for girls, young women, and those that identify as female, in the juvenile justice system.