Juvenile Law Center

"They’ve made a big difference for us…."

Founded in 1975, Juvenile Law Center is the oldest nonprofit, public interest law firm for children in the country and has worked in more than 35 states and internationally to advance the rights and well-being of children in the child welfare and justice systems. Through litigation, appellate advocacy and submission of amicus (friend-of-the-court) briefs, policy reform, public education, training, consulting, and strategic communications, Juvenile Law Center fights for children who come into contact with the child welfare and justice systems. Widely published and internationally recognized as leaders in the field, Juvenile Law Center has substantially shaped the development of law and policy on behalf of youth, advancing racial and economic equity and international human rights values. Its many initiatives include: keeping kids in the community to reduce referrals into the criminal justice system; fighting for procedural fairness and due process; protecting incarcerated youth; challenging harsh juvenile sentences; and promoting successful transitions to adulthood for youth in the foster care and justice systems.

Susan Vivian Mangold, Esq., came to Juvenile Law Center in October, 2015 after a distinguished career in law that included serving as a Professor and Vice Dean for Academics at the University at Buffalo School of Law. “When I was hired as the next Executive Director, I recognized that my big gap was in financial fluency,” she says, recalling the decision to bring Your Part-Time Controller on board. She assumed the leadership role the day after the organization’s founding Executive Director retired at a 40th anniversary celebration and in the midst of changes in the Center’s funding streams and organizational management.

Juvenile Law Center was starting to receive multi-year gifts, both as part of the 40th anniversary and also in the wake of the uncertainty created by the change of administration in Washington. The transition necessitated converting the organization’s financial systems to be able to post multi-year gifts under generally accepted accounting procedures.

“Our office manager was also retiring and we were looking to hire an in-house person who could bring that accounting background. But the job we needed to fill required so many different skills that it made more sense for us to hire a Director of Operations instead and to outsource the accounting,” she recalls. Several board members recommended Your Part-Time Controller, and Associate Carolyn Jester and Manager Corey Blum began working with her.

“They’ve both been excellent. I very much appreciate their services: they’ve made a big difference for us. Our board goes through the monthly statements very carefully and they feel that our financial reporting is now the way we want it to be,” she says.

“Carolyn is an integral part of our team. She is uniquely good at teaching me while she works. She and our Director of Operations have a good system in place so that Carolyn’s time with us is used efficiently. Carolyn is an absolute delight to have in our office.”