about us
A Voice for Youth in Court is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Atlanta, Georgia committed to lessening the fear and anxiety youth face when they attend or testify in court.
Our organization provides resources to inform children on what to expect in the courtroom and who they will meet.
We hope to break down the complex judicial court system into simple terms, so that children understand that the courtroom is not some scary and mysterious place, rather a room full of supportive people who are there to ensure their safety.
our story
Sanjana Shah was a junior at Johns Creek High School when she founded A Voice for Youth in Court on December 30, 2023. The idea for the organization came to her a few weeks after she visited the State Capitol of Georgia for the first time. The visit was part of a day trip she was invited to go on with Student Leadership Johns Creek, a selective program for high school students passionate about fields in politics and business. She met several government officials, legislators and court judges, one of whom, Judge Rachelle Carnesale, the Superior Justice for Fulton County, who left a deep impression on her.
She felt really moved by Judge Carnesale’s accounts of the fear, anxiety and uncertainty that so many youth face as they are caught up in the judicial system for one reason or another. She felt a genuine sense of respect for her strength and resilience, because it must be mentally exhausting to have to return to her job day after day despite hearing hard stories, especially involving very young children.
Sanjana thought very long and hard about the ways in which she could help these youth. The court is a very cold, clinical and inherently adult world from a child’s perspective, magnifying the apprehension that one feels in a strange and unfamiliar place. How terrifying it must be to know that important decisions about your future are in the hands of absolute strangers?