Hannah Benton Eidsath

Hannah Benton Eidsath is a staff attorney specializing in juvenile justice reform. At NCYL, Eidsath works primarily on dismantling the “school-to-prison-pipeline” through improving children’s access to appropriate educational interventions to prevent court involvement. Eidsath’s work particularly focuses on reducing the disparate entry of youth of color into the juvenile justice system and looks at how unconscious bias can perpetuate inequity. Eidsath’s work at NCYL includes litigation, administrative complaints, collaborative reform projects, and policy advocacy. Prior to joining NCYL, she was a staff attorney and an Equal Justice America fellow at the Center for Children’s Advocacy (CCA) in Hartford, CT, where she represented clients in obtaining educational and mental health services to mitigate juvenile delinquency involvement. At CCA, Eidsath also worked on behalf of children in the juvenile and criminal justice systems to increase system-wide access to diversionary programs, appropriate treatment services and effective re-entry planning. Eidsath has been counsel on several successful class administrative complaints resulting in improved educational services for children with disabilities, particularly children with behavioral and mental health disabilities. Eidsath led a coalition in securing passage of Connecticut legislation to require immediate readmission to public school for students returning to the community from state juvenile or criminal justice placements. Eidsath graduated from Yale Law School and the University of Chicago.