Casey Trupin Children and Youth Project Columbia Legal Services

ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty

Homeless Youth: Collaborations Between Service Providers and Lawyers

Subpopulations/Clusters

• Sexually exploited youth • Youth with disabilities (mental health) • Former juvenile justice and foster care youth • Pregnant and parenting youth • LGBTQ youth • Immigrant youth • Youth of color • Forced out youth • Victims of abuse

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Legal Needs of Homeless Youth

• Dependency • Paternity • Custody • Education • Disability • Homelessness • Immigration • Emancipation • Foster Care

• Status Offender • Truancy • Access to Benefits • Guardianship • Employment • Runaway • Civil Rights • Criminal Law

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PROTECTING YOUTH LEGAL RIGHTS Approaches to providing

legal services

• Traditional legal services model

• Program of service provider

• Co-located with service provider

• School-based legal clinic • Pro-bono program • Overlap with child welfare • Manuals • Systemic Advocacy

Campaign

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Traditional Legal Services Model

• Legal Aid or Legal Services programs – federally funded to offer low-

income, poverty populations free legal representation

• Sometimes have priorities for children & youth issues

• Often have little expertise with homeless youth services or unique issues

• Models: – Rotating ‘outreach time’ to local

homeless youth agencies (shelters, drop-in centers, or transitional housing programs)

– Providing on-going training curriculum (lawyer question and answer period)

• Possible conflicts – Lawyer holds information

confidential from agency and may represent the youth in complaints against the agency

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Legal Services Co-Located with Service Provider

Street Youth Legal Advocates of Washington (SYLAW) • Developed out of law school

and legal services to do outreach and representation for youth 12-24 on civil issues.

• Developed around theory that legal services MUST reach out to youth.

• Was located at YouthCare but with drop-ins at other locations.

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Legal services in a school-based legal clinic

Teen Legal Advocacy Clinic (TLAC) (Hartford & Bridgeport, Conn) Center for Children's

Advocacy, Inc. (non-profit organization affiliated with the University of Connecticut School of Law)

Holmes Elementary School (Liberty City, Florida) Legal Services of

Greater Miami, Inc. (LSGMI) and the Legal Aid Society of the Dade County Bar Association

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Legal Program of Service Provider

Covenant House New York • Direct civil legal services

to residents of the homeless shelters – represents and youth

between the ages of 15 and 21

• Issue areas – Family & Juvenile,

Housing, Immigration & Naturalization, Public Benefit

• Similar model: - Law Project of Chicago

Coalition for the Homeless

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Law School Clinic – Specialization and

Student Lawyer Outreach

• Law schools (whether at a public university or private college) often have ‘clinic’ programs to offer ‘real case experience’ to law students

• Clinics can specialize in a Youth Legal Rights seminar, initiative, or

center • Student lawyers

supervised by licensed attorneys/professors

• Ex: University of Minnesota, University of WA

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Legal Services Related To Homeless Youth and

Foster Care/Extended Foster Care

Aging Out of Care/Pro Bono • LFI – Lawyers Fostering

Independence (King County, WA) • Assists youth aging out of foster

care/aged out of foster care on civil issues outside of their dependency cases.

• Originally grew out of ABA initiative for youth aging out of foster care.

• Focused on using pro bono attorneys in their areas of expertise.

Homeless / Entry into Extended Foster Care • Alameda County AB 12 Homeless

Youth Demonstration Project • Provides civil legal advocacy,

case management and coordination

1) locates, shelters, and stabilizes youth; 2) develops multiple access points to facilitate

services; 3) provides civil advocacy to help youth achieve

permanency, stabilization and independence or take advantage of foster care under extended foster care; and

4) collects and analyzes data.

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Homeless Youth and the Law Manuals

Online manuals created by lawyers to ensure that service providers and others know what the laws are for homeless youth. • Baker and McKenzie Law Firm • Washington’s manual done in conjunction

with Starbucks and Columbia Legal Services.

• Minnesota: Ecolab and Southern Minn. Legal Services

• Illinois: United Airlines and Law Project of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless

See www.homelessyouth.org

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PROTECTING YOUTH LEGAL RIGHTS Through Systemic Advocacy

Through Laws or Policies… Look to Model State Statutes State Runaway & Homeless

Youth Act Foster Care to 21 (Fostering

Connections) Local Right to Shelter Protection Orders

Through Changes to Ease Access to Benefits… Health Care Food Stamps, Medicaid, &

Income Support Bundled application process

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Resources of NLCHP

National Law Center has legal resources related to

children and youth experiencing homelessness at http://www.nlchp.org/youth_resources

Including “Alone without a Home”

report reviews the state of current law in 12 key issue areas that affect the lives and future prospects of unaccompanied homeless youth in all 50 U.S. states and 6 territories

Also: • Education of Homeless Children and Youth

A Guide to Their Rights • McKinney-Vento FAQs • McKinney-Vento School Legal Checklist • McKinney-Vento Dispute Resolution

Procedures • Homeless Education Advocacy Manual -

Disaster Edition

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SYSTEMIC ADVOCACY More than direct representation

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• Enact laws or local policies • Create changes to ease Access to

Benefits • Reform Child Welfare System • Improve Quality of Existing Services • Create Statewide Advocacy Systems

PROTECTING YOUTH LEGAL RIGHTS Through Systemic Advocacy

• Through Reform of the Systems… – McKinney-Vento Reform – Access to Family Preservation

Services – Transition Planning from Foster

Care & Juvenile Justice – Chafee Program/Access to

Housing – Juvenile Justice Re-entry program

• Through Improvement of Existing Services… – Collaborative Setting of Ethics,

Standards, Evaluation/Outcomes – Culturally Competent Training – Target Gaps in Services (locally,

regionally) • GIS Mapping?

– Coordinated Outreach – Focus on Schools

– Data Collection & Common Outcome Measures

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Example: McKinney-Vento Systemic Advocacy

• McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act – Goals – Eligibility – Role of Homeless

Liaisons – Key Provisions – Dispute Resolution

– Common Subjects of Litigation

– Best Practices

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McKinney-Vento Systemic Advocacy

• Education & outreach • Individual school, district, &

state policies & procedures • Individual representation • Impact litigation

• Federal policy • Appropriations • Ex: Law Center’s Pro Bono

Education Consortium

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Runaway and Homeless Youth and the Law:

Model State Statutes (2009)

• Statutory Reforms – focus on State Law

• New laws to benefit youth • Easy access to best thoughts

& theories by leading legal experts & agencies in the field

• Peer reviewed • Encourage legislative advocacy & law reforms

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Model State Statutes

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• Collected by a list of experts from around the country – lawyers, professors, & program directors

• Met for two days to discuss, debate, & revise model state statutes

• Drafted model statutes & received peer reviews

• Published book • Ongoing training to bar &

technical assistance to advocacy coalitions

Systemic Changes

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• Enact laws or local policies – State Runaway and Homeless Youth Act

• Define population • Create spectrum of services to support • Outline dedicated local funding stream

– Foster care services up to age 21 – States opt in – Local right to shelter (cold weather rule)

• Create changes to Ease Access to Benefits – Is there ease of access to health care – Ease of access to food stamps, medicaid, and income support

(bundle in application process)

Systemic Changes – Lawyers Involved

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• Reform Child Welfare System – Ease of access to family preservation services – Discharge planning from foster care & juvenile justice – Chafee program allows access to housing – Juvenile Justice system has re-entry program

• Improve Quality of Existing Services – Local collaborative setting code of ethics, standards, coordinating

services, and evaluating outcomes – Training of staff to be culturally competent – Identify gaps in local spectrum of services – target toward typology – Coordinated outreach – focus on schools – Data Collection – HMIS – common outcome measures

Systemic Change – Lawyers Involved

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• Create Statewide Advocacy Systems – 10 year plan that includes youth goals – State Coalition focused on legislation and

administrative agencies – Local HUD Continuum of Care process funds

youth housing

National Resources

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• ABA Center on Children and the Law

www.abanet.org/child • ABA Commission on Homelessness

and Poverty www.abanet.org/homeless • ABA Commission on Youth at Risk www.abanet.org/youthatrisk • National Runaway Switchboard http://www.1800runaway.org

• National Alliance to End Homelessness www.endhomelessness.org

• National Coalition for the Homeless www.nationalhomeless.org • National Law Center on Homelessness

and Poverty www.nlchp.org • National Association of the Education of

Homeless Children and Youth www.naehcy.org

• National Network for Youth

www.NN4Youth.org

Sources

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• Runaway and Homeless Youth and the Law: Model State Statutes

• Educating Children Without Housing: A Primer on Legal Requirements and Implementation Strategies for Educators, Advocates and Policymakers, Third Edition (ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty)