Post on 04-Jul-2018
transcript
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