Legal Counsel for Youth and Children

CHILD WELFARE:LCYC has supported youth with child welfare matters since our founding in 2010. LCYC's low caseloads, and youth centered service model positively affects the lives of the children we serve. LCYC provides proactive advocacy around issues like placement, family visitation, permanency planning, education, medical and mental health services. LCYC provides proactive advocacy, engaging with children, caregivers, schools, family, services providers, and other community supports. We strive not only to meet the immediate basic needs and rights of the child, but we look towards the future. We follow the child's stated goals, build support around these goals, and help our youth clients to realize long-term stability, positive connections, and school success. In addition to low caseloads, LCYC's model is grounded in a strong community of practice. LCYC is raising awareness of children's legal rights and the role of counsel in protecting and advocating for young people. Our unique position in this positive movement forward is through the example we set in our advocacy, the trainings we help plan and provide for children's attorneys around the state, and the data we collect and share regarding legal services and results.

JUVENILE COURT. LCYC provides holistic legal advocacy to youth in King County with juvenile court matters, ranging from misdemeanors to felonies, as assigned by the King County Department of Public Defense. We also represent youth in other juvenile court matters including At Risk Youth (ARY) and Child In Need of Services (CHINS). LCYC advises and addresses the specific charges against the youth, while also offering advocacy around issues such as homelessness, special education, school discipline, access to benefits, and safety at home. In addition, LCYC is one of several legal service entities that provides on-call legal advice to youth who are placed under arrest, before they waive their right to silence. This service, Youth Access to Counsel, is offered through the Washington State Office of Public Defense.

YOUTH HOMELESSNESS PROGRAM:LCYC's Youth Homelessness Program (YHP) provides free legal services to youth who are at risk of or are currently experiencing homelessness, helping them to maintain and/or secure stable housing. This program serves people 12-24 years old and experiencing or at risk of homelessness in communities across Washington State. Services provided may include legal advice, mediation or negotiation, and in-court advocacy. We are able to assist with a number of civil legal issues including, but not limited to: child protective services, emancipation, gender marker and name changes, identity theft, landlord/tenant issues, public benefits, consumer and medical debt, family law, warrants, immigration, and orders of protection. An independent evaluation conducted by MEMconsultants LLC found that "LCYC's legal advocacy had an immediate, positive impact on clients...65% clients reported safe and stable housing after working with an LCYC attorney, compared to 39% at intake. LCYC advocacy improved housing stability for 70% of minors served." LCYC works with community partners to provide multidisciplinary support to minors through a model called the Youth Engagement Team, which provides holistic support through legal services, housing navigation, and behavioral health services.

SYSTEMIC ADVOCACY:LCYC's direct services in communities across Washington state informs our systemic advocacy and allows us to identify gaps in policies, practices, and procedures at the statewide level. LCYC is uniquely situated to provide input on system-wide issues impacting young people because of our exclusive focus on children, youth, & young adults' rights & legal interests across multiple systems. LCYC adds our unique legal services lens to advocacy efforts through the following tools: * Coalition work: partnering with community-based organizations-including those whose advocacy is driven by youth advocates with lived expertise-to identify systemic issues impacting young people *State and local legislative advocacy: reviewing bill language & providing technical assistance on draft bills, sending letters & emails to bill sponsors & committee members, testifying in public hearings, drafting & signing-on to advocacy letters, & engaging in legislative implementation work, and *Administrative advocacy: hold public agencies accountable for implementation rooted in best-practices and ensure policies & practices appropriately meet the needs of young people. LCYC prioritizes issues that are directly connected to the experiences of young people represented by LCYC through our legal service focus areas, focused on diversifying the legal services professional community working with young people, have been raised or confirmed by young people and/or external partners who support young people, and/or elevated by pairs of internal teams of experts who have a range of relevant professional & personal experiences, including people of color & LGBTQIA+ people.

YOUTH AND FAMILY IMMIGRATION:In late 2016, LCYC developed a safety plan for parents who are at risk of being picked up or deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The Safety Plan is a set of documents and steps for parents to complete, so that if they are picked up by ICE there is a plan in place for their child. The Safety Plan is intended to reduce the inevitable trauma of separation by providing children with as much stability as possible and avoiding unnecessary involvement in the child welfare system or prolonged separation from their parents. This plan is regularly updated. In addition to the Safety Plan, LCYC provides direct legal services to immigrant youth. The majority of immigrant youth receiving services from LCYC qualify for a unique form of immigration relief called, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS). Youth up to 21 years may be eligible for SIJS if a state court determines that the youth was abused, neglected, or abandoned by their parent(s) and that it is unsafe for the youth to return to their country of origin. LCYC partners with Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP) to support youth seeking SIJS. Youth seeking SIJS need help navigating two different legal systems. First, the youth needs an attorney to go to state court for an SIJS eligibility order. Second, the youth needs an attorney to help them apply to the federal government for SIJS. LCYC has expertise in state court to handle the first step. NWIRP and other legal aid providers have expertise in navigating the second step. LCYC also provides direct legal representation to youth whose parents have been placed into custody by ICE.

PRO BONO. LCYC's Pro Bono Program expands LCYC's capacity to serve young people and advance our mission with the support of volunteer attorneys and community members. Volunteers primarily assist with LCYC's immigrant youth and youth homelessness programs. Volunteer attorneys provide pro bono legal representation and legal expertise. Other volunteer opportunities for non-attorneys include research, language interpretation/translation, creation of legal literacy materials, and development of content for LCYC's blog and social media. Through Pro Bono, LCYC can increase the number of youth served, extend the organization's geographic reach, and strengthen our programs.