BayLegal’s Youth Justice Project provides disadvantaged youth and adolescents with holistic supports, services, and legal representation and by providing early identification and intervention through a collaborative partnership with community-based religious leaders. They offer legal assistance (advice and counsel, brief legal services, full representation) in the following practice areas:
Foster Care – A Contra Costa study showed that 35% of foster children are arrested at some point while in foster care. For that reason BayLegal provides expertise in foster care benefits programs and partners with the Youth Law Center and the Public Interest Law Project to provide trainings in foster care benefits to attorney and advocate organizations. BayLegal is also on the Foster Care Benefits Taskforce, a state-wide taskforce that tackles systemic barriers to benefits for foster care youth.
Health Access – Assist youth by removing barriers to healthcare coverage due to wrongful coverage suspension, termination, language barriers and more.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) – Prepare and submit SSI applications and prepare appeals for denied applications.
Education – Advocate for youth who are disenrolled from their local school when they are placed in juvenile hall, inappropriately placed in self-study programs, in need of an initial special education assessment, or lacking an appropriate and current Individualized Education Program (IEP).
Housing – File habitability claims with local housing agencies to remedy substandard housing conditions such as rodent or pest infestations, mold and other health hazards and prevent imminent homelessness.
Homeless Youth Services – Provide weekly, ongoing clinic at Oakland’s DreamCatcher Emergency Youth Shelter to assist youth with legal issues and help stabilize their housing situation.
Alameda Collaborative Courts – BayLegal acts as the Civil Advocacy Coordinator for the Alameda County Juvenile Collaborative Court. As such, BayLegal works with detained youths and their families to assess and address their civil legal needs (unrelated to the juvenile justice proceedings) in key areas including accessing health insurance or appropriate mental health treatment, unmet educational needs, low income and housing instability.
Legal Services for Children believes that children should be raised in a safe, stable and nurturing environment with equal access to meaningful education and other services that are necessary to thrive and grow. Youth deserve positive alternatives to unnecessary placement in foster care, juvenile justice facilities, and immigration detention.
Here are some ways they can help you:
If you need help because your living situation is unstable -LSC may be able to assist you with the guardianship process if you live in the counties of San Francisco and Alameda, are over the age of 12, and are not able to live with your parents or current guardians.
If you need help because you are facing expulsion from school and you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, LSC may be able to represent you at your hearing or help you find a free lawyer or advocate.
If you need help because you are undocumented- If you are under age 21 and live in Northern California, LSC can do a free legal screening with you and advise you about your legal options. If you qualify for SIJS, DACA, T Visa, or U Visa (lawful immigration relief options) and live in San Francisco county, we may be able to represent you in your case for free. We offer services in English and Spanish, and can access translators for some other languages. Call our Warmline at (415) 863-3762 to learn what legal options are available for you.
Justice At Last provides free legal services and representation to survivors of human trafficking so that they can seek justice on their own terms. We are the only independent nonprofit law firm in the San Francisco Bay Area exclusively serving the legal needs of survivors, regardless of their age, gender identity, nationality or type of trafficking. Justice At Last provides free legal representation that emphasizes dignity and is survivor-centered, culturally sensitive, trauma informed, and rights-based. Our specialization includes asserting the rights of crime victims, clearing criminal records of survivors, protecting parental rights, immigration relief and identity theft recovery.
We are still building out our resource list, with the support of youth like you! Have ideas of resources that should be here? Have feedback on the services we've listed? Please let us know.