I know I haven’t done Feature Friday in a really long time, but I’m planning to start again; there are so many amazing organizations and people I keep running across that I’d really like to highlight. This week, I’m going to be talking about Youth Represent.
According to the website, Youth Represent’s mission is: to ensure that young people affected by the criminal justice system are afforded every opportunity to reclaim lives of dignity, self-fulfillment, and engagement in their communities. They focus on youth aged 24 and under in New York City.
What is especially unique about Youth Represent is that they have a holistic, client-centered model of legal representation and advocacy. Not only do they provide criminal defense services for youth, but they also provide civil services that address other legal issues and needs that a young person may encounter due to their involvement in the criminal justice system. Because they define youth by age, they can represent young people both in the family and adult criminal justice systems.
Because of this unique model, Youth Represent is able to provide criminal defense but also assistance in areas like housing, education, and employment – which are often affected by a young person’s criminal accusations. Young people involved in the justice system might be denied employment or public housing, face eviction, or even suspended from school as a result. Youth Represent assigns only one attorney to each client; this attorney is able to provide enhanced representation because they address all problems, civil and criminal, that the young person faces. This is especially vital because such representation generally requires two different lawyers, and “the broad knowledge each attorney gains about their client during a criminal case enables them to be more effective advocates in other areas when a client’s criminal record is an issue and facilitates an ongoing relationship with their young clients to ensure they receive the support they need.”
Youth Represent seems to be a relatively small organization with only two staff members, but I can only hope that with this innovative methodology, they are able to expand and provide juveniles in New York with improved legal counsel. The founder, Laurie Parise, was awarded an Echoing Green fellowship in 2006 to start Youth Represent; she is also an Equal Justice Works Fellow.
We need more smart lawyers who are committed to social change, and particularly who are thinking of innovative ways to reduce the access to justice gap in criminal and civil legal services, so I’m always incredibly happy to see amazing new initiatives like this one!
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