Youth Outreach Project
Legal Aid Society of San Diego - 040003
Abstract Number: 040003
January 2004
Legal Aid Society of San Diego's (LASSD) Pro Bono Program launched the Youth Outreach Project (YOP) to deliver legal services to emancipated youth and youth who are aging out of the foster care system in San Diego County. LASSD created this project in order to address the critical legal needs of foster youth who face tremendous barriers to self-sufficiency upon leaving the foster care system. These barriers have resulted in extreme rates of homelessness and unemployment among these youth. The Youth Outreach Project is coordinated by an Equal Justice Works fellow and has received substantial support from Morrison & Foerster, LLP and attorneys who volunteer through LASSD's Pro Bono Program.
Upon launching the YOP, the project coordinator dedicated a substantial amount of time to building a strong referral network and informing service providers and potential clients about the availability of legal assistance. To accomplish these outreach goals, the project coordinator regularly visits and holds open clinics in locations frequented by foster teens such as teen drop-in centers and independent living classes that help foster youth transition to independence. In addition to the project coordinator, three to four pro bono attorneys also provide legal assistance at the clinics. The project coordinator also offers trainings to service providers, and in doing so, attempts to reach as many clients as possible either through direct outreach to clients or through networking with a potential client's service provider.
After establishing a strong referral network and conducting initial outreach, the project coordinator received a tremendous number of word of mouth referrals from clients in need of assistance. The YOP's clients typically range in age between 16 and 25 and have a wide assortment of legal problems. In particular, YOP's clients have requested assistance in resolving a number of housing, consumer fraud, and identity theft issues. In dealing with a wide assortment of issues, this projects benefits tremendously from its partnership with private attorneys from Morrison & Foerster and LASSD's Pro Bono Program as it allows the project coordinator to refer cases to specialists in private practice. In addition, the project coordinator can also refer cases or draw upon in-house expertise from LASSD's housing unit, family law unit, welfare unit, and consumer law unit.
The YOP's success has led the Children's Aid Society in New York City to begin to take steps to replicate the project. To learn more about this project, access LASSD's "Youth Outreach Program" information sheet below as a PDF document as well as an article that recently appeared on the Youth Outreach Project in the San Diego Union Tribune.
Contact Information:
Michele Benedetto
Legal Aid Society of San Diego, Inc.
Pro Bono Program
1475 Sixth Avenue, Fourth Floor
San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: (619) 471-2606
Fax: (619) 263-5750
micheleb@lassd.org
Additional Information:
Updated 2008
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