Our Projects
In 2017, 71% of low-income American households experienced at least one civil legal problem, including problems with health care, housing conditions, disability access, benefits, and domestic violence. 86% of these problems received inadequate or no legal help. There are no data on civil legal issues and youth and young adults' in Georgia. We want to change this. Data can bring more visibility and with more visibility comes more access. Ultimately, we want young people to know where they can turn to when they have a civil legal issue, and to work in coordination with our partners to provide supportive, person-centered legal representation.
We work with youth-serving organizations in Atlanta to ensure young people experiencing homelessness have access to civil legal support before legal issues affect their housing, education, health, and stability.
Common civil legal issues include:
Gender marker and name changes
Public benefits
Landlord/tenant issues
Evictions
Immigration
Court fees and fines
Emancipation
Education
Expungement
Consumer and medical debt
Identity theft
Warrant searches
Youth Homelessness Program
Housing is essential so that young people can continue their education, stay healthy (mentally and physically), and thrive.
We partner with Atlanta-area youth homelessness service providers and local volunteer attorneys to provide drop-in civil legal support to unaccompanied young people experiencing homelessness or housing instability. Oftentimes when a legal issue arises, young people don't know where to turn, or they simply don't have any support. We work to prevent legal issues from negatively affecting young people's housing, health, and education.
Our drop-in clinics can be general - helping young people deal with any civil legal issues that they are facing. Or we can run clinics around specific topics that young people have identified, including: expungement, domestic violence, warrant searches, gender marker and name changes, landlord/tenant issues and immigration.
Legal Resource Guide
We are compiling a legal resource and referral bank for housing, domestic violence, the criminal legal system, and education, so that young people with legal issues know where they can turn for support. There are many resources available in Atlanta and Georgia and we want to make sure young people have the best available information so that they can quickly resolve their legal issues.
Know Your Rights Workshops
We have heard from young people that they want to learn more about the law and their rights so they can be in a more powerful position when confronted with legal issues. Being evicted, having your identity stolen, and not being able to find housing because you have a previous criminal conviction is scary. We want young people to be prepared. When they know their rights, young people can make more informed decisions and are less likely to be taken advantage of by older adults, landlords, school officials, law enforcement, and others.