Southern Legal Center for Youth
Now taking clients
We are so excited to welcome our new contract attorney, Faryn Christie (she/her) to our team. With Faryn's support we will be taking referrals from homeless service providers and youth-serving organizations for young people at risk of or experiencing homelessness. If you are a young person aged 12-24 who needs legal assistance or you know of young people who need our help, contact us at hi@slcy.org or call/text 404-436-0873. Learn more about Faryn here.
One of our goals is to strengthen referrals between the homelessness system and the civil legal system in Atlanta so that no young people fall through the cracks. We collaborated with partners to develop a civil legal resource and referral guide. It assists front-line staff to identify the best referral pathway for civil legal issues that arise while serving young people. The guide is organized by legal topic.
Our Mission
We support the health, safety, stability, and education of young people in the Southern United States by advancing their legal rights. SLCY's ultimate vision is that all young people in the South have their legal needs met so that they can secure housing, education, healthcare, and other benefits and resources they need.
BIPOC and LGBTQ+ young people experience homelessness, incarceration, and family separation at disproportionate rates. We believe that the law can be used as an effective tool in preventing and ending these experiences when young people can assert their voice and rights through person-centered legal representation.
ACCESSIBLE
We break down legal barriers between young people and systems by educating them on their rights and increasing access to benefits and resources.
HOLISTIC
Effective legal representation includes ensuring that a young person's basic needs are met so that they can focus on achieving their hopes and dreams.
PARTNERS
Not only do we partner with young people to navigate complex systems, we collaborate across our community to strengthen young people's access to justice.
Our Youth Homelessness Program
"Our Youth Homelessness Program uses the law as a tool to keep young people housed and prevent legal issues from snowballing to the point of causing housing instability. Every young person deserves legal representation that not only meets their immediate needs, but ensures that they can reach their full potential."
Liz Harding Chao, Founder & President, SLCY
Young people need support with resolving civil legal matters, to avoid homelessness and to obtain housing. We have monthly drop-in hours at Hope thru Soap on the Third Thursday at 1-3pm. Want to help out? We are looking for volunteer attorneys and law students who are passionate about serving young people and have experience in civil law.
We are always looking to expand our reach across the community by building relationships with organizations that serve young people experiencing homelessness and housing instability. If you're interested in partnering with us to do teach-ins to help young people learn their rights, or to start drop-in legal clinics, we would love to hear from you.
Support Justice for Youth
Funds invested in SLCY improve young people's access to safe housing, education, healthcare and benefits and our collaboration with community partners. Help us reach our goals and serve more young people by donating.
Our Partners
