CHILDREN & YOUTH
Your support advances the legal rights of children and youth, empowering them to lead healthy and productive lives. We provide free legal assistance and advocacy to support children and youth who are involved in the foster care system, who need probate guardianships, who are facing education challenges, and so much more.
Safety and Racial Equity in Our Schools
Police presence in schools disproportionately impacts students of color and students with disabilities. The Law Foundation joined advocates from the San José Unified Equity Coalition to end police presence across the San José Unified School District and create a safer school environment for every student.
Although the school district originally voted to end its contract with the San José Police Department, it ultimately decided to bring back police officers as needed for special events. The Law Foundation and the San José Unified Equity Coalition continue to work towards creating safe school environments where support services are prioritized above punitive measures—a place where every student, regardless of race, gender identity, or ability, can truly thrive. Learn more about these efforts in this video.
Supporting Young People With Gender-Affirming Services
The Law Foundation, through its Medical Legal Partnership with the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, partners with pro bono attorneys to support transgender youth seeking to get their name and gender marker changed on their legal identification documents. Identity documents are an important part of daily life—working, voting, traveling, accessing government institutions, and proving who you are. Having an ID that reflects your gender presentation is especially important to minimize confusion and harassment when having to show ID.
In January 2023, the Law Foundation’s Medical Legal Partnership received a Health Equity Transformation Award in the Social Determinants of Health category. The Partnership was one of four honorees bestowed with a Health Transformation award. Santa Clara Valley Medical Center hosted these awards as part of honoring the National Day of Racial Healing.
Supporting Immigrant Youth Who Cannot be Reunited with Their Parents
Our Children & Youth program works with immigrant youth classified as having Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS). Immigrant children who cannot reunify with their parents due to abuse, abandonment, or neglect, and who meet certain other criteria, are able to seek SIJS to obtain lawful permanent residency. In recent years, a backlog at the federal level has left many SIJS-eligible youth in limbo without the ability to obtain their green cards, and in fear of deportation.
Although these children have been approved to receive permanent legal status, there are caps on the number of green cards that can be issued per country, mostly affecting youth from Latin America. The Law Foundation has joined national advocacy efforts to address this problem as members of the End SIJS Backlog campaign. In April of 2022, these efforts succeeded in getting a new federal rule in place. SIJS youth who are unable to apply for their green card due to the backlog are now given four years of protection from deportation and can move forward with applying for a work permit. This change gives vulnerable youth the chance to build a safe and strong future for themselves that might not otherwise be possible.
