The Youth Advocacy Center operates out of the Covenant House New Jersey shelters located in Newark and Atlantic City. The shelters serve homeless and at risk youth under the age of 21. Rooted in a mission to provide unconditional love, respect and support to young people on the street, the staff at the Center provides direct legal services and engages in policy initiatives to best serve homeless and at risk youth.

The Center opened its doors in the fall of 1997 and began its legal services work in the fall of 1998.

The attorneys at the Youth Advocacy Center primarily provide direct representation in civil matters including:

• Custody
• Child Support
• Immigration
• Public Benefits
• Housing
• Foster Care Cases

While the Center does not usually provide criminal representation, the legal staff assists clients in understanding the criminal process, clearing bench warrants and in better communicating with their court appointed public defender.

In addition to representing in-house clients, the Center is also undertaking two statewide outreach projects to represent older adolescents in the foster care system.

In one project, attorneys at the Center will represent older adolescents in care to ensure that they receive the social services to which they are entitled.

In the second outreach project, attorneys at the Center work with the Division of Youth & Family Services and the Immigration & Naturalization Service to assist adolescents in the foster care system in obtaining legal status in the United States.

The second major area of work at the Center revolves around advocacy efforts to shape public policy in a way that is beneficial to our client population. The staff successfully drafted, proposed and garnered support for the New Jersey Homeless Youth Act that became law in the fall of 1999. The Homeless Youth Act gives minors the right to seek crisis shelter without the permission of a parent or guardian.

The staff also undertook a Medicaid initiative to address the problem faced by young adults who cannot obtain medical coverage. As a result of the staff's efforts, provisions addressing the needs of such young people were included in the Governor's Family Care Bill of 2000. The staff at the Center derives its public policy initiatives from its direct service work and its interaction with our clients.

Both the direct service and the policy work are important to our staff because our efforts are directed at helping young people who have been thrown away or pushed out by their families.

Our mission is large, our challenges great, but our rewards are priceless.