Advocating for Vulnerable Youth

I am drawn to causes that create more and better opportunities — whether for children who deserve improved circumstances in foster care or for individuals and children who have the opportunity to live and thrive in the U.S., especially when returning to their home country is no longer a safe or viable option.

While many dedicated people work in state youth services programs, foster care is often not prioritized by government at any level because very few youth in foster care vote. Pro bono counsel can help ensure government programs provide needed services in a fair and appropriate way.

We had a client, a middle school-aged girl in New York City, who, due to administrative inefficiencies at the Office of Children and Family Services, spent several months at a time in between foster homes with terrible conditions. At times, she wasn’t even allowed to attend school. She’s a brilliant girl — she was admitted to one of the most selective public high schools in the U.S. — but the inadequacies of the system made her already-difficult personal circumstances even worse. Listening to her story made me think: This needs to be addressed now.

When I’m talking to other attorneys about getting involved in this work, I ask them to think about the opportunities that life has presented to them and their family and what it would be like to give that to others. Helping vulnerable youth exercise their rights, such as education and paid work under good conditions, makes an enormous difference in their future and the future of their families.