Individual Advocacy
CCA established an on-site collaborative Teen Legal
Advocacy Clinic at Hartford Public High School in 1998, making
it one of six school-based legal services programs in the country
at that time. The premise underlying the project design is that
complex issues with a legal component often hinder teenagers from
taking advantage of the educational opportunities available to
them, and that legal interventions can make a positive difference
in their educational outcomes.
In 2007, CCA expanded its legal services to Fairfield
County, establishing a second Teen Legal Clinic office
on-site at Harding High School in Bridgeport. The CCA attorney,
through legal trainings, individual legal representation, and
systemic advocacy, supports children and youth in DCF placements
throughout Fairfield County.
Information
and History of Teen Legal Advocacy Project
As an off-shoot of its school-based legal services
program, the Teen Legal Advocacy Clinic soon began providing legal
services to youth in shelters and other community sites. Our legal
staff and law students provide legal advice and representation
to teenagers in an effort to help them solve the crises in their
lives that cause them to drop out of school. The types of cases
and questions include:
- Abuse and Neglect
What are my rights if my parents are abusive?
- Educational Rights of Homeless Students
Can I stay in the school I was in before
I moved to the shelter?
- Education/Special Education
What are my options if I’m not doing well
in school?
- Emancipation
Can I live independently from my parents?
- Immigration
Can I stay in this country legally if I don’t
have a visa?
- Legal Rights of Homeless Students
I am living in a shelter. Do I have to change
schools?
- Legal Rights of Teen Fathers
What will happen if I don’t pay child support?
- Legal Rights of Teen Mothers
How do I get a court order to get child support?
Does my school have to provide a tutor when I leave to have
my baby?
- Reproductive Health Care Rights
If I am a minor, do I need the permission
of my parent or guardian to go to a clinic?
- Running Away from Home and Truancy
Will I get locked up if I run away from home?
Can I be locked up for missing a lot of school?
- Sexual Assault
My boyfriend/girlfriend is older than me.
Is that legal? What are my rights if I was sexually assaulted?
- State and Federal Benefits
Is it true that I have to be emancipated
before I can get cash assistance? Can you help me get the benefits
that I was denied?
Systemic Advocacy
Individual cases expose systemic issues. Through
administrative and legislative advocacy, Clinic staff promote
changes to policies and practices that will benefit the largest
number of teens, including:
- legal rights of teens in shelters,
group homes, and residential facilities
- education services to pregnant students
throughout the school system
- services to abused and neglected teens
through various state agencies including DCF, DMHAS, and DMR
Training
The Teen Legal Advocacy Clinic provides trainings
for teens and professionals working with teens throughout the
state. These trainings help them recognize and respond appropriately
to legal issues affecting teens. Trainings topics include statutory
rape, the legal rights of teens in foster care, the legal rights
of teens in group placements, changes in welfare law, educational
rights of homeless children and youth, and immigration laws affecting
teens.
Publications
Brochures and other written information are available
for teens who may be reluctant to meet with an attorney. These
materials address many of the legal issues teens may have questions
about. Topics include:
Video and Book Packages for Youth:
-
I Will Speak Up for Myself: Legal
Rights of Youth Living in Shelters, Group Homes, STAR Homes
or Residential Treatment Facilities.
This important new book, created by CCA
and distributed by DCF to youth in shelters, group homes,
STAR homes or residential treatment facilities, answers many
of the questions these youth may have about their living situations
and their legal rights. The book is available with a new DVD
that teaches and motivates youth to advocate for themselves
and speak up to get the services they need.
-
I Will Speak Up for Myself: Your Legal Rights
in Foster Care
"I Will Speak Up for Myself" answers children's questions
about the tangle of legal issues facing them in the foster
care system in Connecticut. In the video, foster children
in the care of the Department of Children and Families talk
about their experiences to teach and empower other foster
children to speak up for the services and help they need.
The video is part of an package for all children in foster
care. The Legal Rights Question and Answer book includes many
of the issues that children in foster care may have questions
about. The book includes appropriate legal citations for attorneys
and advocates. The book and DVD set are packaged in a backpack,
and includes an "Important Information" card to allow children
to keep important contact names and phone numbers.
-
Who Will Speak for Me?
An important short film from the Center for Children's Advocacy,
"Who Will Speak for Me?" represents the children
caught in the child protection system. The video asks children
to tell us how we might best provide legal representation
to them, and presents their views and suggestions to enable
us to better the level of services we provide. This video
is an important learning tool for all attorneys who represent
children, and is available with printed resource materials.
(2001)
Resources
Success Stories
Shantel
Shantel's case began as an educational case. However, it quickly
became clear that she needed much more advocacy in order to change
the course of her young life. As a mentally retarded 18 year old,
with little to no family or community support, Shantel needed
advocacy on several different fronts. These included assistance
with applying for, and appealing an improper denial of, Supplemental
Security Income, and assistance in accessing services from the
Connecticut Department of Mental Retardation. In addition, the
Center also helped her to apply for, and appeal an improper delay
in the receipt of cash benefits from the Connecticut Department
of Social Services as well as advocated for her rights to educational
stability as a homeless student under the federal McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance Act.
Faced with her mental disability and the debilitating
effects of domestic violence, Shantel's life was in crisis when
we met her. She did not know how to navigate the many bureaucracies
involved in her life to effectuate her legal rights. She was also
moving from shelter to shelter on a frequent basis, which made
it difficult for her to manage her day-to-day living.
Through the Legal Clinic's aggressive advocacy,
the Director ensured that Shantel was able to remain at Hartford
Public High School, and receive transportation to and from school,
while she moved around from shelter to shelter. The Legal Clinic
successfully advocated for an appropriate vocational educational
program by filing for a hearing at the State Department of Education.
The result of which was a settlement agreement for a private program
to work with her on a 1:1 basis. Through the Clinic's administrative
advocacy, the Director also navigated her stalled application
for cash benefits before it was officially denied at the Department
of Social Services, thus avoiding the further delay of a hearing
and getting the benefits for she and her family sooner. Lastly,
the Clinic is addressing her long-term financial needs by sheparding
the reversal of an improper denial of assistance from the Social
Security Administration to ensure that Shantel's disability-based
entitlement to cash assistance is met.
Tamara:
Tamara was referred to the Teen Legal Advocacy Clinic by a social
worker at Hartford Public High School. The social worker referred
her to the Clinic because Tamara had been living in a temporary
shelter under the care of the Department of Children and Families
(DCF) for four months. The social worker was especially concerned
that Tamara was going to run away due to the length of time she
had been waiting for an appropriate placement, the untenable conditions
in the shelter, and the lack of responsiveness from her DCF worker.
The Legal Clinic Director met with Tamara and immediately began
advocating for her legal rights.
First, the Legal Clinic began by calling up the
chain of command at DCF to administratively advocate that Tamara
be placed in an appropriate placement. Because of the Clinic's
experience with other youth who had overstayed in shelters under
the care of DCF, the Director was very much aware that shelter
stays were intended to be no more than 45 days. The Director worked
closely with DCF Central Office staff to make them aware of Tamara's
length of stay, and to monitor efforts being made at the regional
office to find an appropriate placement.
Next, the Legal Clinic worked closely with Tamara's
court-appointed lawyer to provide technical assistance on matters
including the conditions at the shelter and enforcing Tamara's
right to educational stability under the federal McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance Act. Concerns at the shelter included inappropriate
treatment by staff members, unduly restrictive rules, and lack
of follow-up for appropriate health care. With the Clinic's assistance,
Tamara's lawyer became aware of these issues and of her legal
rights. She then used this information to advocate for Tamara
in Juvenile Court.
Lastly, the Clinic addressed the systemic concern
by proposing legislation to address the problem of overstays in
youth emergency placements on a statewide level. The Director
wrote a bill which would have limited the length of stay for youth
in such placements, provided court oversight when overstays occurred,
and created a task force to study the problem. Tamara herself
testified at the hearing saying, "It wasn't my fault that I had
to live in a shelter, so I didn't understand why people were treating
me this way. I wish that I would have been treated like a normal
person who has feelings." Although the legislation did not pass,
it was an important tool for raising awareness of the plight of
youth such as Tamara and the need for further reform.
For more information about the
Teen Legal Advocacy Clinic, contact:
TLAC Greater Hartford Area (office in Hartford
Public High School)
