Youth Represent's mission is to ensure that young people affected by the criminal justice system are afforded every opportunity to reclaim lives of dignity, self-fulfillment, and engagement in their community. We represent all youth age 24 and under and provide representation in criminal and family court as well as civil legal representation when a client is denied employment suspended from school, excluded from or denied public housing, or threatened with eviction due to court involvement.

Crime & Law , Inmate Support

In 2017, youth represent unveiled new programs, secured crucial protections for justice-involved teens, and expanded our reach in exciting new ways. We launched the criminal record hub, which provides record review and repair services to immigrant youth seeking protected status the pathway project, which provides culturally competent legal representation to lgbtq and gender non-conforming youth and the fair chance act project, which combats employment discrimination against system-involved youth. 2017 also saw the passage of landmark legislation that raised the age of criminal responsibility in new york state from 16- to 18-years old for most cases. We are proud of the lead role we played in advocating for this important change, and we are dedicated to ensuring it is implemented fairly. We also brought our positive youth development lawyering model to hartford, ct new orleans, la and baltimore, md through our youth reentry fellows, sponsored by one of our long-time workforce development partners who has sites in those three cities.