COLLABORATION HELPS COURT-INVOLVED YOUTH OVERCOME LEGAL BARRIERS

Chris, a participant in CASES' Court Employment Project, had lived in a New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) property with his family his entire life. Because of his arrest, NYCHA gave his parents an unthinkable choice of either permanently excluding their seventeen-year-old son from their home, or having the entire family evicted. Upon learning about Chris's situation, CASES contacted Youth Represent, a nonprofit that represents youth facing collateral problems stemming from their court-involvement.

Youth Represent attorneys agreed to represent Chris, meeting with CASES staff regularly for updates on his progress and gathering evidence showing how hard he was working in the program. They were able to utilize this first-hand knowledge to successfully advocate for his family in the eviction hearing. While continuing to reside at home with his family, Chris successfully completed his court mandate, started working as an intern at Youth Represent and enrolled in college.

Laurie Parise, Executive Director of Youth Represent, characterizes the partnership as extraordinarily successful "because we work together with CASES' social workers, court representatives and employment staff to help CASES participants understand the collateral consequences of court-involvement and face those challenges head on."