The movement of the EdLaw attorneys into CPCS has allowed YAF to focus on the next generation of school-to-prison pipeline disruption initiatives including providing social
service support for our education clients, assisting our clients facing emergency needs that are interfering with their ability to succeed in school, funding legal and technology tools as
well as paralegal and intake support for the EdLaw attorneys, and attacking the racial, class and ethnic disparities we see in education, family regulation, policing, and the judicial and
youth detention systems.
Children and youth who are given a meaningful opportunity to succeed in school are overwhelmingly likely to go to college and/or into the work force. Equitable education for all leads to a substantial reduction in the number of people imprisoned in our state and nation and to pathways out of poverty for families and communities of color. As we fight for education equity for the most vulnerable children in the state, your continued support is
critical.
The Youth Advocacy Foundation (YAF) was established in 2001 with the mission of protecting and advancing the legal and human rights of children to promote their healthy development through active partnerships with local communities. YAF supports initiatives and positions to ensure that every child has access to zealous legal representation, essential and vibrant community-based services, and a quality education.
For 22 years, YAF remained focused on this mission, primarily through the establishment and growth of the EdLaw Project – a group of attorneys dedicated to ensuring that all court-involved youth have access to expert education advocacy. In June of 2023, in recognition of the important role EdLaw plays in youth public defense, CPCS (the state public defender) made EdLaw a permanent part of the CPCS organization. Going forward, we can be confident that education advocacy will be included in zealous youth advocacy.
The EdLaw Project exists to ensure that the most vulnerable children in Massachusetts—court-involved youth from low-income families, often with disabilities, and predominantly children of color--have equitable access to a quality education by providing legal representation in matters of school discipline, academic failure, and unmet special education needs. EdLaw offers training and support to court-appointed attorneys across the state to help them incorporate education advocacy into their practice. EdLaw attorneys are organized by region and support the 1000 person juvenile bar that represents the 20–25,000 kids involved in the child welfare or juvenile justice systems. By advancing education advocacy, the EdLaw Project seeks to address one of the root causes of the school-to-prison pipeline: children being pushed out of or failing in school. As a result of the work of the EdLaw attorneys, many children are remaining in school with the services they need to thrive.