TeamChild 2024 Legislative Priorities

Holiday Message from Sara Zier

Personal Restraint Petitions – Helping Individuals Who Are Incarcerated Present Requests for Relief to the Court

TeamChild’s Youth Advisory Board seeks to find a systemic way to change the approach to bullying and harassment that can reduce the incidents that make some students unsafe, while increasing the services that can allow other students to stay in school without causing further harm.

An illustration from Molly Costello (for a Syracuse Cultural Workers poster) features a pink and yellow flower growing out of the ground. The plower has 2 stems that separate at the base of the plant and there are roots underground. Text reads: The Gender Binary Has Its Roots in Colonization.

Intersectional Pride

Intersectionality describes the cross sections of one’s identities – how multiple identities interact and form emergent realities. It looks at bigger systems of oppression such as racism, sexism, homophobia, and asks that we identify where and how they interact with each other. What does it do when you add to the identifiers of race and gender the identity of a young person, who has fewer rights than an adult in seeking their own health care, school placement, or living arrangement? 

An image from Crosscut publication is featured on the left with this headline: Cashmere senior challenges WA schools to speak out against racism. On the right is a picture of TeamChild's youth advisory board and staff members on the capitol steps in Olympia.

Accountability and Inclusion – Youth Advisory Board Weighs In

TeamChild’s Youth Advisory Board seeks to find a systemic way to change the approach to bullying and harassment that can reduce the incidents that make some students unsafe, while increasing the services that can allow other students to stay in school without causing further harm.

Dark blue text on a turquoise background reads: Teaming Up with Teen Feed. Teen Feed and TeamChild logos appear below.

Teaming Up with Teen Feed

In King County, the legal team has been partnering with Teen Feed which runs drop in services throughout the week at Roots Young Adult Shelter in the University District, to offer legal clinics twice a month since November of 2022.

An orange fist holds dark blue scales of justice. In the background is an illustration of colorful people enjoying themselves. Text reads: TeamChild 2023 Town Hall

TeamChild 2023 Town Hall Debrief with Diego and Seiha

We were delighted to gather in person with supporters in April for TeamChild’s 2023 Town Hall. Thanks to your support, we extended our impact through GiveBig May 2-3 and raised a total of $58,000.

Dark blue tile with Orange Text reads: Expanding the Circle of Care. The text appears inside a series of orange and gold circles.

Expanding the Circle of Care

Youth detention centers and jails are not homes. Everyone knows this. Everyone agrees. Yet TeamChild attorneys work with clients regularly to try to find a safe place for them to live when it is time for them to be released from detention.

An orange tile with dark blue text reads: Spotlight: Housing Instability in Spokane. There is a magnifying glass in the upper lefft corner and a house in the bottom right corner.

Spotlight on Housing Instability in Spokane

One of the hardest calls to get as a Legal Assistant is from a young person who does not feel safe in their living situation. It really helps when school counselors and adults in healthcare and social facilities understand legal options and can suggest them to youth, or refer them to us for more assistance. With the overwhelming challenges young people face in accessing housing, they shouldn’t have to face them alone.

Supporters surround Governor Inslee as he signs ESHB 1394 into law. The U.S. and Washington State flags are in the background.

Developmentally Appropriate Responses Change Lives

The passage of ESHB 1394 is one of the most consequential successes we had in the legislature this year.  It will change the lives of thousands of young people.

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