In our July blog, we want to highlight a few of the new laws, that are now in effect, that impact our clients and communities and help everyone prepare for the changes.
This June, as Pride Month commemorates the 53rd anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, advocates again face a critical moment in the development of an equitable, safe, and more-inclusive society.
TeamChild continues to support Washington State Supreme Court’s rule changes that protect youth from a lifetime of exposure to their juvenile legal cases. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court voted to delay implementation to allow for more discussion about how to implement the new rules.
On May 5, the Washington State Supreme Court delayed implementation of these new rules and referred them back to the Supreme Court Rules Committee to recommend next steps. We urge the Rules Committee to reaffirm these rule changes and set a definite implementation date. These rules are important and necessary steps toward dismantling longstanding inequities in the court system and the detrimental impacts on the lives of youth.
Any parent with school-aged children will tell you that school closures, remote online learning, and return to school with changing mask mandates, strict sick policies, and school staff shortages have dramatically impacted public education. For Black and brown students, students who have disabilities, and low-income students the pandemic included those challenges and exacerbated pre-existing inequities in education.
As TeamChild moves into our second year of supporting a policy team, we have given a lot of thought to how we make policy decisions. We work to center our anti-racism principals in all of our decisions, especially policy decisions that are intended to improve the experiences of youth who are impacted by incarceration, court systems, and other oppressive systems.
The decision to close Naselle through a budget proviso during the 2022 legislative session failed to allow for a thoughtful public discussion or careful planning for the needs and placement of those youth who are currently or would otherwise be placed at Naselle.
Many decisions are made each session about young people. We hope TeamChild’s work in the policy realm will align with our mission & values, to center youth in this process.
The young people we provide legal representation for are among the most vulnerable in our state. And they still have the potential to thrive and to develop their leadership when we create the space for that to happen.
For TeamChild attorneys, this new law has a positive impact on the options we can provide to clients when they seek legal assistance to stabilize their living situation.
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