Our Approach
At the core of our work is our legal services program, which reaches youth in four of Washington’s largest counties as well as youth incarcerated in our state’s juvenile prison and community facilities.
Our clients are youth and young adults entangled in our juvenile court and welfare systems. We provide quality civil legal advocacy to help them achieve housing security, access to education, and employment, and to get their basic needs met.
Our broad impact goals include:
Decriminalization, decarceration, and abolition
Expanding and investing in community-led and community-based alternatives and resources
Increasing equitable access to education, healthcare, and housing support.
Shifting power and repairing harm in BIPOC communities.
What We Do
We are tenacious problem solvers with legal expertise in all aspects of the law impacting youth. Our primary areas of practice focus on youth rights to education, healthcare, housing, and the intersections between the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. We find out what matters to youth who ask for our help, and our lawyers champion their solutions to overcome the obstacles to their success. We stand with youth.
Our legal expertise and training give us a unique vantage point. We see how injustice and inequity are hard-wired into public systems of care. We are driven to shine light where policies and practices allow for disparities and poor outcomes to persist. We are earnest in calling in key stakeholders to dismantle systems that don’t work. We are dedicated to holding space for impacted youth and community to develop and drive the solutions and strategies that replace outdated and ineffective approaches that dehumanize, isolate and damage youth.
Why We Do This Work
At TeamChild, we believe that all youth deserve to not just survive but thrive by reaching their full potential. Many of the youth we serve come from disadvantaged backgrounds with limited access to resources and support. Navigating systems rooted in oppression where youth are often overlooked and neglected only makes life more burdensome.
We believe that every young person deserves the opportunity to thrive and not be defined by their past. We not only seek to support those harmed by the juvenile justice system but humanize their experience and show that when given the tools to succeed, youth can become the best version of themselves.
Markers of Effective Solutions:
Respond to the full range of young people’s needs – not fragmented.
Foster growth and development by restoring dignity and promoting healing and inclusiveness – not punitive.
Developed with youth, families, and communities struggling with exclusion and justice system entanglement – not divorced from those most impacted.
Putting Youth First
We believe that sustainable results for young people are best achieved when our advocacy is driven by our clients and our community. Young people are the experts about their own lived experiences and needs, and they are centered in our legal services work. Youth prioritize their goals and call the shots about decisions that impact their lives, while TeamChild acts as navigators, legal advisors, and advocates.
Antiracism and Abolition
At TeamChild, we recognize that racism and intersecting forms of oppression are root causes of the unjust treatment of marginalized youth. Anti-racism is therefore a core values of ours, and we are dedicated to applying anti-racist principles in all aspects of our work. This includes a commitment to continuous learning and growth, both as individuals and as an organization.
As attorneys and advocates for youth, we witness the detrimental effects of incarceration and detention—not only on the young people themselves but also on their families and communities. We firmly embrace an abolitionist perspective, advocating for the end of carceral responses to youth. Instead, we work collaboratively with youth and communities to develop and support alternative approaches that affirm the dignity and humanity of young people, and foster a sense of unconditional belonging at home, in school, and within their communities.