Webinar With Me - How Legal Professionals Can Prevent Youth Homelessness

Today I learned that there are so many institutional and personal ways that legal professionals can leverage their knowledge and resources to help prevent youth from entering patterns of houselessness and marginalization. I believe they have a responsibility to use this leverage because prevention matters.

I gratefully was able to attend the "Unique Ways Legal Professionals Can Prevent Youth Homelessness" webinar on Tuesday, September 25, 2024, for an hour and a half, hosted by the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness (based out of York University). This webinar was led by the lovely hosts Promise Busulwa and Amanda Buchnea of the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, and included a variety of speakers from different legal backgrounds including Claire Millgate, Kelly Russo, Gabriella McDonald, and Destiny.

The main topic of the webinar was a discussion about what can be done to aid houseless youth, methods for preventing the reoccurrence of houselessness, and the unique role of lawyers surrounding prevention.

Based on this conversation, here's what I gathered for some of the real-world ways that practicing lawyers can impact houseless youth:

• Offer workshops to frontline staff about legal resources, services, and rights

• Advocate for systemic change through policy submissions

• Write letters to schools, housing facilities, and other institutions laying out the rights of clients and requesting services be legitimate

  → For example: appealing the sudden eviction by landlords or allowing universities to accept applications without the consent of guardians

• Assist immigrants with PR status

  → This can be a major barrier to accessing services

• Advocate for the rights which people are entitled to and increase knowledge/ awareness about this entitlement 

• Use the law for reform

The webinar also hosted a speaker with lived experience, who went by the name of Destiny. Destiny had struggled with accessing vital services for their survival when arriving in Canada during their youth. They overcame many of these systemic and institutional barriers through the help of lawyer Claire Millgate.

From this experience, Destiny shared some insights about the usefulness of legal help during challenging times for youth:

• Lawyers are better than caseworkers because their work tends to be more hands-on and they have better access to advocate impactfully

• Being shown that others have an invested interest in the outcome of your situation makes the work feel easier

• Lawyers prioritize making work feel collaborative, while case workers make most tasks the responsibility of the client

• Ensuring the youth/lawyer relationship is confidential and that information is kept private is very comforting for youth throughout the process of receiving help

In our final 30 minutes, we received a helpful mixture of tips from all the lawyers and legal professionals alike, which I felt highlighted some unique and thoughtful ways those working in and with the law can acknowledge and use their ability to impact youth facing houselessness or marginalization. I've summarized the tips below!

How to be a part of preventing youth homelessness:

• Become familiar with medical consent laws

• Create opportunities for youth to consent to necessities

• Call out institutions that perpetuate conditions for homelessness

  → For example: educational facilities that leave people on the street during school hours, due to disobedience

  → Additionally: ensure the actors involved in these institutions understand their requirements by the law

• Be mindful of barriers for minors

  → For example: paperwork, guardian requirements, access to knowledge, etc.

• Be aware of how legal issues change over time as people age

  → Eligibility and laws change as people get older

  → For example: people generally have more issues around employment and housing as they get older, and less issues about education

• Bring youth to the table and ask them what needs to change

  → Meaning: talk to people working on the ground and with lived experience

  → But don’t just listen: take action through advocacy

• Make system recommendations for supporting youth

  → For example: suggest getting a specific office for youth to go to

• Normalize conversations that give people more knowledge about their rights

  → By not making people feel like a nuisance

  → By going through each step of the problem

  → By clarifying terminology

• Attend & share webinars (like these!) 

• Know reliable legal resources to access for topics you’re not an expert on

  → A major issue is under-resourcing – so share resources and connect with other legal professionals to discuss perspectives and knowledge

  → For example: have a list of programs readily available

  → On that note...

Here are some additional resources for lawyers & youth:

• the Homeless Youth Legal Network:

• The Homeless Youth Handbook: a guide for homeless youth