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The goal of the Homeless Youth Outreach Project (HYOP)
is to provide advocacy and legal services to homeless
youth in an environment where they feel safe and secure.
HYOP staff works with homeless youth between the ages
of 15-21, meeting with them initially on the streets,
at outreach centers, or through referrals by other homeless
youth service providers. Ongoing legal and advocacy
work is done in the community where homeless youth feel
safe. HYOP staff spends much of its time in welfare
offices, courthouses, colleges, shelters, and outreach
centers in order to connect homeless youth with the
resources they need and to which they are entitled.
HYOP staff also engages in public education to promote
the interests of homeless youth and attempt to increase
the availability of resources and services that will
enable its clients to transition off the streets into
safe and healthy settings.
HYOP works with San Diego County’s Homeless
Court Project, which provides an alternative adjudication
system for homeless persons to remove fines, warrants,
and community service hours associated with misdemeanor
offenses.
HYOP staff also works closely with the Children’s
Advocacy Institute (CAI) to identify systematic issues
facing homeless youth which CAI can then address through
policy advocacy and/or impact litigation.
HYOP was created in September 2006 as a two-year Equal
Justice Works Fellowship project funded substantially
by Sony Electronics, Inc. HYOP’s
host organization is the Children’s Advocacy
Institute (CAI) of the University of San Diego
(USD) School of Law, a 501(c)(3) organization. Donations
are currently being accepted to help ensure the continuation
of HYOP beyond the term of the Fellowship, which expires
in September 2008.
HYOP was created and is directed by Kriste Draper,
a graduate of the USD School of Law, where she participated
in the CAI academic program and was a co-recipient of
the James A. D'Angelo Outstanding Child Advocate Award
in 2006. For the past several years, Kriste has been
involved with Stand Up for Kids, a national organization
for homeless youth, where she helped feed, clothe, and
mentor homeless youth on the streets.
Assisted by USD law students and CAI staff, Kriste
and HYOP are overseen by CAI Executive Director Robert
C. Fellmeth, Price Professor of Public Interest Law
at the USD School of Law and Executive Director of the
Children’s Advocacy Institute.
HYOP Areas of Advocacy
- Welfare
- Identification
- Housing
- Immigration
- Health Care
- Mental Health
- Education
- Criminal
- Homeless Court
For more information, contact Kriste Draper
at (619) 260-4806 or kristedraper@sandiego.edu.
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