Students in the Youth Opportunity Clinic will represent teenagers and young adults from age 16 to 25 who are at risk for criminal legal involvement. Students’ civil legal advocacy will help clients access opportunities and achieve stability in the areas of education, housing, and employment. Clinic students will learn about the school-to-prison pipeline and the collateral effects of the criminalization of youth, while developing client-centered advocacy skills. The Clinic will represent clients in proceedings such as school disciplinary hearings, public housing evictions, and record expungement. Students will be responsible, under the supervision of the clinic faculty member, for client interviewing, client counseling, representation of clients in administrative proceedings and in court, and through written and oral advocacy. Students will also develop community education materials and engage in efforts to promote policies that support young people’s efforts to achieve in school, to access and maintain secure housing, and to become self-sufficient. [4] Enrollment Limited.

Note: This clinic requires that students attend a “boot camp” to be scheduled on the weekend prior to the start of classes.

Note: A "no drop" policy will be in place once students have registered. Only the individual clinic professor can grant a waiver of this policy.