TeamChild is the Sunday cause of the month for December.  The mission of TeamChild is to uphold the rights of youth involved, or at risk of being involved, in the juvenile justice system to help them secure the education, healthcare, housing and other supports they need to achieve positive outcomes in their lives.

TeamChild breaks the cycle of arrest and detention for Washington state’s most vulnerable youth, providing young people with the support they need. 

They are best known for their legal services program reaching children in crisis in King, Pierce, Spokane, and Yakima counties. Their clients are generally 12-24 years old and many are involved in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. Their legal services program is designed to keep young people out of juvenile court by reconnecting them to education, healthcare, and housing supports. They work closely with public defenders, juvenile court staff and the community to positively impact the young person’s life while helping the youth to accomplish their goals and reduce further contact with the courts.

They use three program strategies that work together to achieve impact for youth:

1. Legal Services: TeamChild provides free legal services directly to young people to help them overcome obstacles that get in the way of their success. Since starting as a pilot project in 1995, TeamChild has received over 13,000 referrals and served close to 10,000 youth in Washington State.
2. Training and Consulting: TeamChild addresses education access and equity for young people experiencing school discipline, enrollment and reengagement barriers, inadequate special education and related services, and discrimination. They developed self-help resources and providing trainings about the law for youth, caregivers, and partners who want to help youth assert their rights and want tools to be effective navigators
3. Policy advocacy: They use a variety of tactics to advance policy goals. This includes using data, research, and systems analysis to shine light where laws and practices allow for disparities and poor outcomes to persist. 

This organization was nominated by June Saty.

As always, thank you for your generous donations.

If you have an organization that you wish to nominate for Sunday cause of the month, we invite you to fill out the online Sunday Cause nomination form.