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© James Ball
www.jamesballphotography.co.uk
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Helping our young people become the catalyst for social change
Just for Kids Law run a number of programmes aimed at providing support, advocacy and assistance to young people with a variety of needs.
Education Programme: JfK Law’s Education Programme provides representation and assistance to young people who are experiencing difficulties in their education. Our work includes challenging exclusions, statements of special educational needs or to securing them places in alternative institutions. For further information about this programme click here.
Community Care Programme: Young people are referred to JfK Law when their Local Authority has made no adequate provision for their release from detention. JfK Law advises these young people, usually aged between 15-17 years, on how to access extra support from Social Services in areas of education and training, welfare, supported accommodation, and financial support. To find out more please click here.
Supporting homeless young people: We realise that youth homelessness is a significant problem and lack of stable accommodation is often linked to offending behaviour. Our Community Care Solicitor and Youth Advocate can support young people to ensure that they are provided with suitable accommodation. This can be done on an urgent basis and if appropriate, we will issue urgent judicial review proceedings against a local authority to ensure that a young person is provided with suitable accommodation on an urgent basis. To find out more please click here.
Youth Advocacy Programme: Our Youth Advocacy programme provides advocacy, advice and mentoring support to ensure that children and young people have access to essential services, such as a stable home, a place in education, training or employment.
Our Youth Advocates are happy to be a constant contact point across the various agencies and beauracracies that our clients deal with. To find out more, please click here.
Opportunities Project: Young people are mentored by a Youth Opportunity Advocate to access training, volunteering or employment. Activities may include: CV writing, job hunting, mock interviews, researching different jobs and careers, attending appointments and arranging and attending work or volunteer experience placements. To find out more please click here.
Strategic Litigation: Our Strategic Litigation project is headed up by Shauneen Lambe and is primarily about taking cases which have wide reaching impact so the outcome has a positive benefit for a large number of children and young people not just the individual for whom the litigation is being taken. To find out more please click here.
Hardship Fund: Clients can apply to access our Youth Hardship Fund. Up to £250, kindly donated by Garden Court Chambers, is available for essential needs. In the past this fund has paid for a bed for a 15 year old client and a course of counseling for a client diagnosed with PTSD. To find out more, please click here.Youth Justice
Training Programme: JfK Law provides training events for law students, solicitors, barristers, lay magistrates and judges. The law now requires special treatment for young people in court, and legal practitioners are often unfamiliar with those procedures and working with young people. JfK Law's trainings aim to promote best practices and equip the attendees with the skills they need to communicate with and effectively represent young people. To find out more please click here.
Antigone Award: In its efforts to champion young people who have achieved so much in the face of hardship, JfK Law has joined with the Antigone Foundation to award young people with the ‘Antigone Award’.
The Antigone Foundation was founded by Martha Lane Fox, the founder of lastminute.com, a philanthropist and a staunch supporter of social justice.
The award is given to a young person, engaged with JfK Law, who has made the most progress over the previous year. The definition of progress will be entirely subjective and is likely to include achievements made in the face of adversity.
In support of the award, Martha Lane Fox stated, “Just for Kids Law is working with young people who are on the fringe of society, most of them have never been rewarded for anything in their lives. This small gesture shows these kids that their desire to make changes in their lives has not gone unnoticed. I know what it is like to face adversity, it can be difficult to remain focused every day and success can be achievements that other people would consider insignificant.”
Three finalists are nominated by the directors of JfK Law. The winner is chosen from the nominees by Martha Lane Fox. The winner will be taken out for dinner with two of their family members or friends where they will be presented with a prize.
For further information on award winners, please contact us directly.
Harnessing the skills of young people: JfK Law actively involves young people in all of our projects. We have an advisory panel of young people, including former clients and current clients.JfK Law encourages its clients to invest their talents into the organisation, this includes writing of prose, poetry and artwork which we hope to publish. We aim to organise work experience placements for the young people we work with to encourage them to be disciplined, motivated and enhance a sense of self-worth. JfK Law's clients also assist in JfK Law trainings for the legal profession. This ensures professionals have a genuine insight into what it is like to be a young person caught up in the criminal justice system, and gives our clients a voice.
Read Andre's Story
Our Philosophy: JfK Law is a community-based project. Our long-term aims are to see the young people we work with become catalysts for social change within their own communities.The wider community benefits from the investment JfK Law makes in young people. We also believe our work will improve the standing of our clients in the eyes of the communities in which they live.
Annual Report 2009 - 2010:
You can view our 2009 - 2010 annual report here
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