We spoke to Joe Latimer, one of our Community Care and Public Law solicitors, about Just for Kids Law's (JfKL) work and their bespoke approach to working with children and young people.
Joe worked as a youth advocate at Just for Kids Law from 2018 until 2019 and then completed his training contract with the legal team. He now works as a solicitor as part of our community care and public law team.
When he started his training contract, what really stood out to him was how we worked with children and young people.
"What I loved about the training here is the multi-disciplinary approach. We ask other professionals – across health, psychology, social work and youth justice – to share their insights.
"When we understand a young person's life and needs, we can meet them where they are and provide them with the best advice and representation possible," Joe says.
This approach helps the team build stronger connections with the children and young people they support, with relationships that can extend beyond the immediate legal issue.
"Part of what sets us apart from other legal advice providers is that we build participation and youth work into our service. That allows us to continue working with clients after the legal issue is resolved and helps them find opportunities they might struggle to access.
“This approach shapes our entire way of working – from the letters we write and how we listen and give space, to how we advise and support clients during difficult times.
"We see the whole person. It's what we call a holistic view, and it's key to everything we do here.”
The community care and public law team are keen to share their approach widely. "We regularly provide training and workshops, so more solicitors – as well as other professionals working with children and young people – can benefit from what we know," Joe adds.
While the work of the community care and public law team is varied, there are certain types of situations he regularly sees.
"Most of my work involves supporting homeless children and young people to get the care and support they’re entitled to from local authorities, so they have somewhere safe and secure to live."
Unfortunately, young people with a clear case for support are often left waiting by the local authorities.
"For example, many children and young people are facing lengthy waits for a home and support, even though the local authorities have a legal duty to provide it. This is a particular problem for young people with experience of the criminal justice system. Months can pass with little to no progress."
The team also sees situations where local authorities have refused to provide children and young people with a home.
“Some of our clients are living in unsafe conditions, or they're sleeping rough because they can't stay in the family home. That's not right. Our legal tools may be limited, but they can be powerful.”
When homeless children and young people are facing delays or have been denied a home and support by their local authority, Joe and the team will send a “letter before claim”. This gives the local authority notice of potential court proceedings and a final opportunity to change its decision.
"In urgent cases, we might have to give a very short deadline for a response. If the local authority decides to dig its heels in, we have to go to court, which involves a lot of work. We pull together all the evidence we have, obtain legal aid, find a barrister, and issue a claim at court."
What makes these cases even more challenging is that community care law is made up of numerous acts of parliament and regulations. Within the legislation, there are some straightforward rules about what children and young people are entitled to from social services. But what this looks like in practice is not always clear.
That’s why it’s so important that children and young people can find solicitors who understand the system and know how to navigate it.
"Young people with care experience are often let down by the services that are there to protect them. Our team will do everything we can to stop that from happening.
"It’s a sorry state of affairs when lawyers need to get involved to ensure a child has a suitable roof over their head. Hopefully, my job will soon be redundant, and we can all trust society to look after its own.”
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