These youth are at a crossroads and without intervention many do turn to crime out of poverty, anger, hunger and frustration. Others will submit and return to the harmful environments that caused them to flee. Washington State has chosen a course of escalating punitive legislation towards children in juvenile justice and status offender cases. Given this trend, it is increasingly important that high risk children avoid interaction with the juvenile justice system. The purpose of this project is to reach and assist these children before they are adjudged as delinquent, enter the criminal justice system, become status offenders or return to abusive, inadequate or inappropriate placements or homes.
Street youth are a highly transient and difficult to reach population.
Providing services and representation to street youth requires consistent and empathetic outreach. No other project or agency in Washington State currently provides direct legal representation and assistance targeted to street youth in King County. King County needs a legal resource dedicated to this unserved population. Abused children report twice as much serious delinquency and were arrested twice as often when compared with non abused youth. Many street youth have been abused and in turn have left home and placements due to abuse.