Law Project
More than 85% of Law Project clients are homeless students and youth living in metropolitan Chicago. Under the direction of Laurene Heybach, three attorneys serve more than 200 clients a year. In 2011, 88% of its 286 clients were homeless students or youth.
Clients can phone us on a toll-free helpline: 1 (800) 940-1119.
Under state and federal law, homeless students are entitled to remain at the school they attended before they became homeless, or enroll in the public school nearest to where they are now living. Children and teens whose families must double-up with family or friends to avoid being on the street are recognized as homeless by the U.S. Department of Education. The law intends to protect school stability for children who already coping with the instability of their family’s homelessness.
Working with CCH community organizers, the Law Project provides regular outreach at family, youth and adult shelters. At shelter visits, the Law Project distributes information about the legal rights of homeless people, including medical debt relief.
CCH runs a mobile legal aid clinic for homeless and unaccompanied youth. The Youth Futures clinic offers weekly outreach through school and street programs, including the Center on Halsted and Teen Living Programs. The youth attorney has office hours at the Broadway Youth Center, where she co-runs a Tuesday night group for street youth, along with The Night Ministry and Lakeview Action Coalition. Now in its 8th year, the youth group is one of the longest running of its kind in the U.S.
As part of its enrollment outreach, the Law Project attends back-to-school fairs in Chicago and the suburbs. It also provides information about educational rights in a variety of settings such as libraries, schools, soup kitchens, stores and other locations that serve homeless and at-risk families. The Law Project partners with JPMorgan Chase Bank to sponsor a school outreach program in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side, working with Chase volunteers to distribute more than 15,000 pieces of literature every summer.
The Law Project assists a small outreach program called Homeless Experiencing Legal Protection (HELP). U.S. District Court Judge Jay Zainey launched HELP clinics in New Orleans and 19 other cities, with CCH collaborating on its 2007 launch in Chicago. On a rotating schedule, Chicago law firms send attorney volunteers to Deborah’s Place and Sarah’s Circle.
(Shown left, two Chase volunteers during street outreach with legal director Rene Heybach, center.)
