Dear Friend of the Law Foundation,   The Law Foundation's Favorites of 2019 wraps up this week with our selections related to children and youth. You can help us continue to use the law as a tool for change by donating to the Law Foundation today. Your end-of-year support is critical to increasing access to justice to low-income communities in Silicon Valley.   Learn more about the issues children and youth in our community face by checking out the list below.

Law Foundation’s Favorites of 2019 — Children & Youth

"Congratulations, You're On Your Own: Life After Foster Care" When young people "age out" of the foster care system (they reach 21 years old, the maximum age requirement needed for their caregiver to receive financial support), they are often forced to leave their guardian's home and figure out life on their own. These real-life stories remind us of our own clients who face the same hardships. Nearly every foster care youth in Santa Clara County is assigned a Law Foundation attorney and we work tirelessly to ensure their safety and security. Watch here.

The Problem We All Live With So many people are trying to rethink and reinvent education, to get low-income, underrepresented students performing as well as white students. But there's one thing nobody tries anymore, despite lots of evidence that it works: desegregation. Nikole Hannah-Jones looks at a district that, not long ago, accidentally launched a desegregation program. Listen here.

Unbelievable A story about doubt: how it germinated, spread, and eventually took hold of an entire community, with terrible consequences. Young women ages 16-19 are four times more likely than the general population to experience rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault. Read the Pulitzer Prize-winning ProPublica/Marshall Project story that inspired the Netflix series or listen to this podcast.

Race Equity Spotlight The 400 Year Legacy with Nikole Hannah-Jones and Ibram X. Kendi Nikole Hannah-Jones, the architect behind The 1619 Project, and Ibram Kendi, author of “How To Be an Antiracist”, join Chris Hayes to examine the 400 year legacy of slavery in America. Together they examine the sinister discrepancy between the history of this nation as it was and the history of this nation as we are taught it, and discuss what that history then demands from us in this moment. Listen here.

We hope you enjoyed the recommendations from our board, attorneys, staff, and volunteers! To create a more equitable community and society, we all must do our part to stay informed and engaged. We also hope that you will take this moment as an opportunity to become involved with the Law Foundation and our mission to increase access to justice by providing free legal services to low-income and underrepresented communities. Can you support justice by making a gift of $25, $50, or $100 a month? Make an even deeper impact by becoming a recurring donor!