Mobile Legal Van Helps Teens Know Their Rights

By finding teens on their turf, the Center for Children’s Advocacy’s mobile legal office removes some burdens many of these teens face in the daily struggle to get by.

For most teens, just being a teenager is enough of a struggle. But for some teens who face not knowing where they are going to sleep at night, the daily struggle is much greater. Now, one legal organization is helping to ease that burden, four wheels at a time.

For Mariah, discovering her legal rights wasn’t her top priority. Day-to-day survival was.

“I was going through a lot,” she said.

That’s why the Center for Children’s Advocacy’s mobile legal office is so life-changing for teens, many of whom have only known trauma.

“Most of the kids that we serve are moving around and they would probably not call themselves homeless, but under the law, they are homeless,” Stacey Violante Cote, of the center, said.

Because most clients can't get transportation, Violante Cote and her team go to the teens, posting on social media where the van will be.

A lawyer and coordinator in the van then guide teens through things most of their peers take for granted.

“They have legal rights to basic needs, like food assistance, financial assistance, medical care. And, if they don't know they have those rights, then they are going without,” she said.

The mobile legal office helped put Mariah in school.

“It empowers me to have strength to keep moving forward and not give up,” she said.

Now that Mariah has graduated, she’s preparing for her future by studying to be a dental hygienist.

“Without this van, I would not have accomplished things the way I thought I would. It was a big help,” Mariah said.

The van currently visits Hartford and parts of Fairfield County.

To learn more, visit Speakupteens.org

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