Executive Summary

Legal Services for Children (LSC) provides free legal and social services to children in the San Francisco Bay Area who are in foster care, unaccompanied immigrants, seeking a guardianship because they cannot live at home, or who have been denied meaningful access to education. Most of our clients cannot live with their parents and have no income. The majority of our clients are Black, indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC) and speak a language other than English.

LSC created the model of holistic services for children provided by attorney-social worker teams in the 1970s and continues to innovate this model. Our services help children begin to heal from the trauma they have experienced and practice self-determination while achieving their legal and other goals to stabilize their lives. Instead of deciding what we think is best for our young clients, we talk to them about they want, help them understand their options, and recognize their expertise.

Through interactive evaluation and research, we continually learn from our clients and adjust our services to meet the needs they identify. LSC’s staff and leadership are majority bilingual and BIPOC, and our staff, leadership, and board include members with lived experience similar to those of our clients.

Through our services, our clients find safe and stable homes, graduate from high school, get jobs or attend college, and obtain legal immigration status. For almost five decades, LSC has helped children in the SF Bay Area overcome trauma and crisis to thrive as adults.

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