Our COVID-19 response grants are helping DC’s legal aid organizations navigate hardships incurred from COVID-19 so they can provide uninterrupted life-saving legal support to our DC neighbors in need. Over the next few months, we will highlight several of our COVID-19 Response grant recipients. This month, we feature School Justice Project. Read on to learn about the work they are doing to support their clients through this crisis, and how our funding helps.
School Justice Project uses special education law to ensure that older, court-involved students with disabilities can access a quality education, and envisions a world where all students have meaningful access to a quality education. They believe that when students have access to the education and transition supports they need, they will be able to successfully transition to adulthood. Through access to legal counsel, students – whether incarcerated or in the community – are able to access their rights. By accessing and enforcing these rights, students are able to access education.
School Justice Project’s clients, who are an already vulnerable population, are also more likely to become homeless or housing insecure. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for youth still within the juvenile justice system, School Justice Project has increased their work in seeking clients’ early release, increased testing while in the system, and improved sanitary conditions.
School Justice Project will use our COVID-19 Response funding to ensure that their vulnerable clients can access their legal assistance by telephone, and receive support to obtain necessary public benefits.
To learn more about our COVID-19 Response grants, visit our website.