top of page
Screenshot 2025-01-29 164954.png
What We Do

All these initiatives keep kids in school and out of detention. Your sponsorship will help YAF deepen and sustain the reach of its mission so that all 25,000 court-involved children and youth in Massachusetts have access to effective education advocacy.

The Youth Advocacy Foundation (YAF) was established in 2001 with the mission of protecting and advancing the legal and human rights of children. For the past 24 years, YAF has remained steadfast in our commitment to ensuring that every child has access to zealous representation, essential community-based services, and a quality education. The young people we represent are students with disabilities.  Getting the right education, including learning to read, is how students can escape the cycle of poverty and the school-to-prison pipeline.

A donation to YAF funds the many ways we are ensuring and enhancing the education representation that the EdLaw attorneys provide, including:

  • Intake, paralegal, and legal support

  • Dedicated social work support for our education clients

  • A client support program that provides needed items and services for clients such as food, clothing, supplies, transportation, housing

  • YAF V.O.I.C.E.S. – a group for youth and parents with lived experience

  • Resources to help attack structural racism in our schools and other institutions

bottom of page