E157: James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy

GTZP | A Non-Profit Podcast about Volunteering and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Dec 21 2023 • 38 mins

In this episode we interview Patrick Keenan-Devlin, Executive Director & Youth Defense Attorney and Kristen Kennard, Deputy Director and Director of Social Work at James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy.

James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy provides community-based restorative services for youth and families. Our approach is holistic, healing-centered, client-driven. Our work advances the vision of a more just, racially equitable, and restorative society at the local, regional, and state level. The James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy champions justice and restores hope with a lifeline of innovative, holistic legal and social work programs because ALL kids deserve justice in the courtroom, access to the classroom, and restoration in the community.

Our goal is to provide Evanston youth and their families with the support to successfully emerge from a challenging legal situation, tools to make positive life choices, and the ability to thrive in the Evanston community.

We meet critical community needs through programs and services including:

- Youth and Emerging Adult Criminal Defense Practice: Advocates for children and young adults caught in the criminal (in)justice system.

- Education Advocacy Program: Represents diverse learners to obtain the services they need to make progress in school.

- School-Based Civil Legal Clinic: Stabilizes low-income families challenged by civil legal problems so that children can stay on track in school.

- Criminal Record Relief Program: Supports expungement and sealing of eligible criminal records.

- Mental Health Services: Provides wrap-around case management, crisis intervention, and trauma-informed therapy to foster legal clients’ emotional health and resilience.

- Roger Pascal Restorative Justice Initiative: Advocates for restorative practices and principles throughout Evanston.

Want to learn more, donate, or get engaged?