Justice for Children and Youth (JFCY) is a Legal Aid Ontario clinic and the operating arm of the Canadian Foundation for Children, Youth and the Law. The clinic provides legal representation to Ontario youth aged 17 and under in the areas of child welfare, income maintenance, criminal, family, constitutional, human rights, education, and health law. Although JFCY works with young people burdened with legal problems, there were no services that addressed the unique needs of young people living on the streets. In 2000, JFCY started ‘Street Youth Legal Services’ by providing legal advice to youth at drop-ins throughout the downtown core of Toronto.

Canadian Homelessness Research Network (CHRN) has developed a framework to identify and share promising practices in order to support communities in the development of effective programmatic solutions to homelessness in Canada. This case study is part of the promising practice framework "What Works and for Whom?". You can access the framework and the other case studies here.