Organizational Background 

Open City Advocates provides holistic legal representation to youth who have been  committed to the DC Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) after sentencing in  the juvenile justice system. This approach combines lawyering, advocacy, and mentoring to  better guide youth through the system and set them up for success. Open City Advocates’ client centered approach is foundational to the various systemic reform issues that we tackle with the  juvenile justice system and the broader juvenile social service ecosystem. 

We tackle racial inequity in our juvenile justice system where it is most extreme, as 100%  of youth who are committed to DYRS are youth of color. Based on the knowledge we gain from  our direct client services, we then spearhead systemic reform efforts to end the revolving door of  the juvenile and criminal justice systems, safeguard and expand due process protections, and  encourage individualized, trauma-responsive services for court-involved youth. 

In 2020, the DC Court of Appeals ruled in our favor in our longstanding impact litigation  case, In re N.H.M. (224 A.3d 581 (2020)). As a result of this decision, youth in DC’s juvenile  justice system now have a clearly established right to an attorney throughout their commitment  to DYRS. Open City Advocates is working with community partners to implement the right for  all youth in DC.