What We Do

The James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy provides integrated legal, mental health, and restorative services to address the critical needs of youth and their families. The Moran Center’s services are free to qualifying individuals.

Qualifying participants must (1) reside within Evanston Township; (2) be 26 or younger or a caregiver of a school-aged child; (3) live at or below 80% of poverty as determined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Our Criminal Record Relief Practice serves any individual with a Cook County criminal record, regardless of age or income.


JUSTICE IN THE COURTROOM

We believe all children and their families deserve quality legal representation regardless of their ability to pay. Our talented, experienced legal team advocates for children and their families to ensure they have equal access to justice in:

ACCESS TO THE CLASSROOM

We believe all children deserve an equitable education and that our schools provide additional support for children with special needs, learning disabilities, mental health challenges, or traumatic experiences.

Our Education Advocacy Program represents:

  • Children with special needs in school
  • Students confronting exclusion from school

RESTORATION IN THE COMMUNITY 

We believe all young people have a unique propensity to change when given the opportunity. Our dedicated mental health team restores lives by providing wrap-around, community-based services to legal clients including:

  • Case Management;
  • Trauma-informed therapy;
  • Crisis Intervention;
  • Conflict resolution;
  • Anger management. 

Our long-term vision includes promoting a “restorative community” by implementing restorative practices and policies across government, schools, nonprofits, and businesses. 


PUBLIC POLICY & COMMUNITY EDUCATION

The Moran Center has a history of supporting policies that advance criminal justice reform, racial justice, LGBTQIA+ rights, immigrant rights, affordable housing, and meaningful second chances for formerly incarcerated individuals.

Outreach and advocacy are a growing component of our agency’s mission – we proudly partner with numerous other organizations dedicated to social justice for educational training, resource fairs, conferences, speaker events, and other opportunities to educate, inspire, and mobilize support to serve client needs and address systemic inequity.