Organizational Background 

Open City Advocates (OCA) provides youth-centered legal defense and holistic advocacy for young people after sentencing in the DC juvenile justice system and works for systemic improvements to the juvenile justice system, both locally and nationally, to better the lives of marginalized children and youth.

OCA provides mentoring-enhanced lawyering to youth who have been committed to the DC Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS). We tackle racial inequity in our youth 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 youth 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 justice system now have a clearly established right to an attorney throughout their commitment to DYRS.

To actualize this right to counsel, OCA has supported the launch of DC Family Court’s new Post-Commitment Juvenile Attorney Panel. Through this panel, OCA’s staff attorneys provide specialized, court-appointed representation to youth committed to DYRS.