Erin Lovell

One of the greatest challenges in representing system-involved children is that traditional legal aid and public defense operate in silos, offering support on one particular legal issue. This month’s Fearless Children’s Lawyer Erin Lovell recognized this limitation early in her legal education. It was this eye-opening realization that inspired her to launch Legal Counsel for Youth and Children (LCYC). LCYC stands in stark contrast to that traditional model in that it strives to meet all the youth’s legal and nonlegal needs. Erin and the other founders designed the LCYC model to incorporate strong partnerships with other legal and nonlegal organizations, such as shelters, behavioral health supports, and schools. These partnerships help LCYC to holistically support youth in crisis.

Erin grew up in a small, rural, tight-knit community in Wisconsin. With few people and limited resources, volunteers and collaboration were essential to small town life, such as Williams Bay’s volunteer fire department that Erin’s dad has served on for decades. Through her parent’s hard work operating a small family business and growing up with four siblings, Erin learned what it meant to be resourceful, creative, and a valued member of a team at a young age. These qualities have continued to be central to Erin’s life and critical in the success of the LCYC.

Upon entering college, Erin envisioned herself managing a local theater and then perhaps later directing and being on stage. However, after taking a government class on a whim with a fabulous professor and volunteering at a shelter for abused and neglected children, she found herself considering law school for the first time. Erin attended Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law to develop the necessary skills to advocate for youth and families.

During the summer between her second and third year of law school, Erin interned in Seattle at the Defender’s Association, now a division of King County Department of Public Defense. During this internship, Erin and fellow intern Chorisia Folkman were connected by their shared surprise and concern that not all children in Washington’s foster care system were provided an attorney. In contrast, the states where they were attending law school—California and Illinois—both ensured youth in foster care had access to lawyers.

After graduation, Erin returned to Seattle to work for the Defender's Association where she represented parents and youth in child welfare matters. Chorisia and Erin continued to brainstorm around how to advance access to justice for youth in Washington and what a holistic, youth-centered legal office could look like in the future. Eventually, in 2010, Chorisia and Erin partnered with others to establish LCYC.

Today Erin and her team strive to deliver services that center and reach youth who are furthest away from access to justice. For example, LCYC does not have a shared office; all staff work from home offices and in the community, meeting youth where they feel safe and in locations they can easily access. LGBTQ+ youth and youth of color are overrepresented in child welfare, juvenile court, immigration systems, and among those experiencing homelessness—this is also true of the youth served by LCYC. Erin is a proponent of continuously collecting feedback from youth and community partners on how legal services can be improved. Consequently, tracking data and outcomes has been integral to LCYC’s model because ensuring that legal support is getting to communities that need it most is mission-critical. LCYC also relies on youth and community feedback and input to identify systemic barriers and potential solutions. Erin believes that systemic inequities will not change unless the people who are most impacted by them are at the table and heard.

Erin believes in taking risks and fosters an environment of possibility and innovation amongst her team members. When a gap is identified in the way children are supported, Erin encourages staff to problem solve outside the box. For example, when COVID-19 forced courts to close and all services were shifted to virtual, Chach Duarte White, another leader at LCYC, suggested that this remote environment might be an opportunity to scale LCYC’s support to historically underserved rural communities through virtual law. In 2021, Erin, Chach, and others at LCYC worked to design and implement a virtual lawyer program, VLAW, for youth struggling or at risk of homelessness in Washington, which has helped youth in ten different counties across the state to date.

As LCYC has grown from a staff of one to twenty, Erin’s role has shifted from direct services to organizational leadership and operational management. Though she misses the direct engagement with young people, she is continually reenergized by the dedicated advocates at LCYC and the change they are making on a direct and systemic level, in partnership with youth and community.

Erin’s advice for new and aspiring children’s advocates is to “take care of yourself and build community.” Secondary trauma is real. Self-care is a necessity, not a luxury. Erin encourages children’s advocates to “seek out and help create a positive work community that invites authenticity, continual learning, and teamwork.” The work is hard and will not be complete in our lifetimes, but if we take care of our well-being and work and grow in community, we can make an impact.

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