Chorisia Folkman

Growing up in both urban and rural areas of Southern California, Chorisia Folkman was painfully aware of the inequities that existed for young people. Her volunteer and work opportunities as a youth and young adult helped illuminate these barriers, and hearing about the challenging experiences her parents faced as children made it even more personal. “My engagement with youth in the community, coupled with my knowledge about my family led me to realize that best way I could impact the most change in my communities would be through the representation of youth in dependency cases,” notes Chorisia. With that goal in mind, she earned her master’s in social work and law degree at University of California, Berkeley, which allowed her to pinpoint her practicums, internships, and class experiences specifically towards what she needed to effectively represent youth. Still focused on this mission, she was selected as an Equal Justice Works fellow at Teamchild in Washington state, where she provided civil legal aid to at-risk youth.

After her time as a fellow at Teamchild, Chorisia, an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, was able to help develop a parent and youth representation program at the Tulalip Tribal Court, which, years later, led her to her current job as the children and youth attorney at the Tulalip Office of Civil Legal Aid. That office represents tribal members in the Tulalip Tribal Court on the Tulalip Reservation in Washington state. Chorisia’s focus is to represent Tulalip Tribal member youth in tribal dependency cases, as well as to work statewide to help expand and improve the representation of children in dependency cases.

“There are so many ways to improve the legal system for young people,” says Chorisia. In 2014, she also worked with her former colleague, Erin Lovell, to found Legal Counsel for Youth and Children in Seattle (LCYC). LCYC was Washington state’s first law office for youth focused exclusively on the direct representation of youth in dependency, delinquency, and civil legal aid. From 2014 to 2017, she worked at LCYC to help get the organization off ground before she transitioned to her current job.

Chorisia’s past six years at the Tulalip Office of Civil Legal Aid has been spent expanding access to counsel for youth in the Tulalip Tribal Court system, while providing examples to other tribes about the value and importance of children having an attorney when involved in a tribal dependency case. “One of the things I love most about my job,” states Chorisia, “is ensuring that my tribal youth clients have access to due process, a knowledge of their legal rights and options, and the ability to take advantage of all services available to them under tribal, state, and federal laws and policies.”

Although the job as a youth’s attorney in dependency cases can be extremely emotionally challenging, Chorisia strongly believes that it is the most rewarding legal work she could have ever dreamed of. Chorisia notes that she often “reflect[s] on how privileged I have been to advocate for and support such resilient and amazing young people. It has been an honor to be able to help my clients navigate some of the most difficult times they will likely face in their lives in pursuit of becoming stronger and better able to achieve their goals in the future.”

When asked for advice to others seeking to enter the field, Chorisia responds that emerging advocates should

take advantage of opportunities to receive mentorship, engage in relevant internships, and access local or national training whenever possible. Other attorneys are always out there to provide support, encouragement, comradery and training opportunities to help attorneys gain expertise and to remain able to serve others in this important field of legal work.

She strongly believes that advocates should see the lack of a strong children’s bar as a challenge worth addressing—it’s always possible to help create one like Chorisia has helped to do in Washington state. Chorisia in turn is forever grateful for all the attorneys she has been able to work with throughout her career who provided the support and training that she needed so that she could help others.

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