Riley Moos

As anyone who works with youth and young adults knows, convincing those in power that the youth know what they want and are in the best position to determine what is in their “best interest” is a constant battle. Riley Moos was inspired to utilize her privilege and legal knowledge to assist youth in gaining access to existing services and ensuring they are given the resources and knowledge necessary to meet their needs in the future.

Riley has always enjoyed working with youth and young adults and has volunteered with various organizations that allowed her to do so. During law school, she stumbled across a fellowship opportunity through the QLAW Foundation consisting of a partnership between a non-profit law firm that served youth and young adults and Oasis Youth Center, an LGBTQ+ youth center located in Tacoma, WA. Through this partnership, she was able to spend a lot of time speaking with and learning from LGBTQ+ youth, especially queer and trans youth of color. As a queer person of color herself, she really related to some of their stories and experiences, but she also recognized her privilege allowed her to avoid some of the most difficult situations these youths had experienced, including homelessness and parental abandonment. Riley is now working at Bliss Law Group in Tacoma where she is able to represent families, youth, and young adults in their various legal needs.

Riley has represented several young people in petitioning for emancipation. Recently, she represented a trans youth of color in this process. Their mother was unable and/or unwilling to provide the care they needed and deserved, which resulted in delay in the youth receiving the gender-affirming hormone therapy and medical services they desired.  Riley understood that it can be hard to convince others (parents, judges, etc.) that a teenager is mature enough to understand what they need to thrive, even if they’ve already demonstrated their ability to meet their needs without parental assistance. This can be of particular importance when a trans youth’s medical needs are involved. By taking the time to talk with her client to ascertain what their ideal end goal was, she and the youth were able to work together as a team to develop a plan to reach their end goal. Having represented youth in emancipation proceedings before, Riley was well aware of the legal roadblocks and provided her client with this information so that they could ensure that they were in the best position possible. Riley provided the youth with the knowledge and tools necessary to be their own best advocate, and she believes that allowing teenaged clients to advocate for themselves in this manner is the best way to convince the necessary parties that they truly are in the best position to make decisions for themselves.

If Riley was able to make only one systemic change, it would be to ensure that historically and systemically marginalized folks were heard, seen, and believed.

Youth, particularly Brown and Black Queer youth, continue to be ignored or mistreated by players in the system, then punished when they did what they believed necessary to ensure their needs were met. Rather than listen to what is being asked of them and developing strategies and agencies to directly address those concerns, elected officials and others in powerful positions tend to supplant their idea of what is necessary and best when creating proposed solutions. Instead, if people in positions of power took the time to truly listen to what folks wanted, rather than moving forward with what they have determined may be in “their best interest,” there would be more tailored and effective solutions.

Riley remains truly inspired by the clients she has encountered throughout her time in law school and as an attorney. Although they should not have to be, they are incredibly resilient and use creativity and intelligence to find solutions. Riley continues to strive to utilize the same amount of creativity in finding legal solutions for children and families, and wants to be a better advocate and person because of the clients she has been able to spend time and work with.

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