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Children’s Advocacy Institute Homeless Youth Project Needs Online Votes

The Children’s Advocacy Institute (CAI) at USD School of Law needs your vote to help its Homeless Youth Outreach Program (HYOP), which provides homeless youth with direct legal services, as well as assistance accessing resources such as housing, healthcare, public benefits and education.

HYOP currently has a proposal up for consideration as part of the Pepsi Refresh Project, which accepts 1,000 proposals each month from individuals and groups for ideas that would have a positive impact in their community.  Pepsi posts the proposals on a website, and members of the public can vote each day of the month for the projects they think should be funded. 

Funding from the Pepsi Refresh Project would enable HYOP staff to pay for (1) basic necessities for HYOP clients such as meals before court appearances, fees to obtain birth certificates or ID cards, or trolley fares; (2) scholarships and other education-related expenses; and (3) emergency and long-term housing assistance.

To find out more about CAI’s idea, please go to http://www.refresheverything.com/homelessyouthoutreachproject.  If you would like to vote for CAI’s idea, (and remember, you can vote for it once a day every day of the month of December), click on "Vote for this idea." You will need to sign in (after going through a very simple one-time registration process). Voting is open from now through December 31.

About CAI

The Children's Advocacy Institute (CAI) is an academic, research and advocacy center dedicated to promoting the health and well-being of California's children. Through its academic program, CAI trains law students to be effective child advocates, providing unique clinical opportunities through the Child Advocacy Clinic. Through its research and advocacy component, CAI represents children in the California legislature, in the courts, before administrative agencies and through public education programs. CAI's goal is to ensure that children's interests are effectively represented whenever and wherever government makes policy and budget decisions that affect them.

About the University of San Diego School of Law

The University of San Diego School of Law is a center of academic excellence focused on preparing its students for legal practice in the new century. One of the most selective law schools in the country, the School of Law’s nationally recognized faculty create a demanding, yet welcoming environment that emphasizes individualized education. USD law school graduates consistently score higher than the state average on the California Bar Exam and go on to practice law throughout the country and abroad, forming an influential network of alumni. The USD School of Law is one of only 81 law schools in the country to have a chapter of the Order of the Coif, the most distinguished rank of American law schools. The school is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. Founded in 1954, the law school is part of the University of San Diego, a private, nonprofit, independent, Roman Catholic university chartered in 1949.