Through our work, we protect the legal rights of all students with disabilities and work with students to access and enforce these rights.

We use direct representation to ensure that the individual's rights are enforced and that he can reenter successfully to a community that has the ability to serve him. We use systemic advocacy to improve the education and justice systems serving 17-22 year olds.

We believe that when students have access to the education and transition supports they need, they will be able to successfully transition to adulthood. Through access to legal counsel, students - whether incarcerated or in the community - are able to access their rights. By accessing and enforcing these rights, students are able to access education.

Through SJP's direct representation and systemic advocacy programs, SJP attorneys strive to improve access and outcomes for older students with disabilities by using special education law to: 

1. Increase access to a quality education.
2. Reduce the use of incarceration through individualized, less-restrictive alternatives to pretrial detention and jail terms.
3. Improve reentry services, policies, and procedures to ensure that students returning to the community have a meaningful second chance.
4. Provide students access to community-based support services and resources to properly prepare them for a successful transition to post-secondary education, employment, and civic participation.