Helping Families Navigate Kinship Guardianship and Empowering Youth Seeking Emancipation

The goal of this 2-hour PAID virtual workshop is to highlight the legal needs of kinship caregivers and youth experiencing homelessness, and understand the transformative ways in which a legal case could impact the lives of children and youth by creating a safe and stable home environment, establishing a legal relationship between a child and the adult caring for that child, providing access to education, health or mental health care, a pathway to immigration status, and lastly, a transition into adulthood. The workshop will detail the legal requirements for Kinship Guardianship and Emancipation while also discussing the hardships for these families and youth. The workshop will also encompass how these legal paths cultivate strength and promote healthy, stable environments for children and youth where they may not have previously existed. The presenter will facilitate a discussion of best practices for serving the legal needs of kinship caregivers and youth seeking emancipation while helping them navigate and access various tools and services to create strength and stability during times of uncertainty.

2 Social Work CEUs (pending approval) | 2 CLEs

Trainer:
Maranda Aguirre, JD, Pegasus Legal Services For Children

Trainer Bio:

Maranda Aguirre (she/her) is from El Paso, Texas, and grew up in Chandler, Arizona. Maranda earned her JD at the Arizona State University, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and began her career as a law school research fellow at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law: Academy for Justice, where she assisted in bridging the gap between criminal justice reform academia and the public. In 2020, Maranda worked as a resource attorney at the Office of the Second Judicial District Attorney where she trained staff attorneys in misdemeanor cases while also prosecuting misdemeanor and felony cases. Maranda is currently a staff attorney at Pegasus Legal Services for Children since 2022, where she represents clients in kinship guardianship, emancipation, name changes, and child custody and support cases. Maranda’s passion is helping youth navigate the legal system in their emancipation and name change cases to cultivate stability and safety within their lives.