Washington · Nonprofit
LEGAL COUNSEL FOR YOUTH AND CHILDREN
LEGAL COUNSEL FOR YOUTH AND CHILDREN (Washington) receives grants from 38 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,495,327 to it, the largest being GS DONOR ADVISED PHILANTHROPY FUND FOR WEALTH MANAGEMENT INC ($2,500,000). 22 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $3.7M
- Funders on record
- 38
- Grants received
- $8.5M
- Net assets
- $6.9M
What Legal Counsel for Youth and Children does
Mission
Legal Counsel for Youth and Children (LCYC) protects the interests and safety of youth in Washington by advancing their legal rights. We accomplish our mission through direct legal representation, strong community partnerships, and systemic advocacy. Our focus areas include: child welfare, juvenile court, immigrant youth and families, and youth homelessness. In 2023, LCYC served roughly 800 young people across 19 counties. The majority of youth served by LCYC are between 12 - 24 years in age. Due to historic exclusion and other forms of oppression, youth of color and LGBTQIA+ youth are overrepresented in the systems we work across and among the youth we serve. LCYC empowers youth by helping them understand and engage in complex legal systems, influencing court decisions that will impact their lives and their families forever. LCYC also engages in systemic advocacy, which is informed by our direct representation, community partners, and youth.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
CHILD WELFARE: LCYC works with youth to secure placement, family visitation, permanency, education, medical and mental health services for youth in the child welfare (dependency) system. We also represent youth in At Risk Youth (ARY), Child In Need of Services (CHINS), Truancy, and Minor Guardianship cases through court appointment. LCYC's low caseloads, and youth centered service model positively affects the lives of the children we serve. LCYC provides proactive advocacy, engaging with children, caregivers, schools, family, services providers, and other community supports. We strive not only to meet the immediate basic needs and rights of the child, but we look forward to the future. We follow the child's stated goals, build support around these goals, and help our youth clients to realize long-term stability, positive connections, and school success. Unlike teachers and social workers, attorneys are not mandated reporters, which creates a uniquely safe and confidential environment for youth to disclose information and problem solve without fear. LCYC empowers youth by helping them understand and engage in complex legal systems, influencing court decisions that will impact their…
$553,205 spentof which $15,000 as grants$304,014 earned by the program22% of program spendingYOUTH HOMELESSNESS PROGRAM: LCYC's Youth Homelessness Program (YHP) provides free, community-based legal services to youth who are at risk of or are currently experiencing homelessness, helping them to maintain and/or secure stable housing. This program serves people 12-24 years old and experiencing or at risk of homelessness in communities across Washington State. Services provided may include legal advice, mediation or negotiation, and in-court advocacy. We are able to assist with a number of civil legal issues including, but not limited to: child protective services, emancipation, gender marker and name changes, identity theft, landlord/tenant issues, public benefits, consumer and medical debt, family law, warrants, immigration, and orders of protection. An independent evaluation conducted by MEM consultants LLC found that "LCYC's legal advocacy had an immediate, positive impact on clients...65% clients reported safe and stable housing after working with an LCYC attorney, compared to 39% at intake. LCYC advocacy improved housing stability for 70% of minors served." LCYC works with community partners to provide multidisciplinary support to minors through a model called the Youth…
$1,105,985 spentof which $1,295,804 as grants$1,300,622 earned by the program45% of program spendingJUVENILE COURT. LCYC provides holistic legal advocacy to youth in King County with juvenile court matters, ranging from misdemeanors to felonies, as assigned by the King County Department of Public Defense. LCYC advises and addresses the specific charges against the youth, while also offering advocacy around issues such as homelessness, special education, school discipline, access to benefits, and safety at home. In addition, LCYC is one of several legal service entities that provides on-call legal advice to youth who are placed under arrest, before they waive their right to silence. This service, Youth Access to Counsel, is offered through the Washington State Office of Public Defense.
$129,809 spent$193,460 earned by the program5% of program spendingSYSTEMIC ADVOCACY. LCYC is uniquely situated to provide input on system-wide issues impacting young people because of our exclusive focus on children, youth, and young adults' rights and legal interests across multiple systems. Through our direct services work, young people and attorneys may identify systemic gaps and barriers through direct representation that can be elevated and addressed on a broader level for greater impact. We elevate systemic issues, in partnership with organizations led by youth, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ people, to create changes in administrative policy, court processes and procedures, and state law. Staff with specific subject matter expertise inform our systemic advocacy priorities and strategy. LCYC adds our unique legal services lens to advocacy efforts through the following tools: * Coalition work: partnering with community-based organizations-including those whose advocacy is driven by youth advocates with lived expertise-to identify systemic issues impacting young people *State and local legislative advocacy: reviewing bill language & providing technical assistance on draft bills, sending letters & emails to bill sponsors & committee members, testifying…
$186,219 spentof which $75,000 as grants$77,890 earned by the program8% of program spendingYOUTH AND FAMILY IMMIGRATION: LCYC authored and continually updates the Immigrant Safety Plan, a collective community resource to help parents plan for the care of their child(ren) (with or without status) in the event that a parent is unable to care for their child, particularly if the parent is detained or deported. The Safety Plan is intended to reduce the inevitable trauma of separation by providing children with as much stability as possible and avoiding unnecessary involvement in the child welfare system or prolonged separation from their parents. In addition to the Safety Plan, LCYC supports youth seeking Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS ). Youth up to 21 years may be eligible for SIJS if a state court determines that the youth was abused, neglected, or abandoned by their parent(s) and that it is unsafe for the youth to return to their country of origin. LCYC partners with organizations such as Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP) and Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) to support youth seeking SIJS. LCYC also provides direct legal representation to young people whose parents have been placed into custody by ICE.
$439,978 spentof which $483,389 as grants$483,389 earned by the program18% of program spendingPRO BONO. LCYC's Pro Bono Program expands LCYC's capacity to serve young people and advance our mission with the support of volunteer attorneys and community members. Volunteers primarily assist with LCYC's immigrant youth and youth homelessness programs. Volunteer attorneys provide pro bono legal representation and legal expertise. Other volunteer opportunities for non-attorneys include research, language interpretation/translation, creation of legal literacy materials, development of technology tools to increase capacity and efficiency, and writing of content for LCYC's blog and social media. Through Pro Bono, LCYC can increase the number of youth served, extend the organization's geographic reach, and strengthen our programs.
$62,203 spent3% of program spending
The 6 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,477,399.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $5.0M to $6.9M (+38%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 0% · 2018 12% · 2019 12% · 2020 23% · 2021 28% · 2022 19% · 2023 28% · 2024 42%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
84% of LEGAL COUNSEL FOR YOUTH AND CHILDREN’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (93% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Rhea Yo
Executive Director, LCYC President
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2023 and FY2024 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 6 funders to 20 funders, grant income rose $231k → $2.3M.
6 of 38 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 39% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of LEGAL COUNSEL FOR YOUTH AND CHILDREN’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 38 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
LEGAL COUNSEL FOR YOUTH AND CHILDREN has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 29% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
63% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund LEGAL COUNSEL FOR YOUTH AND CHILDREN.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 43% · 2018 46% · 2019 41% · 2020 25% · 2021 25% · 2022 46% · 2023 43% — broadly stable.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
61% of LEGAL COUNSEL FOR YOUTH AND CHILDREN's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 58% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
92% of LEGAL COUNSEL FOR YOUTH AND CHILDREN's grant income comes from Washington funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $3.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 3 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
LEGAL COUNSEL FOR YOUTH AND CHILDREN holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 1,337 crime & legal nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,337 crime & legal nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like LEGAL COUNSEL FOR YOUTH AND CHILDREN
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Washington
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
47%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for LEGAL COUNSEL FOR YOUTH AND CHILDREN: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds LEGAL COUNSEL FOR YOUTH AND CHILDREN?
- LEGAL COUNSEL FOR YOUTH AND CHILDREN (Washington) receives grants from 38 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,495,327 to it, the largest being GS DONOR ADVISED PHILANTHROPY FUND FOR WEALTH MANAGEMENT INC ($2,500,000). 22 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does LEGAL COUNSEL FOR YOUTH AND CHILDREN have?
- IRS filings report 38 organizations giving $8,495,327 in grants to LEGAL COUNSEL FOR YOUTH AND CHILDREN, 22 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of LEGAL COUNSEL FOR YOUTH AND CHILDREN?
- GS DONOR ADVISED PHILANTHROPY FUND FOR WEALTH MANAGEMENT INC is the largest funder on record, with $2,500,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like LEGAL COUNSEL FOR YOUTH AND CHILDREN find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 38 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing