A friend of mine routinely helps people that then help themselves. 
She has aquired $17,000 in credit card debt and has $8250 in student
loans additionally.
After getting 3 jobs to help pay the debt didnt work(barely made the
payments) she contacted a free credit agency who said one of the cards
would allow her to go to 0% but the other will stay at 10% and cash
advances at 20-something%.  Disappointed she has quit her jobs and is
doing odd jobs for room/board and no paychecks.  Her reasoning is that
if she has nothing, then theres nothing to take.  Im worried though
that should she decide to go "mainstream" again she will be highly
penalized.  She wants to use the cash advance option to give her some
spending money as she travels but has been told that its considered
theft and will be prosecuted along with a settlement/judgement for not
paying on the cards.
I have contacted lawyers on her behalf who at the very least can be
considered unpleasant and certainly unhelpful.  One even suggested to
go underground believe it or not.  She has never had any problems
credit-wise before (750-something rating) but she cant see a way out
and is desperate enough to throw it away.
The research Ive performed suggests that she has 7 years until the
debt will no longer be reported but that creditors could keep filing
for settlements as long as they want.  Please let me know what options
she has.  She hasnt missed any payments yet but with no income its a
very short matter of time.

I believe your friend is fully capable of paying off the loans.  She
is clearly a responsible person (previous 750 credit score) who came
across hard times.

The minimum payments are somewhere around $500 per month (a rough
guess) which is manageable with some discipline and hard work.  I
definately understand her frustration with paying off the debt, it
seems to go down so slowly... but patience and determination will get
her out of debt.

The first thing she should do is get rid of the credit cards... burn
them, run over them with a lawn mower... Just get them out of her
hands so she is not tempted to use them.  Once she stops using credit
and continues making the minimum payments (or more), her loans will
decrease over time.  And of course she needs income.  Take her job
shopping... get her any job at first, anything she can get right away,
then keep looking for better jobs after that

She definitely needs motivation right now.  She needs to know that
there are alot of people with more debt than her who are working hard
every day who will someday be debt free.

You might want to give her this book as a gift:
"Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey
It has helped thousands of people become debt free.  The book is about
$10  on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0785263276/sr=1-2/qid=1154371573/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-1498339-1289608?ie=UTF8&s=books

Best of luck to your friend.  Be sure to be there for her as a
motivator, it sounds like that is what she most needs right now.

I HIGHLY recommend Dave Ramsey's teachings also.  They are very simple
to grasp and he does not try to talk over your head.  As he says, he
only recommends financial counselors who, "Have the heart of a
teacher."  Your friend CAN get out of debt.  Dave's concepts are
simple and yet most people are not willing to make the sacrifices
required to get out of debt.  We live in a time when people accept
debt as part of life and most of us live in it.  However, it doesn't
have to be that way.  Your friend should get a job or two and really
be disciplined to pay off the debt.  It's hard to get started, but
over time she will feel amazing about her accomplishments.  Check out
DaveRamsey.com.  Dave has a radio show on for a few hours a day too on
talk radio.  It has REALLY helped me to stay on the plan.  I have to
say, I would've lost my motivation if I didn't hear him addressing
callers over and over!
Good luck to you and to your friend!