Programs
Child & Adolescent Legal Services (CALS) Program
The CALS Program serves as an umbrella of sorts for most CLCM activities, including its individual legal representation in education, child welfare and juvenile justice matters; trainings and technical assistance; information and referral (including our statewide help-line, 1-888-KIDLAW8); systems reform initiatives such as research and analysis, statewide task force and committee involvement, and appellate and legislative advocacy; and, outreach to clinical and other non-profit agencies serving low-income youth. By far the CLCM's largest endeavor, CALS commands close to half of its overall budget dollars. Nearly 400 indigent children are provided individual representation through CALS on an annual basis. Thousands of other children, parents, attorneys and helping professionals benefit annually, on average, from the program's trainings, requests for technical assistance, and related services.
Lawrence Education Project
Description forthcoming.
Medical-Legal Partnership (MLP)
The Medical-Legal Partnership (MLP) provides legal aid to children in Chelsea, Massachusetts who face barriers to educational access or are at risk for school exclusion–both involuntary (suspension or expulsion) and voluntary (dropout)–through a first-of-its-kind medical-legal partnership between the Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts (CLCM) and Massachusetts General Hospital-Chelsea HealthCare Center (MGH-Chelsea). MGH-Chelsea is the primary care provider for most of Chelsea’s nearly 6000 public school students, the majority of whom present health challenges, trauma, and other risk factors making them susceptible to educational difficulties. MGH-Chelsea and CLCM are working together to improve educational outcomes for this vulnerable population by creating a medical-legal partnership focused on legal assistance for youth in need of educational advocacy. The partnership will identify problems at an early stage, increasing the likelihood of a collaborative resolution between schools, families, and the medical-legal team.
Pro Bono Program
The CLCM's Pro Bono Program was created in 1997 in response to the growing demand for children's legal services, and to expand the CLCM's reach in underserved areas of Massachusetts. Through this program, the CLCM recruits, trains and mentors private bar attorneys to handle education-related cases. The Law Center has targeted many of Boston's largest law firms, including Goodwin Procter, Foley Hoag, Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi, McDermott Will & Emery, and Proskauer Rose, among others, to bolster its roster of volunteer advocates at the CLCM. Since its inception the program's volunteers have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of free legal assistance to low-income children and youth throughout the Commonwealth.
Children's Stories
Coming soon!