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Founded in 1996, The Children's Law Center helps at-risk children in the District of Columbia find safe, permanent homes and the education, health and social services they need to flourish by providing a comprehensive range of legal services to children and their families. The Center is committed to sharing its expertise with the community, other professionals and policymakers through training, technical assistance and systemic advocacy.
We operate on the philosophy that children’s needs don’t fit into neat, easy, legal categories. Thus, we have expertise in many of the areas that affect children’s well-being – abuse and neglect, adoption, custody, special education, mental health, domestic violence, public benefits and delinquency. Our attorneys help families find housing, furniture and food if it will keep a family together and address a child’s needs.
The Children's Law Center's work has been recognized nationally and locally. The National Association of Counsel for Children named us 1998 Outstanding Legal Advocate. In 2003, CLC received the Leadership Washington Community Partnership Award. The law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P. cited the Center's Pro Bono Adoption project as their 1998 Pro Bono Project of the Year. The law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom awarded us prestigious Skadden Fellows in 1999 and 2001 and CLC has been awarded an Equal Justice Works Fellow in 2002 and 2003.
Legal Services
A child's needs do not always fit neatly into legal categories. A relative hoping to adopt a large sibling group may need a loan to move into a larger house. A family trying to stay together may need adequate housing. A neglected child being bumped from foster home to foster home may need transportation so she can stay in the same school all year. The work required to make an adoption a success, to keep a family from entering the neglect system, or to allow a child some stability in her fragmented life might not be part of any court case. But we believe that work is as important as the legal pleadings we file or the arguments we make in court.
The cases we handle on behalf of at-risk children fall into several broad categories (Adoption, Custody, Abuse and Neglect, Special Education, Domestic Violence and Government Benefits). But our goal is always the same -- to reduce the risk in children's lives. In 2002, The Children’s Law Center helped more than 400 children and families through these programs:
Family Permanency Project Through staff and volunteer attorneys, CLC helps more than 200 children each year find safe, permanent homes by representing foster and kinship caregivers in adoption and other permanency proceedings.
Guardian Ad Litem Program CLC attorneys help abused and neglected children find safe, permanent homes and ensure that they receive services to overcome the trauma that brought them into the child welfare system by acting as the children’s advocate, or guardian ad litem.
Health Access Project In collaboration with Children’s National Medical Center, CLC helps overcome non-medical barriers to health for poor children.
Training & Technical Assistance
Lawyers, social workers, foster parents and other caregivers call or email The Children's Law Center for advice on a daily basis. An important part of our work is providing technical assistance to these callers in individual cases. We also train larger groups of lawyers, other professionals and community members about issues of importance to children.
Lawyers
At the request of the DC Bar Pro Bono Project, The Children's Law Center teaches two full day trainings each year on child custody and on representing children as guardians ad litem. Center staff has also participated in trainings sponsored by the Counsel on Child Abuse and Neglect Office, Council on Court Excellence and Lawyers for Children America. As part of the Center's Pro Bono Adoption Project and Pro Bono GAL Project , The Children's Law Center trains lawyers from the District's top law firms to provide free legal services to adoptive parents and to children in complex custody and domestic violence matters. More than 200 lawyers were trained in 2002.
Judges
Most recently, The Children’s Law Center trained magistrate judges on guardianship law and practice. CLC has also provided training on the Adoptions and Safe Families Act and GAL representation.
Psychiatrists
As a required part of their training, second year psychiatric fellows at Children's National Medical Center (CNMC) must attend a five-month bi-weekly seminar conducted by The Children's Law Center on forensic psychiatry, abuse and neglect law, and the role of the lawyer and psychiatrist in court.
Parents and other Community Members
CLC staff has spoken at many community events, including meetings for the Foster and Adoptive Parent Advocacy Center, For Love of Children and Legislative Reform and Public Education. Members of Congress, judges, the Mayor's office, agency staff, Council members and other child advocacy organizations frequently seek our advice. In May 2003, for example, Executive Director Judith Sandalow testified in front of the United States Senate Subcommittee on DC Appropriations and the United States House of Representatives Governmental Affairs Committee.
We also share our expertise by formally serving on the following committees:
DC Chapter of the National Association of Counsel for Children Mayor's Advisory Council on Permanent Homes for Children Adoption and Guardianship Rules Committee Family Court Implementation Subcommittee on Neglect Family Court Teens in Care Task Force Family Court Training Committee Domestic Violence Coordinating Council
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