Tom Daschle, former Senate Majority Leader now with DLA Piper, joined Children's Law Center to discuss the future of health care. As the Affordable Care Act goes into effect, he said he expects an increased focus on innovative, collaborative programs that produce better outcomes - and he noted that Healthy Together, our medical-legal partnership, undeniably has those qualities. "One of the exciting things I find about Children's Law Center - they didn't need the Affordable Care Act to come up with an idea that has already begun to produce extraordinary better outcomes... a partnership between medical and legal experts - creating better health by creating a better health environment," Daschle said.Healthy Together has proved to be so effective and demand for our services so high that Children's Law Center is expanding the program to serve hundreds more of DC's vulnerable children. The May 7 event with Daschle, hosted by Arnold & Porter LLP, launched this expansion campaign.

• More about Healthy Together 
• Support the expansion with a gift 
• More photos from the event 
• Legal Bisnow coverage  

Children's Law Center released a report card chronicling the city's progress in children's mental health care since last year's release of our well-received plan to improve the system. It shows promising beginnings but much more work to be done, a message reinforced by reports from WAMU and The Washington Examiner, as well as a Huffington Post blog. "The District needs to m  ove from making plans to taking action," executive director Judith Sandalow said. "Without a focus on mental health, our city will not be able to improve school performance, lower dropout rates, and reduce the number of children in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems." Our policy team will continue to push for progress.

• Read the report card or the plan 
• Huffington Post blog 
• WAMU report 
• Examiner story 

Save the date! Children's Law Center's Helping Children Soar Benefit will be September 17, 2013. Chaired by Page Lane Smith and Shana Smith, the event will focus on the ripple effect of our work - how helping one child can stabilize a family and improve the whole community. Tickets will be available in July.

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Children's Law Center has again been named one of The NonProfit Times' Best Nonprofits To Work For. We are ranked 8th among medium-sized nonprofit organizations and 16th overall. "We strive to be a great place to work so we can recruit and retain great staff," executive director Judith Sandalow said. "This honor recognizes our efforts to create an environment where our hardworking, talented employees feel at home."

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A team working together is often the best way to achieve what's best for a child - and Children's Law Center is adept at finding the right composition of those teams. In many abuse and neglect cases Children's Law Center's on-staff social workers are key members of the team. Kim Daulton, Director of Social Work, and Tyra Moore, Senior Social Worker, are available to consult with lawyers and often join them in the field to work directly on cases.

• Read more about our social workers