Helping Every Quiet Voice Be Heard Through Child Advocacy
Each year in New York City, thousands of children are the subject of legal disputes that can be very contentious and very emotional. The outcomes to these cases deeply affect the lives of the children involved. Yet, while each adult has an opportunity to speak to the Court, the child's voice is often faint or not heard.
Our mission at The Children's Law Center ("CLC") is to give children strong and effective voices in legal proceedings that have a critical impact on their lives.
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Improving our approach to child advocacy is always a priority. CLC's Reflective Advocacy Practice (RAP) initiatives put the focus on distinct community needs, including special education and foster care.
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| RAP Initiatives |
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Every child at the center of a court case has a unique voice and that voice deserves to be heard. Read stories about the many children who have received legal assistance from the advocates at our firm.
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| Clients' Stories |
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Your help is needed to safeguard the rights of children that CLC serves. A donation to CLC directly funds our many programs and our volunteers make a difference in children's lives.
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| Become a Supporter |
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Holistic approach to services – Serving the Whole Child
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- CLC attorneys’ and social workers’ commitment to clients does not end when a case concludes in court. Therefore, we offer a continuum of client management services after a case has transitioned from the courtroom back into the community. CLC often serves as the lifeline for children and families to access community-based services.
- CLC uses a trauma-informed approach to advocacy. We recognize that not all the issues that plague CLC clients have a remedy, but we work in interdisciplinary teams to determine clients’ needs outside the courtroom, including with respect to mental health counseling, educational services, and other supports. We connect children and families to community-based service providers, and provide educational supports, where appropriate, to our clients.
- CLC also takes a reflective approach to advocacy. We examine our caseload to identify systemic gaps and issues that impact children involved in family court litigation and create internal programs to try and address those challenges. For example, our “broken adoptions” project assists adopted youth whose adoptive parents are no longer caring for them.
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Service & Demographic Data
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CLC has represented 130,000 CHILDREN in tens of thousands of cases in New York City Family and Supreme Courts.
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CLC is newly assigned to represent over 300 CHILDREN every month.
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The court referd CLC to represent at least 3,400 CHILDREN annually. However, in 2022 CLC was assigned to represent 4,200 CHILDREN.
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More than 1,000 APPEALS have been handled by CLC since its inception, several of which have resulted in decisions that helped shape New York laws that impact children and families.
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35 ATTORNEYS,
9 SOCIAL WORKERS,
4 PARALEGALS and ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF comprise CLC staff, who work together in a collaborative model.
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Staff attorneys’ average caseload is
150 CASES but can be higher.
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95% of CLC clients live in predominantly Black and Brown communities in New York City.
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CLC attorneys’ and social workers’ commitment to clients does not end when a case concludes in court. Therefore, we offer a continuum of client management services after a case has transitioned from the courtroom back into the community. CLC often serves as the lifeline for children and families to access community-based services.
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About Us
Founded in 1997 in Brooklyn as a direct legal services agency, CLC provides zealous and effective representation to children in custody, visitation, domestic violence, guardianship, paternity, and related child protective cases. Since our inception, CLC has expanded to represent children in the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island. CLC is the primary organization in New York City assigned to represent children in custody and visitation matters, and the sole non-profit law firm focused on attorney for child services in this area of the law.
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CLC's Board of Directors is comprised of a distinguished group of leaders whose strategic decision-making and guidance steer the organization.
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Management team members bring a variety of backgrounds and experiences to the organization.
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CLC is always looking for interns, volunteers and potential staff that will embrace our mission and values and want to develop their skills and talents to skillfully and zealously represent children and youth.
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