I’m starting the new year focused on what matters most. For me, that includes the children in our community. 

Thinking you might also be trying to separate the wheat from the chaff, here are a few recent news stories that shined a light on problems DC children face as well as the work Children’s Law Center is doing to solve them: 

• Our work to help children with asthma garnered national attention. NPR’s Morning Edition aired an in-depth report on the impact of housing conditions on children’s health and how our legal interventions can improve health outcomes and reduce Medicaid costs. 

• Our medical-legal partnership, Healthy Together, was the featured story in the Washington Lawyer Magazine. We now have lawyers working onsite in two new Children’s National clinics – Shaw and Shepherd Park!

Rachel Niegelberg, Children’s Law Center’s Equal Justice Works Fellow (center) serves as the onsite attorney at Children’s Health Center at Shepherd Park. Pictured here with Children’s National psychiatrist Dr. Elana Neshke (left) and medical director Dr. Dan Felten (right).

• Our attorneys testified at multiple DC Council hearings to focus attention on DC’s children’s mental health crisis and propose solutions to reduce DC student absentee rates. The Washington Post reported on the school attendance hearing where I urged the District to address the real-world barriers preventing children from attending school.

These stories illustrate that there are solutions to the complex problems facing our children – if we as a city are willing to invest the resources and the time.  

Thank you to everyone in the Children’s Law Center community – our staff, the children and families we work with, our pro bono, medical and advocacy partners and all our generous donors – for investing the time and resources to make lasting change. I look forward to working with you all throughout 2024.

With gratitude, 

Judith Sandalow

Executive Director