Email from Children's Law Center

Friends,

Both the federal and DC governments are making huge cuts to programs that provide housing, food, education and health care for children and families who already face significant barriers to securing these basic needs. Now more than ever families need tenacious advocates by their side sooner to help them ensure their children are safe, healthy and learning.

When we started developing our new Families Together program last year, we did not know the depths of the cuts in store.

We built on our nearly 30 years of experience representing children in foster care and helping parents and caregivers solve problems impacting their children’s health and education. We saw how much early interventions and support could strengthen families impacted by poverty.

Through Families Together, Children’s Law Center is expanding our reach to connect with children and families sooner – and the team is already hard at work: When a pregnant mom faced homelessness, we helped her secure a housing voucher – providing stability for her and her baby during those critical early months. We’ve helped parents secure financial support through public benefits and child support, lessening the stress of poverty and giving them more time to focus on their children.

Our Families Together team provides legal supports to DC parents (from L to R: Brittany Mason, Ayana Lindsey, Deborah Oh, Krystal Montgomery, Brad Patterson, Jabeen Adawi; not pictured: Pierrea Wallace, Vanessa Sapp).

In just the first year, Families Together will reach more than 200 children and families. We've launched a new collaboration to provide legal assistance to expectant and new parents to help them give their children a strong start. We are also taking referrals from DC’s Child & Family Services Agency to reach more families whose legal problems threaten their stability.

We plan to scale Families Together by expanding our partnerships with a focus on prenatal care teams, family success centers and other community-based organizations. When the government fails our children, I believe we all need to step up and do more. Families Together is one way Children’s Law Center is meeting this moment.

With gratitude,

Judith Sandalow

Chief Executive Officer

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