Family Integrity
CLCM’s Family Integrity Practice provides zealous advocacy to children and youth living in foster care, and those at risk of being taken into foster care.
CLCM also represents young adults aged 18 to 22 years old who have “aged out of” foster care and youth in “Child Requiring Assistance” (CRA) cases. Courts in Essex County appoint CLCM attorneys who are certified by the state's Committee for Public Counsel Services' (CPCS) Children and Family Law (CAFL) Program to represent children in these matters.
CLCM knows that children, youth, and their families understand what support, resources, and living arrangements will serve them best. Our clients direct their representation whenever possible.
Child-Directed
CLCM’s child and youth clients come to CLCM with many unmet legal needs. CLCM works with clients and/or their caretakers to determine what the children and young adults need. This holistic representation includes advocacy in education, health care, housing, and immigration matters.
Holistic Representation
We engage in systemic advocacy aimed at:
improving conditions and policies for children and youth to allow them to safely live with (or return to) their families, kin, and communities whenever possible;
reducing the harm that children and youth experience in foster and congregate care settings;
diminishing and eliminating the disproportionately negative impact of the family regulation/child welfare system has on families of color, families living with disabilities, immigrant families, and LGBTQ+ families.