Our History
50 years of advocacy with an unwavering commitment to youth rights.
1977 — Founding
Founded as the North Shore Children’s Law Project under the belief that all children, regardless of financial resources, have a right to due process.
1980 — Becoming The Children’s Law Center of MA & expanding our services
In the 1980's, following the demand for services beyond the North Shore and the dearth of programs providing legal assistance to children, the agency took on some statewide functions and changed its name to the Children's Law Center of Massachusetts. The focus of the Children's Law Center of Massachusetts remained on direct legal services in education, child welfare, and juvenile justice.
1999 — Welcoming new Executive Director and establishing EdLaw
In 1999, the Law Center underwent a major transformation: new management and staff. Within a year, the Law Center, in collaboration with the then Youth Advocacy Project of the Committee for Public Counsel Services, expanded its services to Boston by developing an education advocacy initiative, EdLaw. EdLaw remained a collaborative endeavor of the Children's Law Center of Massachusetts through 2018.
2008 — Establishing the Greater Lawrence Education Project & expanding systemic advocacy efforts
The Law Center introduced a new aspect to its’ existing practices, taking a policy & systems reform approach that significantly expanded the Law Center's ability to ensure the equitable and effective treatment of children by state agencies. From 2008-2013, The Law Center also developed and ran an education Greater Lawrence Education Project, providing legal aid to Lawrence public school students in a range of education disputes.
2009 — Publishing Until They Die a Natural Death: Youth Sentenced to Life Without Parole in Massachusetts
The Children’s Law Center published a groundbreaking report on a Massachusetts policy that called for mandatory life sentences for children as young as 14 years old, documenting the extensive evidence of the harmful impact of life sentences for juveniles without the possibility of parole. At the time, Massachusetts was one of three states that upheld this practice.
2012 — Assisting immigrant youth through the Immigrant Children’s Justice Project
In 2009, the Children's Law Center of Massachusetts became aware of a growing trend of unaccompanied immigrant children arriving to Lynn and surrounding communities. These youth, victims of serious trauma, sought the assistance to prevent their removal from the US. They also required help in a number of related legal challenges, including education and family law/custody matters. New funding and staff were secured to contend with the assist. Eventually, the Children's Law Center of Massachusetts created the Immigrant Children’s Justice Project to centralize its holistic advocacy for this community.
2015 — Forming a Medical Legal Partnership with Massachusetts General Hospital
The Children’s Law Center collaborated with Equal Justice Works fellowship to create a new collaborative education initiative: a medical-legal partnership (MLP) with the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH; now Massachusetts General Brigham)-Chelsea Community Health Center, to provide legal aid to child patients experiencing education issues. Attorneys assisted with special education disputes, school discipline matters, enrollment, homelessness, and related issues. That two-year fellowship ended in 2017, but the MLP has managed to continue through a series of private funding endeavors.
2017 — Assisting Child Victims of Crime
In 2017, the Children's Law Center of Massachusetts hired its first advocate dedicated to serving child victims of crime. Funding for this effort derives from a grant from the Massachusetts Office of Victim Assistance, administered by the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation. The project, entitled Civil Legal Aid to Victims of Crime (CLAVC), provides assistance to children who have suffered various forms of violence, intimidation, threats, or similar offensive action. In 2020, the CLAVC project added a second attorney and a paralegal.
2019 — Honored as Recipients of the Cummings Foundation Sustaining Grant, funding immigration services for 10 years
In 2019, The Children’s Law Center was honored to be awarded a Cummings Foundation Sustaining Grant of $500,000, providing dedicated funding for over 10 years of immigration legal services.
2023 — Welcoming Jenny Chou as Executive Director
In 2023, The Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts welcomed Jenny Chou as new executive director, succeeding Jay McManus after 24 years of leadership.
Jenny, a former EdLaw attorney, has began ushering in a new era for the Law Center, bringing on new staff. Attorneys Shruti Peri, Alexis Williams Torrey, Lauren Russell and Claire Valentin fight for individual children’s rights in courts, schools, and communities advancing strategic advocacy and impact work.
