Massachusetts Legal Assistance for Self-Sufficiency Program. A Project of South Coastal Counties Legal Services, Inc.
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Service Partners | Administrators Partners
Service Partners
Casa Myrna Vasquez, Inc.
PO 180019, Boston, MA 02118 www.casamyrna.org
Casa Myrna Vazquez is a Boston-based, multicultural organization dedicated to ending domestic violence in the lives of women and children through advocacy, prevention and intervention programs.
What began in 1977 as a single shelter accommodating eight families has grown into New England’s largest provider of comprehensive services to abused women and their children, with two emergency shelters, three transitional living houses, and a range of services including legal services, children’s services, advocacy, mental health counseling, and educational outreach. Casa Myrna Vazquez operates SafeLink, a statewide 24-hour, toll-free, domestic violence hotline that provides emergency information and assistance to callers, and a Guest Resource Center that receives and distributes in-kind donations.
Center For Law And Education
99 Chauncy St., Boston, MA 02111 www.cleweb.org
The Center for Law and Education (CLE) is a national support center with offices in Boston and Washington D.C. It strives to make the right of all students to quality education a reality throughout the nation. CLE works to enable communities to address their own public education problems effectively, with an emphasis on assistance to low-income students and communities.
As a national support center, CLE has expertise about key education programs and initiatives, including Title I, vocational education programs and school to work systems and special education for students with disabilities and has participated in shaping the formulation of governing legislation and policies at the national level. For more than 25 years, the Center for Law and Education has provided assistance to students, parents and educators experiencing difficulty in their implementation at the state and local levels.
CLE is working locally at various sites in Massachusetts to organize and educate parent groups to work collaboratively with teachers and administrators to begin to close the serious achievement gap affecting many children.
Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS)
197 Friend Street, Boston, MA 02114 www.gbls.org
GBLS is the principal legal aid agency in Greater Boston.
Priorities include: employment issues of low-wage workers, family law issues (particularly for victims of domestic violence); health (including Medicare) law, and disability (both physical and mental) law; housing for low-income tenants; homelessness-related legal issues; immigration/asylum law; welfare-related law; elder law; and special outreach to Asian populations with limited English proficiencies.
International Institute of Lowell
144 Merrimack St., Ste. 202, Lowell, MA 02114 www.iiboston.org/iiLowell.htm
Since 1918, the International Institute of Lowell has been dedicated to providing vital immigration and citizenship services to immigrants and refugees. The Institute works for the acceptance of all, regardless of race, religion, country of birth or ethnic origin, as equal participants in life in the United States.
The agency's work involves refugee resettlement, with case management that includes finding housing and furniture, health care providers and employment training. In addition to resettlement services, IILowell also provides refugees, immigrants and asylum-seekers with education programs and legal services.
Legal Advocacy And Resource Center (LARC)
197 Friend Street, Boston, MA 02114 www.larcma.org
LARC is the primary legal services screening agency for low-income people in Greater Boston. The agency provides self-help assistance and brief advice through a free legal hotline, refers low-income people to other agencies as they are eligible, and does intake screening for Greater Boston Legal Services, Volunteer Lawyers Project, South Middlesex Legal Services, and family cases for Community Legal Services and Counseling Center.
Legal Assistance Corporation Of Central Massachusetts (LACCM)
405 Main Street, 4th Floor, Worcester, MA 01608 www.laccm.org
LACCM is the principal legal aid agency in Worcester County.
Priorities include: Housing/homelessness, housing discrimination, domestic violence/domestic relations, elder law, employment law, disability and government benefits. The agency also offers a website, www.LiveJustice.org where clients can access legal information on housing related matters in English and Spanish and where eligible clients can obtain legal advice via email.
Massachusetts Justice Project
57 Suffolk Street, Suite 401, Holyoke, MA 01040
MJP is the primary agency for screening and counseling low-income people in Central and Western Massachusetts.
Priorities include: Housing, elderly law, public benefits, disability, and family law. MJP performs intake for Western Massachusetts Legal Services and Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts.
Offices are located in Holyoke and Worcester.
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
99 Chauncy Street Boston, MA 02111 www.mlri.org
MLRI is a nonprofit statewide legal services support center. We advocate for low-income people, minorities, immigrants, elders, and people with disabilities in their struggles for basic human needs; defend against measures that harm people living in poverty; advocate for systemic reforms that achieve social justice; and provide support that will enable others to carry out these objectives.
Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee
339 Washington Street, 4th Floor Boston, MA 02108 www.mass.gov/mhlac
MHLAC fulfills its statutory mission through legal representation of individuals, families, and associations of people involved in the mental health system; participation in the legislative process to promote and advance their legal rights; and participation in state and federal administrative processes to ensure that rights granted are effectively implemented and that services that individuals are entitled to are actually delivered. MHLAC's advocacy work reaches individuals and families who have experienced such problems as denial of access to community-based care and discrimination on the basis of disability. MHLAC also aids adults and minors in public and private facilities who need legal advice about commitment and discharge and the rights to receive or refuse treatment. The legal staff of MHLAC provides legal referrals, information, and advice to individuals, lawyers, mental health professionals and the general public. MHLAC reviews new developments in mental health, housing, family, and disability civil rights law through its legal journal, the Advisor, and publications such as the Mental Health Law Guide and the Managed Care Packet.
Merrimack Valley Legal Services
35 John Street, Lowell, MA 01852 www.mvlegal.org
MVLS is a legal aid program which provides free legal advice and representation in civil legal cases to low-income and elderly residents of parts of Essex and Middlesex counties. Since 1974 MVLS has represented victims of domestic violence, clients from becoming homeless, children with special needs, elderly and disabled people in obtaining disability, welfare, and medical benefits, people making the transition from welfare to work, and those denied unemployment compensation.
Neighborhood Legal Services (NLS)
37 Friend Street, Lynn, MA 01902
170 Common Street, Suite 300, Lawrence, MA 01840-1507 www.neighborhoodlaw.org
NLS is the primary legal aid agency in Northeastern Massachusetts.
Priorities include: Family law, public benefits, housing and homelessness, community economic development, health care access, elder law, and employment and tax law.
New Center For Legal Advocacy (NCLA)
Main Office: 257 Union Street, New Bedford, MA 02740
NCLA is the primary agency of screening and counseling low-income people in Southeastern Massachusetts.
Priorities include housing (private & public housing evictions & sanitary code violations); Public Benefits (TAFDC, EAEDC, Food Stamps, SSI, SSDI, Unemployment); family law with priority given to cases involving domestic violence, and Consumer Law with priority given to cases involving Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Offices are located in New Bedford and Plymouth.
South Coastal Counties Legal Services, Inc (SCCLS)
Administrative Office: PO Box 2507, 22 Bedford Street, Fall River, MA 02722-2507
SCCLS is the principal legal aid agency in Southeastern Massachusetts, including Bristol and Plymouth Counties, and Cape Cod and Islands.
Priorities include: family law (especially domestic violence), housing and homelessness, government benefits (including health and disability benefits), elder law, education, and immigration/asylum.
Law offices are located in Brockton, Fall River, New Bedford, Hyannis and Plymouth.
South Middlesex Legal Services (SMLS)
354 Waverly Street, Framingham, MA 01702 www.smlegal.org
SMLS is the primary legal aid agency in Framingham and surrounding areas.
Priorities include: Income maintenance, housing domestic relations (including domestic violence), education, elder law, and health law.
Western Massachusetts Legal Services (WMLS)
One Monarch Place, Springfield, MA 01144
WMLS is the principal legal aid agency in Western Massachusetts
Priorities include income maintenance, housing, domestic relations (including domestic violence), education, elder law, and health law.
Law offices are located in Pittsfield, Springfield and Northampton.
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ADMINISTRATIVE PARTNERS
National
Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS)The Corporation for National and Community Service administers AmeriCorps, and also oversees Senior Corps and Learn and Serve America. Together the programs of the Corporation provide opportunities for Americans of all ages and backgrounds to serve their communities and country.
AmeriCorps
AmeriCorps engages 50,000 Americans age 17 and older each year in intensive service to meet community needs in education, the environment, public safety, homeland security, and other areas. Members serve with national nonprofit organizations like Habitat for Humanity, the American Red Cross, and Teach for America, as well as with hundreds of smaller community organizations, both secular and faith-based. Other members serve with the National Civilian Community Corps, a team-based residential program for adults ages 18 to 24, or in low-income communities with AmeriCorps VISTA. In exchange for a year of service, AmeriCorps members earn an education award that can be used to pay for college or to pay back qualified student loans.
State
Massachusetts Service Alliance www.mass-service.orgThe Massachusetts Service Alliance is a private, nonprofit organization that serves as the state commission on community service. Its mission is to generate an ethic of service throughout the Commonwealth by creating and supporting diverse, high quality service and volunteer opportunities for all age groups, resulting in stronger communities and more active citizens. It is the state presence of the national AmeriCorps program.
Massachusetts Bar Foundation
The Massachusetts Bar Foundation represents the commitment of the lawyers and judges of Massachusetts to improve the administration of justice, to promote an understanding of the law, and to ensure equal access to the legal system for all residents of the commonwealth, particularly those who are most vulnerable. The MBF has provided scholarships to MLASSP legal aid partners with difficulty funding an AmeriCorps placement.
Center for Legal Aid Education (CLAE) www.legalaideducation.org
Center for Legal Aid Education provides vital education, training, and skills development to a national community of advocates serving low-income, vulnerable, and marginalized communities in the pursuit of equal justice. LAU’s commitment to continuing education goes beyond knowledge and skill development. LAU views training as a means to transmit equal justice values and vision, share information, and build community. It also promotes creative responses to some of the most daunting problems facing our communities. Its courses reflect the specific policies and laws that legal aid advocates address, and the forums in which they practice. LAU gives its students the chance to grow and develop professionally throughout their legal aid careers. In addition to its well-established in-person course design, LAU employs an innovative use of web-based technology. It offers a critical and timely means to transcend barriers of distance, time, funding, and other organizational constraints that previously hindered access to legal aid networking and training.
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