Category: Uncategorized

As a legal aid organization dedicated to removing barriers to justice, we recognize yesterday’s guilty verdict in the jury trial for George Floyd’s murder as one step on our country’s 300 year journey toward racial equity. Before the trial, during the trial, and after the verdict, more Black lives were lost at the hands of the police. Our work is far from over.

We stand with heroes like Darnella Frazier, who make us see these acts for what they are. As we process the recurring onslaught of violence and discrimination against people in brown and Black communities, Connecticut Legal Services pledges to keep advocating for all those who have suffered from individual racism, and for those who have been failed by our institutions through systemic racism. We continue to look internally to ensure our own policies and actions are informed by the failings of the past and present.

Connecticut Legal Services, with the Center for Children’s Advocacy, filed a systemic complaint on March 11, 2021 with the State Department of Education on behalf of students with disabilities in Bridgeport Public Schools after Bridgeport failed  to provide appropriate education services to those students.  The complaint asks for individual relief for the students who have not received adequate education programs and asks the Department of Education to ensure Bridgeport Public Schools develops a district-wide plan to fill current staffing gaps and address new gaps as they arise.

Read the Full Press Release Here

Dear Friends,

As Connecticut Legal Services’ staff reflects on one of the most memorable years in our nation’s history, we are grateful for the role that supporters such as you played in helping us face this past year’s challenges. Our clients have lost their jobs, struggled to help their children learn remotely, feared eviction from their homes, experienced an increase in family violence, and struggled to meet their basic needs. Our clients came to us in desperation and your support made our help possible. One such client is Nancy.

Nancy, a mother of three, came to CLS after one of many beatings she received at the hands of her husband. She was visibly bruised and frightened when she approached CLS for help. Nancy was still living with her abuser at the time. Her CLS attorney helped her file charges against her husband, resulting in his arrest. CLS helped Nancy obtain a restraining order, file for divorce, and get a temporary order of custody of her children. CLS also helped Nancy and her children obtain shelter with a domestic violence program and access the services that program provides. As a result, Nancy’s older son began receiving therapy to help him deal with the abuse he witnessed in the household and his resulting Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

With temporary safety achieved, Nancy’s CLS attorney began working toward Nancy’s longer-term stability. After guiding her through the process of securing appropriate and safe housing, Nancy’s CLS attorney helped her apply for subsistence benefits to make sure that Nancy could feed her children and make ends meet while she worked to get back on her feet. Because of CLS’ help, Nancy and her children are living in safety and working towards financial stability.

We need your support more than ever as we continue to address the consequences of the global pandemic on the low-income community of Connecticut. Please consider making a gift to CLS’ Campaign for Justice so that we can help Nancy and others who are struggling during these unprecedented times.

Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Sincerely,

Deborah Witkin
Executive Director

The Legal Services program in Connecticut will be hosting a conversation with U.S. Senator Chris Murphy on Wednesday, July 1st, 2020 at 1 pm on racial equity.

GHLA, CT Legal Services, and New Haven Legal Assistance Association are hosting a Legal Services Conversation with U.S. Senator Chris Murphy. Moderated by Alison Weir of GHLA and Kristen Noelle Hatcher of CT Legal Services, we will be discussing race equity issues, including:

• Evictions, Housing & Rental Assistance
• Education & School Resource Officers
• Employment, COVID 19, PPE & Return to Work
• HUSKY and Health Equity
• Nursing Home Safety

This is a Zoom meeting.
Time: Jul 1, 2020 01:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
RSVP/Questions: RSVPBriefing@ghla.org

To join the Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82188249265?pwd=RWJFeXJNQXhiQmtpVkZPU0JEMFU4Zz09

To join via phone:
+1 646 558 8656
Meeting ID: 821 8824 9265
Password: 695236

The U.S. Supreme Court has found that the Trump administration could not arbitrarily terminate the DACA program.  CLS has represented many applicants and recipients of DACA.  We have found them to be highly motivated, productive youth who contribute greatly to our society.  We celebrate this decision with them.

Statistics align with our experience.  Most DACA recipients have a job.  Approximately half continue to pursue their educations. Many are working in health related professions, working daily to help those affected by COVID-19.  Without DACA they could not work.  They could face deportation to countries they may not even remember.

Because the Supreme Court decided the case on the technical ground that the arbitrary termination of the program violates the Administrative Procedures Act, it leaves open the possibility that the government may try to comply with the APA in a new effort to terminate DACA. CLS hopes that instead the administration will recognize the benefits conferred on our society by these young people.  Rather than try again to end the DACA program, they should propose to Congress that it pass the Dream Act, creating a path to permanent residence for people born abroad who have grown up in the United States.

June 18th, 2020

As a legal aid organization dedicated to removing barriers to justice, we are outraged over the senseless killings of the last several weeks – Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and the persecution of Christian Cooper. Those names call up the most recent public injustices. We are outraged at what in reality goes on each and every week in the U.S. Overt racism is only the tip of the problem. Due to centuries-long systemic racial inequities in our country, we now have racist policies so tightly woven into our society’s infrastructure that time and again, we fail to recognize them. If we do not see the racism inherent in the often covert policies that dictate where people of color live, learn, and conduct business, or that reduce the quality of education and medical care available, and that regularly result in a denial of justice, we will never see change.

As we fight for justice, we have to be willing to be uncomfortable as we ask ourselves what we are doing to perpetuate the racism that exists in our legal structure, and we have to re-commit to examining every aspect of our work for racial inequities.

We cannot afford to be silent. We must acknowledge the horror, disgust, and outrage regarding the events surrounding the death of George Floyd and so many other people of color, as only the first step. Increasing our commitment to work harder to combat racial injustice in our client communities, in Connecticut, and in the United States, must be our next step.