About MLAC
The Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation (MLAC) was established by the Commonwealth in 1983 to ensure that low-income people with critical non-criminal legal problems would have access to legal information, advice and representation.
MLAC is the largest funding source for civil legal aid programs in Massachusetts.
The coronavirus is expanding the safety net
/in Blog, Program News - Archives, Program News - Current /by mlacThe pandemic has exposed big holes in the country’s social safety net, openings that millions of people are now falling through. With nearly 10 million people filing unemployment claims in the past two weeks alone, the federal government is mounting an unprecedented emergency expansion of that safety net for workers… “My hope is that we […]
Eviction bill bounces back and forth on Beacon Hill
/in Blog, Program News - Archives, Program News - Current /by mlacThe Massachusetts House and Senate agree that there should be a pause on evictions and foreclosures during the coronavirus pandemic. But what that should look like is raising thorny questions that have left the bill bouncing back and forth between the two chambers. The Senate Ways and Means Committee released a version of the bill […]
The pandemic poses significant access-to-justice obstacles. A Cambridge technologist is developing solutions
/in Blog, Program News - Archives, Program News - Current /by mlacA burst pipe in your apartment needs emergency work, and you want to ask a court to force the landlord to take action. In the age of the coronavirus, like nearly every other segment of local life, the state’s court system now features additional pandemic-related obstacles to addressing such a problem. Local legal technologist Quinten […]
Students With Disabilities And Their Families Cope With Prolonged School Closures
/in Blog, Program News - Archives, Program News - Current /by mlacAcross Massachusetts, thousands of parents and guardians are working long hours — often with little help — to protect, advocate and care for children with disabilities during the coronavirus crisis. With the state’s public schools now closed for at least another month, the disruption is creating a new strain on busy caregivers, too…. As an […]
MLRI’s Georgia Katsoulomitis discusses legal aid’s COVID-19 mobilization on WGBH
/in Blog, Program News - Archives, Program News - Current /by mlacMassachusetts Law Reform Institute’s Georgia Katsoulomitis shares with WGBH how legal aid organizations in Massachusetts have mobilized to protect low-income residents from “economic devastation” during the pandemic. Listen Here (Interview starts at 30:55).
What Boston renters need to know during the coronavirus pandemic
/in Blog, Program News - Archives, Program News - Current /by mlacAs the novel coronavirus continues to upend life in the Boston area, a worry looms among renters in the region: What happens on and after April 1? For many tenants, April 1 is the next date that rent is due; but, if people are out of work or have lost other sources of income as […]
Domestic, Sexual Violence Survivors at Greater Risk in Crisis
/in Blog, Program News - Current /by mlacMARCH 19, 2020…..Most lawmaking business has been paused as the Legislature turns its attention to the coronavirus outbreak that has shut down most of the state, but advocates reminded lawmakers Thursday not to forget bills to help sexual assault and domestic violence survivors — many of whom face heightened risks during the emergency conditions — […]
Disability community will fight any attempt to discriminate over scarce medical resources
/in Blog, Program News - Archives, Program News - Current /by mlacLetter to the Editor, Boston Globe The March 17 editorial “Hospitals on the front lines as pandemic takes hold” highlights the importance of preparedness in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The editorial includes many sensible suggestions, such as canceling or postponing elective surgeries and repurposing hospital beds to expand ICU capacity. However, there is […]