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.
Employing Civil Legal Aid in Closing the Wage Gap
/in Blog /by mlacBy Lonnie Powers Here’s an economic statistic that holds true in almost every part of the world: women are significantly more likely to be poor than men. In the United States, 16 percent of women live below the federal poverty line, compared with 12 percent of men. Why is this? When we think about gender […]
Civil Legal Assistance is a Potent Anti-poverty Tool
/in Blog /by mlacBy Lonnie Powers Sargent Shriver, President Johnson’s personal choice to lead the War on Poverty, was once asked which of the anti-poverty programs he thought was the most important. “My favorite is Head Start because it was my idea,” he answered. “But I am proudest of Legal Services because I recognized that it had the […]
Communication Matters: Getting Your Message Out
/in Blog /by mlacBy Lonnie Powers When it comes to creating social change, strategic communications brings great value. The Communications Network, a nonprofit that supports foundations and nonprofits in finding ways to communicate more effectively, puts it this way: “Communication matters. Organizations that do it well are stronger, smarter and vastly more effective.” The civil legal aid community […]
Investing in Legal Aid Is Good Business
/in Blog /by mlacBy Lonnie Powers In law as in medicine, an emergency room is neither the most cost effective nor beneficial way to deliver justice or provide health care. Seeing your doctor regularly makes it easier and less expensive for individuals and for the health care system overall to stay healthy. Having a lawyer to advise and […]
Celebrating Pro Bono Month
/in Blog /by mlacBy Lonnie Powers Voluntary service to people in need is a deep tradition of the legal profession. Here in Massachusetts, it is clear that equal access to justice has come to depend on the pro bono services of attorneys. Last week, the Boston Bar Association’s Statewide Task Force to Expand Civil Legal Aid in Massachusetts, […]
Our Kids in Mass. Are Alright, But We Can Do Better
/in Blog /by mlacBy Lonnie Powers Here in Massachusetts, we have more than 200,000 children living in poverty, and more than one-third of them live in families extremely vulnerable to homelessness. Despite this, our state leads the nation in rankings for overall child well-being, according to the 2014 KIDS COUNT Data Book, an annual report from The Annie […]
Make a Difference by Reaching Out
/in Blog /by mlacBy Lonnie Powers Fifty years ago this summer, thousands of college students from around the country — and from all backgrounds — volunteered to travel to Mississippi for Freedom Summer, a campaign that sought to register African Americans to vote. Three of those student volunteers were murdered (the 1988 film Mississippi Burning is loosely based […]
Closing the ‘Justice Gap’
/in Blog /by mlacBy Lonnie Powers Demand for civil legal aid continues to outstrip supply. Among attorneys and others in the field, this is known as the “justice gap.” It’s clear that we will never close this gap unless our federal and state funders dramatically increase their support. In the meantime, we must also find ways to expand […]