INITIATIVES

The Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation supports the initiatives below to help legal aid programs expand funding, develop best practices and more effectively serve low-income people.

• The Equal Justice Coalition was created by the Massachusetts Bar Association, Boston Bar Association and MLAC to protect and increase the state appropriation for civil legal aid.

• The Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Team improves services to low-income clients by building cultural competence among legal aid staff and addressing other diversity-related issues within Massachusetts legal aid community.

• The Bart Gordon Fellowship helps legal aid programs overcome barriers to service by providing funding to hire recent law school graduates equipped to reach out to underserved communities.

• The Racial Justice Fellowship addresses pervasive problems of racial injustice through systemic advocacy and other strategies.

• The Central Technology Project seeks to standardize technology for MLAC- and Legal Services Corporation-funded legal aid programs in Massachusetts.

• The Civil Legal Aid for Victims of Crime Initiative — CLAVC — helps victims of crime throughout Massachusetts with their related civil legal problems.

• MLAC funds three grants that support Immigrant and Refugee Rights work: the Greater Boston Immigrant Defense Fund, the Massachusetts Immigration Legal Assistance Fund, and the Afghan Refugee Project.