Stand for Children was founded in the late 1990s as a way to advocate for the welfare of children. It grew out of a 1996 march by more than 250,000 people in Washington, D.C. The aim of the march was to highlight child poverty at a time when Congress and the Clinton administration were preparing to "end welfare as we know it." Jonah…

The Center for Law and Education (CLE), a national advocacy organization with offices in Boston and Washington, D.C., strives to assist low-income students, parents, and advocates improve their public schools and work with their communities to fulfill every student's right to a high-quality education. In Massachusetts, CLE provides legal support…

In the 1996 and 1997 Massachusetts legislative sessions, several of Boston's key business leaders became active child advocates in alliance with more traditional advocates and other civic leaders, convincing public policymakers to create and fund several initiatives benefiting children. This working paper presents reflections on successful…

Presented is a manual designed to aid social workers and other staff of institutions in dealing with problems of disabled Social Security Administration (SSA) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries who receive their benefits through representative payees. Information is provided about such topics as different types of benefits,…

This handbook is intended to help local programs build a broad base of support for young children and their families. The strategies described are designed to help early childhood practitioners develop relationships with the community that will establish long-term commitments to early childhood programs and build a foundation for additional…

The handbook details legal options in providing for decisionmaking regarding mentally retarded persons. Defined are trusts and representative payee situations. Considered in detail are aspects of guardianship and conservatorship, including legal standards, effects on daily livinq, financial issues, and liability. A final section provides technical…

Presented is the 1974 annual report of the Office for Children, an agency responsible for monitoring and coordinating all services for children in Massachusetts. Among the aspects covered are administrative organization; the development and implementation of a special budget for new and expanded children's services; the formation of 39…

In the Fall of 2004, after many years of discussion by adults in the City of Somerville, Massachusetts, the Somerville Youth Council started. For several months, a youth planning group met weekly to craft the mission of the council and the by-laws. There was a critical need to create a process to enable youth of the city to explore possible…

Legal aspects relating to the application of procedural due process safeguards to special education are surveyed, the requirements of P.L. 94-142 are pointed out, state response to these safeguards are described, and the extent to which the adversarial hearing system has facilitated appropriate education is reported. Particular emphasis is placed…

Presented is the final report of the Massachusetts Commission on Legal and Civil Rights of the Developmentally Disabled formed to investigate the civil rights problems of developmentally disabled citizens and to recommend and take action to correct the problems. It is noted that the report deals with the following areas: self-determination and…

Analysis of 206 cases of severely abused and/or neglected children over a 4-year period resulted in the conclusion that children are poorly served by delays in the existing Massachusetts social service/legal system. Among specific findings were that two-thirds of parents were poor, 84 percent were psychiatrically disordered, and foster care…

A synthesis of data and major recommendations from foster care studies undertaken by the states of Arizona, California, Iowa, Massachusetts and Vermont, this report focuses on areas needing improvement. Covered in detail are: (1) the foster care system, its programs and goals; (2) foster children and their natural and foster families; (3) agency…