Welfare Law Center

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LINC is a project of
the National Center for Law and Economic Justice.

Welfare Law Center Mission
Since 1965 the Welfare Law Center has worked with and on behalf of low-income people to ensure that adequate income support is available whenever and to the extent necessary to meet basic needs and foster healthy human and family development.

The Center believes adequate income support is a critical element in any comprehensive strategy to reduce poverty, enable and encourage personal growth, and ensure that all can live with dignity. The Center uses its special expertise in income support programs to promote the creation, maintenance, strengthening, and fair administration of such programs, and, as appropriate, to address other publicly supported means of improving low-income people's income.

Current Program

The Center's program for 2002 and beyond is concentrated in the following areas:

Legal and Policy Advocacy

The Center engages in legal representation and policy advocacy around the country to improve the administration of cash assistance, Medicaid, Food Stamps, and Child Care. A major part of our program involves direct participation in significant litigation around the country, support of such litigation by others, and encouragement of the involvement of the private bar in welfare cases. The Center is a recognized national leader in using litigation to improve welfare programs. We use a broad range of other strategies in our legal and policy work, including publication and dissemination of materials; communication with an extensive national network of legal and policy advocates; coalition building; training; and public and media education. We work closely with advocates and low-income grassroots groups across the country. Current major themes in our legal and policy work include:
· Enforcing Legal Rights, Improving Program Administration and Assuring Agency Accountability
· Promoting Access to Benefits for Persons With Disabilities
· Promoting Access to Food Stamps and Medicaid
· Promoting Access to Quality Child Care
· Promoting Individual and Community Empowerment

Our Low Income Networking and Communication (LINC) Project, a groundbreaking national initiative, provides technology capacity-building assistance to low-income grassroots organizations and coalitions and promotes the use of technology as a critical strategy for organizing on economic security issues. LINC works to empower low-income organizations and their members by equipping them with the tools to be informed, reach new allies, educate their communities, engage in advocacy campaigns, share strategies, and participate collectively in the democratic process. ***

The Center welcomes inquiries from advocates and low-income organizations about opportunities to collaborate.

For more information visit www.welfarelaw.org.