Basic Organization Information
Community Legal Services, Inc.
- Also Known As:
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CLS
- Physical Address:
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Philadelphia, PA
19102 2505
- EIN:
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23-1671562
- Web URL:
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www.clsphila.org
- Blog URL:
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clsphila.wordpress.com/
- NTEE Category:
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I Crime, Legal Related
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I83 Public Interest Law/Litigation
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P Human Services
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P20 Human Service Organizations
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R Civil Rights, Social Action, Advocacy
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R01 Alliance/Advocacy Organizations
- Year Founded:
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1966
- Ruling Year:
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1967
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Mission Statement
For 40 years, Community Legal Services Inc. (CLS) of Philadelphia has provided the highest quality legal assistance to low-income Philadelphians who cannot afford legal counsel when they most need it. Created by the Philadelphia Bar Association in 1966, CLS is widely recognized as one of the most sophisticated, respected legal services programs in the nation. It is also the largest and most experienced legal services provider with the broadest scope in Pennsylvania. In the past year alone, CLS has helped over 19,000 Philadelphians, fighting consumer fraud and predatory lending, preventing homelessness, ensuring fair treatment in the workplace, stabilizing families, and protecting women, children and the elderly. Since inception, CLS has served well over a million individuals at the most critical time of their lives. For more information on Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, visit www.clsphila.org.
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Impact Summary from the Nonprofit
<p>When President Lyndon Johnson declared War on Poverty in 1964, the Great Society programs aimed to give poor people a voice through access to the justice system. CLS was founded in 1966, in the midst of this national movement, to provide low-income communities in Philadelphia with the same legal resources as people of means. Since our founding, we have provided high quality service to more than one million clients who could not afford to pay for legal representation, and who would have faced a variety of devastating outcomes without dedicated, knowledgeable attorneys on their side.</p> <p>The first three decades of CLS’ work were marked by groundbreaking litigation. We helped scores of clients while also bringing about positive change at the city, state and national levels. In recent years, our work has shifted to include less litigation and more negotiation, education, technical advice and policy advocacy to make change for our clients. We have come of age in a sense, and thus we no longer need to file a lawsuit to be taken seriously. Indeed, CLS has become an important part of our city’s fabric, relied upon for its expertise and experience, and widely recognized as one of the largest, most sophisticated and respected legal services programs in the nation.</p> <p>Our attorneys have become the poverty law experts in our city and state, with the skills and connections to build collaborative efforts to protect the poor and vulnerable. Our day to day experience assisting thousands of clients and grassroots organizations informs our work and sets our goals. We join forces with individuals we serve, government officials, the private bar, community organizations, poverty advocates and other nonprofit organizations to work on behalf of our clients and their communities. We participate in task forces, head coalitions and bring together leaders to create programs that address our clients’ emerging needs. We have used our experience and expertise to build a larger group of people and groups who care about the rights of the indigent, and who see our mission as theirs. </p> <p>In 45 years, CLS has helped build the national movement upon which we were founded into an inclusive, lasting presence in our society. We look forward to another 45 years, and more, of increasing access to justice to the poor as we work to make ours a better society for everyone.</p>
Leadership
Ms. Catherine Carr, Esq.
Term:
Since
Oct
1995
Profile:
Widely regarded as a public interest leader both in the Philadelphia region and nationally through her work for the American Bar Association on Access to Justice, Catherine Carr has dedicated her entire career to advocating for Philadelphia's most vulnerable residents. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1979, Carr clerked for the Honorable Norma L. Shapiro of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Carr joined Community Legal Services Inc. in 1984 as a public benefits lawyer. In 1995, Carr was named executive director of CLS. Carr is widely admired for her bold leadership and vision in managing CLS during the Newt Gingrich years, when Congress passed extensive restrictions on Legal Services Corporation (LSC) funds, including prohibitions on litigating class actions, performing legislative and administrative advocacy, challenging welfare reform laws, and obtaining attorneys fees. Determined to continue providing unrestricted legal services to Philadelphia's low-income communities, Carr turned down the entire LSC grant, comprising 32% of the CLS budget; and spun off Philadelphia Legal Assistance (PLA) which accepts LSC funds and operates within the restrictions. Within five years of the 1996 federal funding loss, Carr's fundraising initiatives grew CLS' budget by about 33%.
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Program:
Civil legal services for low-income Philadelphians
- Budget:
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--
- Category:
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Crime & Legal
- Population Served:
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General Public/Unspecified
Program Description:
<div ><p>When CLS helps a client, we hope our work changes his or her life for the better. We hope that clients leave our office with a sense of relief, comfort and empowerment. We hope their problems have been solved, or are at least on a path toward solution. We strive to solve the problems of our clients, and eliminate some of the largest obstacles in their lives.</p><p>Each year, CLS advocates work to improve the lives of more than 17,000 low-income people in Philadelphia. Yet, the impact of CLS’ work reaches beyond the lives of the clients we see in our offices. When we represent clients, we identify their legal issues and work toward a solution. But often, we also dig deeper. When client after client brings us the same problem, we think critically about the source of the problem and work to remedy it on a greater scale.</p><p>As an organization, CLS knows more about poverty law than just about anyone. Our advocates use their expertise to bring change to the lives of our clients, and to shape the future of society as a whole. Time and again, our advocacy on behalf of low-income Philadelphians has been groundbreaking. In the past year alone, CLS has brought hundreds of thousands of jobs to Pennsylvania, enrolled thousands of people in Medicare Savings Programs, and banned the shackling of incarcerated pregnant women. We use the courts when necessary to enforce the law, but we also provide our clients with strategic and active counsel to fix the systems and laws which harm them.</p><p>As we pass the 45th Anniversary of CLS’ founding, we hope to continue to bring change to the lives of tens of thousands of clients each year. But we also hope that because of our innovative work, there will be even more people who will never have to ask for our help. We invite you to join us in supporting this important work, bringing us one step closer to achieving our goal of justice for all.</p></div>
Program Long-Term Success:
Community Legal Services served nearly 19,000 clients.
Program Short-Term Success:
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Program:
Public Policy
- Budget:
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--
- Category:
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Crime & Legal
- Population Served:
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Aging/Elderly/Senior Citizens
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Children and Youth (infants - 19 years.)
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Disabled, General or Disability Unspecified
Program Description:
<div ><p>Over the last 45 years, CLS has become recognized as a sophisticated source of information on poverty law and public policy related to the poor, as well as an effective agent of real change on behalf of vulnerable families in Philadelphia and across the state.</p><p>We advocate frequently with city, state, and federal agencies and legislative staff that affect the lives of low-income families. We conduct this advocacy work through meetings, task force participation, consultations with agency directors and staff and legislators, comments on regulations, and memos and letters with advisory positions on policy and law.</p><p>We use our experiences with approximately 17,000 individual clients and grassroots organizations each year to inform and direct our local, state, and national policy advocacy on issues of importance to low income families.</p><p>CLS seldom produces major policy changes alone. We collaborate with an array of partners, including local partners such as the Philadelphia Campaign for Working Families and the Philadelphia Unemployment Project, state-wide partners such as the Pennsylvania Welfare Coalition and the Pennsylvania Health Law Project, and national partners such as the National Employment Law Project and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. While our work is only part of the overall effort that produces change, our role as the provider of technical expertise and access to policymakers is often key to the result.</p></div>
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Evidence of Impact
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