CHILDREN'S LAW CENTER OF WASHINGTON PS
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Mission Statement
The vision of the Children’s Law Center of Washington is two-fold: First, we desire that every child in Washington State has a permanent home and are committed to ensuring legal fees are not an impediment towards achieving this goal. We believe that members of the faith community are uniquely equipped to provide these homes, but the CLCW’s services are offered to all people regardless of religious beliefs. Second, by eliminating legal barriers that stand in the way of permanence for every child, the CLCW believes it will become a model across the nation for other states to follow. As a result, the CLCW’s greater vision of this "Permanence Project" will be realized when the nationwide community is mobilized to provide real help and permanent solutions for every orphaned and vulnerable child.
About This Cause
What We Do Permanence for Every Child. We will defend the basic right of a child to have a permanent family. Our mission is derived from Psalms 82:3. We intend to “Defend the weak and the orphan; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.” Specific Legal Services. The Children's Law Center of Washington, PS (CLCW) will provide free and low-cost legal services that achieve permanence for Washington’s orphaned or vulnerable children. These legal services will include adoptions, non-parental custodies, guardianships, and general at-risk youth advocacy. Fees will be set on a sliding-fee scale based on the client's income as compared to the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). Whom Do We Serve? The CLCW will work with all people, married or single, regardless of citizenship, faith or no faith, rich or poor. We simply believe every child deserves a permanent family. Over half of the CLCW's clients are at or below 200% of the FPL. Typical clients will be lower income couples or individuals who require legal assistance in order to provide permanence for the children in their care. Although the majority of our clients will be care providers, the primary beneficiary of CLCW services will be the orphaned or vulnerable child. When more children have permanent homes, fewer children are in foster care, and fewer “age out” when they turn 18. As a result of CLCW’s efforts, Washington’s next generation of children will have a real hope, and a future. Why We Do It While meeting its paramount goal of keeping kids alive, foster care struggles to do anything more. By all accounts foster care should be a last-ditch, ultra temporary solution. Stats on foster care in general: Nationwide, there are approximately 400,000 kids in foster care. Of this number, more than 100,000 are legally “orphans;” their parents’ parental rights having been terminated. There is zero chance of reunification, and so these kids simply wait in foster care for someone to adopt them. When a child turns 18 without any permanent family, this child “ages out” of foster care, and is ejected from the system, forced to fend for themselves for food, housing and employment. The stats on children who “age out” are overwhelmingly dire and described below. According to recent national study: Individuals who grew up in foster care are 30% more likely to be substance abusers and 50% more likely to have a history of domestic violence than the overall homeless population. More than 33% of the nation’s homeless youth had been in foster care the year immediate preceding them taking to the streets. More than 20% of those youth arriving at a homeless shelter were coming directly from foster care. In Washington State: Over 22% of Washington foster youth are homeless after age 18, with 33% of their incomes below the federal poverty level. 65% of kids who aged out of foster care in Washington State have experienced seven or more school changes from elementary through high school. While foster kids graduate high school at rates similar to the community at large, they used GED programs to obtain their diplomas 600% more than the general population. Only 1.8% of Washington foster youth obtain a bachelor’s degree by the age 25. And across the US as well as in Canada: A study of the long-term homeless in Minneapolis found 39% had experienced foster care as children. A New York City study found almost 50% of the young men in homeless shelters were former foster youth. In a Calgary, Canada study of the “street kids” it was found an astounding 90% had been in foster care prior to winding up living on the streets. Stats like these are plentiful as the problem. However, there is hope. The CLCW will not rest until every child has a permanent family. If you’d like to find out how your organization, affinity group or faith community can get involved, please contact us. About Us The Children's Law Center of Washington, PS (CLCW) founded in August of 2012 by adoption attorney Andrew Schneidler. As a former foster parent and adoptive parent of three, Andrew knows first-hand what his clients are going through. Having personally walked through the adoption of an infant in an open-adoption and adopting his second and third child through the foster-to-adopt process, Andrew is able to provide first class legal services to his clients while maintaining a genuine understanding and concern for their respective interests. The CLCW believes that it is the size of the adopting family’s heart — not their finances — that determines the success of an adoption. The idea of the CLCW came to Andrew when he was working with Washington’s Department of Health and Human Services and a private foundation to provide legal services for families who otherwise could not afford the legal representation necessary to achieve permanence. Together, this foundation, State case workers and Andrew worked passionately and yielded great results, exceeding goals and expectations. Unfortunately, due to policy changes in Olympia, the funding for this great project stopped. But Andrew's phone did not stop ringing. Over and over again, he continued to receive calls from social workers and assistant attorneys general, pleading for assistance in order to find just one more child a permanent home. Every call was as urgent as it was heart-breaking. But Andrew's hands were tied. He could not work for free. But that got him thinking. How many more kids could he help if he was able to simply offer his services based on need alone, without regard to the client’s ability to pay? After all, a child should never remain in temporary or foster care simply because of their care provider’s income level. At the CLCW, we offer free and low-cost legal services that help achieve permanence for Washington’s orphaned and vulnerable children. The CLCW asks most clients to cover their costs (such as court fees) and pay only a minimal attorney fee based on a sliding-scale tied to the Federal Poverty Level. We believe every child deserves a permanent, safe home. With the support of the local faith community as well as the generous contributions of donors, we will work tirelessly until this is a reality. The CLCW is a tax-exempt organization under IRS code section 501(c)3. All contributions to the CLCW are tax deductible as allowed by law. The CLCW will work with all people, married or single, regardless of citizenship, faith or no faith, rich or poor. We simply believe every child deserves a permanent family. Will you help us make this a reality? We cannot do it without your support. The Children's Law Center of Washington PS, 9900 Willows Rd. NE, Redmond, WA 98052 Federal EIN 46-0696480