Need Help Paying for Food? Most Community College Students Can Now Get SNAP (Food Stamps)
Good news! Starting March 2018, most low-income community college students can get SNAP benefits (food stamps). Apply Now! Until now,…
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Reporting Expunged or Sealed Cases in Commercial Background Checks Violates the Fair Credit Reporting Act
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (the FCRA) governs the accuracy of criminal background checks prepared by commercial screeners. While there…
Opening Doors: How Philadelphia Area Colleges Can Promote Access and Equity by “Banning the Box”
Young people of color across Pennsylvania are over-criminalized at staggering rates. The consequences for any contact with the juvenile or…
Foster Youth Can Now Apply for SSI 6 Months Before Leaving Care
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has a new policy to help youth transitioning out of foster care access Supplemental Security…
Testimony on Philadelphia DHS and Improving Outcomes for Children (IOC)
The following testimony was delivered by CLS Managing Attorney Kathleen Creamer to Philadelphia City Council on June 14, 2016. Printer-friendly…
Parent to Parent: A Guide to Navigating Philadelphia’s Child Welfare System
Navigating the child welfare system can be confusing, emotional, and overwhelming to a parent. The CLS Family Advocacy Unit has…
Do I Need a Medical Form To Get Medicaid?
Pennsylvania expanded Medicaid in 2015. Before Medicaid expansion, most lower-income adults who wanted Medicaid had to get forms from their…
We All Benefit from a Clean Slate for Minor Criminal Records
Over the past two decades, even the most minor criminal convictions have become lifetime barriers to the necessities of life…
Predatory: How Payday Lenders are Using Trojan Horse Tactics to Weaken Consumer Protections in Pennsylvania
Payday loans are an abusive form of lending that traps cash-strapped borrowers into a long-term cycle of debt, which leads…
New Pennsylvania Law Allows Old and Minor Convictions to be Sealed
As of November 14, 2016, people with certain misdemeanor convictions can ask the court to seal their record. A sealed record will…
Youth Justice: SSI Benefits
Billie Washington was struggling to make ends meet. A former home care attendant, she was no longer able to work…
Youth Justice: Child Care Subsidies
Billie Washington was struggling to make ends meet. A former home care attendant, she was no longer able to work…
Transition Memo on Philadelphia Department of Human Services
For over three decades, the Family Advocacy Unit at Community Legal Services has represented thousands of low-income parents in child…
Report: Philadelphia Should Expand Its Kinship Care Program
We all know instinctively, and it is borne out in the research, that children do better with their families. Removal…
Report: Legal Remedies and Limitations on the Employment of People with Criminal Records in Pennsylvania
Download the full report Like most Americans, ex-offenders need to be employed to support themselves and their families. Moreover,…
Careless: How the Pennsylvania Department of Health Has Risked the Lives of Elderly and Disabled Nursing Home Residents
The Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) has been failing in its job to protect nursing home residents. Over the past…
