Centers for Law and Legal Studies

As a national public interest organization, the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) seeks to improve the economic conditions of low-income families with children. The Washington, D.C.–based center also attempts to secure access for poor people to the nation's civil justice system through education, policy research, and advocacy. CLASP has worked closely with the Center on Budget Policies and Priorities, the CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND, the American Public Welfare Association, and hundreds of other federal and state advocacy organizations. The center helps develop new strategies to fight poverty and stimulates new approaches in the delivery of legal services.

Since its founding in 1969, CLASP has been involved in important court decisions related to welfare distribution. The center headed efforts to preserve professional legal services for poor people. It also organized the first clinical program for law school externs and initiated the National Women's Law Center and the Mental Health Law Project. In the 1990s CLASP got involved in a debate over proposed changes in the welfare system: the center issued a number of publications and began a process of information dissemination that created a conduit so that commissions on welfare could obtain information about each other's activities. As part of its ongoing mission the center has committed itself to the continuing review and analysis of developments in federal and state welfare reform.

CLASP advocates streamlined enforcement of CHILD SUPPORT. In the 1990s it initiated the ChildNet campaign which was designed to increase public awareness of the need for reform of the enforcement system for child support. In addition, the center attempted to expand the access of teen parents and impoverished adults to education and training programs. As to legislative issues, the Child Care and Development Block Grant, vocally supported by the center, tempers proposed limitations on welfare recipients that would make affordable child care less feasible. Generally, the center has promoted income support policies that enhance work, reduce poverty, and promote the well-being of families.

CLASP maintains a network of state and local advocates who provide training and technical assistance to other advocates and officials. It produces the quarterly Family Matters periodical, newsletters, and periodic updates on new policy developments. It serves as counsel to the hundreds of legal services programs across the United States and their national organizations.