Carolina Legal Assistance was founded and continues to pursue the mission of "creating and improving access to appropriate services and treatment for children and adults with mental disabilities through individual and systems advocacy." Most adults with mental illness or developmental disabilities are indigent. They are vulnerable to neglect and abuse at the hands of caregivers and agencies that are supposed to take care of them. They face discrimination in housing, in job opportunities, and in school. Sometimes they need a good lawyer. For twenty years Carolina Legal Assistance (CLA) has effectively represented children and adults with mental disabilities, inspired the trust of our client community, and gained the respect of our adversaries.
CLA was originally funded by a grant from the American Bar Association and Title XX before becoming a program of Legal Services of North Carolina (LSNC). Our original grants allowed us to represent patients in the state psychiatric hospitals and we located our offices on the grounds of Dorothea Dix and Broughton Hospitals.
As our clients began to be "deinstitutionalized" and move into the community, so we too expanded and represented clients in the community. Within two years of the program's founding, CLA identified repetitive issues that cried out for systemic solutions, and we undertook litigation accordingly with great success. Our Willie M. and Thomas S. litigation changed the way that mental health services were delivered in North Carolina and we also learned that the work is not over when you win the case. In Thomas S., CLA staff spent many years implementing the relief obtained in court so that all of the 1200 class members would be released from state hospitals into appropriate community services.
At the same time, CLA represented individual clients, co-counseled with LSNC field programs, and presented on disability law issues at LSNC and pro bono CLE seminars. We authored chapters of the Poverty Law Manual, and presented to legislative and administrative bodies on issues of import to our clients. CLA is known for achieving effective and significant results with limited resources.
The particular accomplishment of Carolina Legal Assistance has been to have a vision about what it would take to really bring about systemic change in the way our clients are treated and to take significant steps to implement that vision. We have been thoughtful in our strategies for improving the lives of our clients, and we have understood the magnitude of the task. The primary activity of the legal staff at CLA is the representation of indigent clients who have mental or learning disabilities. Because the need for our services far exceeds our resources, we focus on class actions and impact litigation as well as policy advocacy to achieve results for the largest number of people. The staff is currently exploring a case which has the potential to bring adequate funding to special education in North Carolina so that children with special needs will receive their entitlement to a "sound basic education" which will prepare them to participate and compete in society.
CLA has recently established the Special Needs Federation with a grant from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. This is a coalition of disability rights organizations and lawyers who advocate for children with special education needs. The Federation serves as a clearinghouse for ideas, information and strategies. It is the framework for developing systemic advocacy on special education issues, including public awareness, litigation and policy advocacy. We have also been training lawyers and court officials on representing and communicating with offenders who have special needs.
As CLA enters the next century as an independent non-profit organization, we face many challenges and many opportunities. Join us on the journey.