Legal Resources

If you wish to press charges against your program or a person from your program, you will need to look up your state’s statute of limitations to give yourself a timeline. You will also need to find an attorney who will take your case for free or a sliding scale payment. Some pro bono attorneys offer this. You will need to call the pro bono attorneys, explain your situation and case, and ask about payment options.

• Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center – This team provides young people who have experienced foster care, juvenile justice, homelessness, or other instability with the critical legal advocacy, support, and resources they need to overcome these challenges and see a clearer path to adulthood.
• Children’s Law Center of California – Children’s Law Center of California (CLC) provides legal representation for children and youth impacted by abuse and neglect. We advocate for our clients by supporting families; fighting for reunification, permanence, educational opportunity, health, and mental health wellness; and empowering and strengthening children, families, and their communities. Our informed approach to advocacy makes us a powerful voice in local, statewide, and national child welfare system reform.
• Legal Aid – Learn what questions to ask when choosing a lawyer. And find organizations that give free legal advice and may help you find a free or low-cost attorney.
• Legal Services Corporation – LSC is an independent nonprofit established by Congress in 1974 to provide financial support for civil legal aid to low-income Americans. The Corporation currently provides funding to 132 independent nonprofit legal aid organizations in every state, the District of Columbia, and U.S. Territories.
• Law Help – Find legal aid in your community for people with low incomes
• American Bar Association – Find free legal aid near you and get answers to your legal questions. These services are for people with low to moderate incomes
• NDRN – Locate legal advocacy service providers by state for people with disabilities
• Children’s Rights – Every day, children are harmed by America’s broken child welfare, juvenile justice, education, and healthcare systems. Through relentless strategic advocacy and legal action, they hold governments accountable for keeping kids safe and healthy. Children’s Rights has made a lasting impact, protecting hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children and we are poised to help millions more.
• Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates – The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates is an independent national American association of parents of children with disabilities, attorneys, advocates, and related professionals who protect the legal and civil rights of students with disabilities and their families.
• Disability Rights Legal Center – Founded in 1975, Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) is a 501C-3 non-profit, public interest advocacy organization that champions the civil rights of people with disabilities as well as those affected by cancer. DRLC is a leader in bringing cutting-edge cases to court and in winning victories to protect and to expand the rights of people to help eliminate discrimination and other legal barriers.
• National Center for Youth Law – National Center for Youth Law believes in the incredible power, agency, and wisdom of youth. Driven by their voices and experiences, they have worked for more than 50 years to transform government agencies and public systems, so that they Center Youth with equity, dignity, and care. NCYL works to ensure children and youth in foster care benefit from a positive and stable home-like environment. They dismantle practices that harm children in foster care, ensure youth in foster care have access to health care and education, and promote youth-, community-, and family-centered policies that preserve families and reduce relianc