Below is a brief summary of the services provided by the LBF grantees. Office locations, if available, are in parentheses.
Acadiana Legal Services Corporation (ALSC) is a private, non-profit law firm that provides free legal assistance in civil cases to low-income individuals in the southwest and central regions of Louisiana. ALSC provides services in a variety of areas of law including consumer, education, family, juvenile, health, housing and public benefits. (Alexandria, Lafayette and Lake Charles)
Baton Rouge Bar Foundation offers a variety of programming for the public, including coordination of free legal services for the poor, law-related education events for children and the public and a teen court for first-time misdemeanor offenders. (Baton Rouge)
Baton Rouge Children’s Advocacy Center (BRCAC) works to lessen the trauma experienced by child victims when abuse allegations are investigated, and to provide support during any subsequent proceedings within the criminal justice system. They serve abused children in East Baton Rouge, Iberville, Pointe Coupee, and West Baton Rouge Parishes. (Baton Rouge)
Beauregard Community Concerns – June Jenkins Women’s Shelter provides housing, counseling and brief legal services to victims of domestic violence in Beauregard and Vernon Parishes.(DeRidder and Leesville)
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Baton Rouge – Immigration Legal Services provides free legal services to immigrants and refugees across Louisiana. A staff attorney and small staff represent clients before U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Their services focus primarily on removal and detention issues. (Baton Rouge)
Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans – Immigrant Children provides direct immigration legal representation to low-income immigrant clients, pro bono legal representation training for pro bono attorneys, and outreach to immigrant communities to educate about immigration benefits. (New Orleans)
Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans – Immigration Legal Services provides immigration legal services to crime survivors and educates the community and statewide stakeholders on the unique challenges faced by immigrant survivors generally and, in particular, in accessing help from law enforcement. (New Orleans)
Catholic Charities of New Orleans – Project SAVE provides free, emergency legal representation to survivors of domestic violence in Orleans Parish. Staff attorneys help with legal orders to keep survivors safe and to protect their legal rights. Project SAVE’s legal services include temporary restraining and protection orders, temporary child support, custody and use of property. (New Orleans)
Catholic Charities of North Louisiana provides quality social services to families and individuals without discrimination and in accordance with Catholic Social Teachings and professional standards. Their Immigration and Family Services practitioners work with individuals who need help in navigating forms, legal documents, immigration standing and understanding the requirements necessary for immigrants and their families to successfully live in the community. (Shreveport)
Central Louisiana Pro Bono Project coordinates the provision of free legal services to low-income people in Avoyelles, Rapides and Vernon Parishes. The Project recruits volunteer attorneys to handle cases referred by Central Louisiana Legal Services. The Project also organizes free legal advice clinics in the community where volunteer attorneys answer questions and provide general information concerning various legal matters. (Alexandria)
Chez Hope, Inc. provides a variety of services to victims of domestic violence in St. Mary, Lafourche and Assumption Parishes. Chez Hope offers shelter, legal services, education and children’s services. (Franklin and Thibodaux)
CrescentCare provides direct representation of clients living with HIV/AIDS who need assistance with discrimination cases, public benefits, consumer debt management and defense, permanency planning, privacy or confidentiality concerns, and other legal needs. (Orleans)
D.A.R.T. of Lincoln provides shelter, legal services, education and children’s services to victims of domestic violence. (Lincoln, Jackson, Union, Bienville and Claiborne Parishes)
Disability Rights Louisiana: Protects and advocates for the rights of people in Louisiana with disabilities and for people who are sixty years of age or older through the provision of legal representation, information and referral, education and training, and systems advocacy. (New Orleans)
Ella Project offers pro-bono legal assistance to low-income artists, musicians and grass roots non-profits in Louisiana. ELLA provides assistance with copyright and intellectual property, business incorporation, non-profit incorporation, contract review, contract disputes and other civil law matters. ELLA is a partnership between the Arts Council, Tipitina’s and Tulane Law School. (New Orleans)
Emergency Legal Responders: Advocates for all people impacted by natural, social, and economic crises through free and accessible legal information, free community legal clinics, and customized legal training for social service providers. Providing services to all disaster survivors, focusing on the need to achieve community resilience and more equitable disaster recovery efforts.
Faith House, Inc. provides a multitude of services to victims of domestic violence in Acadia, Evangeline, Lafayette, St. Landry and Vermillion Parishes. These services include shelter, counseling and legal services. The program’s legal advocate assists with protective orders, sets up victim notification systems and advocates on behalf of survivors with the justice system. They also provides domestic violence education to law enforcement, judges, attorneys, hearing officers and clerk of court employees. (Lafayette)
Family Justice Center of Central Louisiana helps domestic violence survivors obtain safety and empowerment. (Pineville)
Family Violence Program of St. Bernard: We serve survivors of domestic violence who may also be victims of sexual assault, female-headed and/or single parents with dependents, lost their jobs, live below poverty level, have limited transportation, and have low educational attainment and limited skills. Assisting shelter residents with filing petitions in St. Bernard as well as other jurisdictions.
Family and Youth Counseling Agency, Inc: The mission of Family and Youth is to provide affordable and professional support through programs and services dedicated to advocacy, counseling, and education for the people of Southwest Louisiana and in those communities they are called to serve.
First Grace Community Alliance works with and for people in need, especially women and their children, by meeting food, housing and other emergency needs, while simultaneously challenging systemic poverty in the greater New Orleans area. Their primary programs are Hagar’s House (a home for women and children) and Project Ishmael (a small immigration legal center for children). (New Orleans)
Frontline Legal Services is a public interest, public health law and policy firm. Their mission is to provide legal and policy support for those on the frontline of Louisiana’s public health and human rights crises. (New Orleans)
Innocence Project New Orleans (IPNO) represents indigent, innocent prisoners serving life sentences across Louisiana and assists them with their transition into life outside prison after their exoneration. By identifying and remedying cases and causes of wrongful conviction, IPNO holds the criminal justice system accountable for its mistakes, raises awareness of systemic problems and promotes best practices throughout the criminal process to prevent future miscarriages of justice. (New Orleans)
Jeff Davis Communities Against Domestic Abuse is a non-profit organization which operates the only emergency battered women’s shelter in Jeff Davis Parish. Their goal is to provide a safe shelter environment, advocacy and empowering programs to survivors and their children who are victims of domestic abuse. CADA will also assist victims of domestic abuse in Jeff Davis Parish to obtain temporary restraining orders against their abuser. (Jennings)
Justice and Accountability Center of Louisiana addresses pervasive problems in the post-conviction phase of the criminal justice system and creates a supportive, collaborative space for attorneys and advocates.
Lafayette Parish Bar Foundation utilizes its Lafayette Volunteer Lawyers pro bono program to ensure that access to justice is available to low-income residents in Lafayette Parish. The Foundation also maintains a law library where pro se litigants can access information relevant to their legal matters. (Lafayette)
Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights is a nonprofit law office that defends the rights and dignity of young people in Louisiana’s juvenile justice system by providing holistic, skilled, and client-directed legal representation; leadership in juvenile defense reform; and training and practice resources for public defenders. (New Orleans)
Louisiana Center for Law & Civic Education is a statewide organization that coordinates, implements and develops legal and civic education programs, trains educators in the delivery of these programs and assists with their implementation. (New Orleans)
Loyola University New Orleans College of Law – The Education Project was created to fill a critical gap in legal representation for low-income students and their families on special education and school discipline matters in the greater New Orleans area.
Loyola University New Orleans College of Law Wage Claim Clinic – The Workplace Justice Project works on behalf of workers who earn low wages. They work to improve economic outcomes through education, direct representation, and policy work which promote access to systems of redress, build economic opportunity, and increase fairness and equity.
LSBA Young Lawyers Division fosters discussions and interchange of ideas relative to the duties, responsibilities and problems of the younger members of the legal profession in the State of Louisiana; to aid in their advancement; to encourage their interest and participation in the activities of the Louisiana State Bar Association, and, in general, to further the purposes and objectives of the LSBA.
Metro Centers for Community Advocacy was formed to provide services, including legal services, to survivors of domestic violence in Jefferson and Orleans parishes. Metro expanded its legal services to include direct legal representation to the residents of St. Charles, St. John and St. James Parishes. (Jefferson)
NO/AIDS Task Force: Serving patients with primary care, behavioral health, and dental services along with additional supportive services such as housing, food assistance, legal services, transportation, and other social services. Additionally, engages in advocacy activities at the local, state, and national level while providing medical and supportive services to a broader community of low-income patients beyond people living with HIV.
Northeast Louisiana Bar Foundation: Provide legal assistance and guidance in civil matters for individuals living in the fourteen (14) parishes of Northeast Louisiana, Bienville, Caldwell, Claiborne, East Carroll, Franklin, Jackson, Lincoln, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita, Richland, Tensas, Union, and West Carroll. Support the goals of preserving, honoring, and improving our system of justice, increasing public understanding of the legal system, and advancing the reality of equal justice under the law.
Oasis (formerly Calcasieu Women’s Shelter, Inc.) provides a variety of services to victims of domestic violence in Allen, Calcasieu, and Cameron Parishes. These services include shelter, counseling, legal advocacy, job training, adult education and childcare. (Lake Charles, Allen and Cameron)
Project Celebration serves survivors of domestic violence in northwest Louisiana. The program provides shelter, legal advocacy and other services. (Many)
Safe Harbor, Inc. provides shelter and a variety of other services to victims of domestic violence in St. Tammany and Washington parishes. Safe Harbor’s legal outreach program assists women with the preparation of petitions for temporary restraining orders and protective orders and provides court escort for hearings. (Covington and Slidell)
Shreveport Bar Foundation Pro Bono Project provides free legal assistance through volunteer attorneys to low-income and indigent residents of Caddo and Bossier Parishes in both civil and juvenile matters. In addition, the Shreveport Bar Foundation Pro Bono Project offers educational presentations on law-related issues to the general public. (Shreveport)
Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS) is a private, non-profit law firm that provides free legal assistance in civil cases to low-income individuals in southeast Louisiana. SLLS provides services in a variety of areas of law, including consumer, education, family, juvenile, health, housing, wills and public benefits. (Covington, Baton Rouge, Hammond, Marrero and New Orleans)
Southeast Advocates for Family Empowerment (SAFE) is a family violence prevention and intervention agency assisting survivors of domestic violence and their dependent children serving Livingston, Tangipahoa, St. Helena and Washington parishes. (Hammond)
Southwest Louisiana Bar Foundation provides legal assistance to indigent citizens in five Southwest Louisiana parishes – Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron and Jefferson Davis. (Lake Charles)
St. Frances Cabrini Immigration Law Center: Address the growing needs of the immigrant population in Southwest Louisiana and provide essential social, educational, and legal services to indigent and low-income immigrant families. We envision a community that celebrates and respects all cultures, recognizing the enrichment that diverse backgrounds bring to our local communities.
STARC of LA., Inc: Provide a lifetime of S-ervices, T-raining, A-dvocacy, R-esources and C-ommunity connections for individuals with intellectual and developmental disABILITIES (IDD). STARC has a long history of helping thousands of individuals in need since it began.
Training, Education and Mediation for Students (T.E.A.M.S.) serves juveniles in need of education advocacy services in Caddo and Bossier Parishes. T.E.A.M.S. has court appointed education advocates on staff to serve students who are at risk of becoming involved with the court system or who are already involved with the courts. These advocates ensure that the special education and mental health rights of these young people are honored both by schools and the justice system. (Shreveport)
The Haven works to establish a community-based response to interpersonal and family violence through advocacy, education, prevention, resource development and treatment. The Haven operates an 18-bed shelter in Houma and runs a legal advocacy program that assists victims of domestic violence in navigating the restraining order process. (Houma)
The Pro Bono Project utilizes volunteer attorneys from across southeast Louisiana to provide free civil legal services to the poor in Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard, St. Tammany and Washington parishes. The Pro Bono Project provides services in areas of law ranging from employment, housing, public benefits, family and consumer law. (New Orleans)
The Wellspring Alliance for Families works to strengthen the family and individuals through direct service, education, advocacy and women’s leadership. The Wellspring’s domestic violence program provides safe shelter, a crisis hotline and legal advocacy for victims in the northeast corner of Louisiana. The Wellspring is an active partner of the Family Justice Center in Monroe, which is a multi-agency collaboration between legal services, social services and law enforcement that provides a coordinated response to the needs of victims of domestic violence. (Monroe)
Youth Service Bureau of St. Tammany provides advocacy, counseling, education and intervention for at-risk youth and their families, helping them reach their full potential. The program includes courses for young people already involved in the criminal justice system and outreach to more general audiences such as schools. (Bogalusa, Covington, Franklinton and Slidell)
