'Justice in the Schools' legal help for families expanding to Center School District
Troost Elementary School students at LINC display civil rights signs for Black History Month, February 2020.
Legal assistance for housing problems, eviction threats, foreclosure, consumer complaints and other matters is coming to the aid of Center School District families.
LINC is expanding its support of the Justice in the Schools program to give Center households protection that has already been successful in Hickman Mills and the Kansas City Public Schools.
Attorneys from Legal Aid of Western Missouri have been helping qualifying families stand against destabilizing threats since 2018 so their children can be safe and stay in school.
“I hope it is helpful to families to have an advocate,” Justice in the Schools Attorney Garrett Christensen said. “Our goal is to assist families in stressful and unfair situations.”
LINC has been a supporter of the Legal Aid program since it began in the Kansas City Public Schools, and LINC provided the funding to bring Christensen to Hickman Mills in the 2019-2020 school year.
Center School District Superintendent Yolanda Cargile, who was the superintendent for Hickman Mills when the program opened there, supported LINC’s plan to expand Christensen’s work to Center as well.
“I know Dr. Cargile is passionate about the project,” Christensen said. “We’ve learned some lessons (in Hickman Mills) on outreach and how to connect with families and it’s an exciting opportunity to provide the services in Center.”
Since January 2020 in Hickman Mills, Justice in the Schools has opened 169 cases for families, affecting 184 students and 13 Hickman Mills staff.
The work has involved 56 housing cases including eviction defense, 48 family law cases such as custody, divorce and adoption issues, 37 guardianship cases, and 14 consumer cases including bankruptcy and debts.
Legal Aid of Western Missouri and the Legal Services Corporation have been working with the school districts to give families critical help with LINC’s support.
The legal support was largely inspired by a community-wide desire to protect families from eviction and the destabilizing pressures that cause high mobility rates. Families too often, by force or necessity, move in and out of neighborhoods, changing schools, many times going through episodes of homelessness.