Legal Aid Justice Center

works to end the criminalization of poverty in Virginia by exposing and addressing the injustice that results from criminal legal system policies- from policing decisions to court practices to state-sanctioned barriers to reentry- that target people because of poverty and race. Through a strategic mix of community organizing, local and statewide policy advocacy, and impact litigation, this program works to reform our criminal legal system’s over-reliance on incarceration and perpetuation of racial injustice.

Though the Civil Rights & Racial Justice Program was officially launched in early 2017, the core values espoused by the program have been central to the Legal Aid Justice Center’s mission for a long time. Building on that work, the program is committed to intervening at every point in the criminal legal system- from initial law enforcement contact in the community, through the courts, to individuals’ confinement in Virginia’s jails and prisons, and finally to their reentry into the community.[3]

The Civil Advocacy Program serves low-income community members with a variety of non-criminal legal services.[4] Civil Advocacy covers cases in consumer protection, employment discrimination, housing rights, mental health laws, and access to public benefits.

The JustChildren program was established in 1998 to address issues in Virginia's public education, juvenile justice, and foster care systems. The program uses a variety of methods, including direct representation of clients, community education and organizing, and legislative advocacy.[5]

The Immigrant Advocacy Program again uses a combination of legislative advocacy, public education, and representation of individual clients to improve the condition of immigrant workers in Virginia. Since its establishment in 1998, Immigrant Advocacy has settled cases for over $2 million to immigrant laborers in unpaid wages.[6]

Beginning in 2017, LAJC has expanded efforts to serve the thousands of immigrant farmworkers living in isolated areas throughout Virginia.  LAJC meets workers at the labor camps, mobile home parks and motels where those who pick, pack and process Virginia’s crops reside, sometimes for only a few months each year. Physical isolation, language barriers and insecure immigration status make farmworkers particularly vulnerable to exploitation, through wage theft, labor trafficking and other offenses.[7]

Building off of the model established by the JustChildren and Immigrant Advocacy Programs, the Elder Law Initiative uses advocacy, community education, and direct representation to improve the condition of Virginians in elder care facilities. The initiative works with individual facilities, organizes family councils, and informs individual residents and their families about their legal rights. The initiative also works with the University of Virginia Health System to conduct research in local facilities to identify issues and formulate ways to improve elder care in the region.

The Medical-Legal Partnership is a joint effort between the University of Virginia Children's Hospital, the University of Virginia Law School, and LAJC. The program provides legal counseling to families and consultation, training, and resources to health care providers in the region. The program is sponsored by a grant from the Jessie Ball duPont Fund.

The Virginia Institutionalized Persons Project was created in 2007 and focuses on specific areas of advocacy to improve conditions for inmates in Virginia's prison system. For example, in 2011 the project worked on a class action suit involving Virginia's parole laws.[8] In 2009, the program began researching the healthcare within the prison system, and has since begun advocating for reforms.[9]

The LAJC works with the University of Virginia Law School to create legal clinic programs that involve law students with its various service areas. Clinic topics include housing law, mental health, employment law, elderly advocacy, family resources, immigration law, and child advocacy.[10]