Welfare Law Unit

The Welfare Law  Unit represents and advocates on behalf of families and individuals who need cash assistance under the TAFDC and EAEDC programs, or other assistance, such as child care, education and training, transportation benefits, Food Stamps, and Emergency Assistance rent arrears, from the Massachusetts welfare system which administers what is left of safety net/last resort financial assistance programs in the state.  We give special priority to the needs of single parents with minor children, although we continue to provide some assistance, in the following order of priority, to families with minor children headed by a single non-parent adult caretaker, two parent families with minor children, disabled individuals in need of EAEDC (generally while pursuing SSI benefits), and low income individuals otherwise eligible for EAEDC and/or Food Stamps.

With respect to single parents and others seeking, receiving, or losing TAFDC, or for whom TAFDC could afford an opportunity to address barriers to obtaining and retaining employment that is viable to support the family, our work is premised on the analysis that there are three clusters of key issues impacting these clients’ needs:  1) education and training, 2) other personal, family-related, and situational barriers to employment, and 3) the low wage job market.  We represent clients in individual cases, litigation, and policy advocacy to secure access to or retention of cash assistance and other needed benefits, or for transitional benefits for those clients leaving welfare for work.