Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. (CLASI)

We hope you'll consider supporting the Combined Campaign for Justice (CCJ) during Delaware's #DoMore24 event, which runs through 6:00 p.m. TONIGHT, Friday, March 7! CCJ raises critical funds for CLASI and Delaware's other legal aid programs, Delaware Volunteer Legal Svcs and Legal Services Corporation of Delaware. Every contribution, no matter the size, makes a real difference -- now more than ever. We invite you to learn more in CCJ's post below. Thank you to our wonderful community of supporters and to all who have donated so far!

Make your voice heard about proposed Medicaid cuts! The U.S. House is expected to vote as early as tonight on a budget resolution that threatens to cut $880 billion from the Medicaid program, which provides essential healthcare and home and community-based services to over 270,000 Delawareans. Each day at CLASI, we see how critical the Medicaid program is for the health and well-being of the Delawareans we serve, including children and pregnant women, people with disabilities, older adults, and their caregivers. In Delaware, Medicaid assists: ➡️ 3 in 5 nursing home residents ➡️ 3 in 8 children ➡️ 3 in 10 people with disabilities 📣 Contact Congress today to share how Medicaid cuts would affect you, your loved ones, and your community. If you live in Delaware, you can share your story directly with Rep. Sarah McBride's office here: https://lnkd.in/e7TJv_Ug If you live outside of Delaware, you can use this online form https://ow.ly/kNPX50V5pIq or call 866-426-2631 to reach your member of Congress.

Good luck to everyone taking the Delaware Bar Exam this week, including Nick Beard-- she will be joining CLASI's Housing Unit after the exam and shared this post in honor of her cookie-fueled preparations. Best of luck to all!

Tell Congress your Medicaid story! Congressional leaders have signaled plans to make drastic cuts to the Medicaid program, a critical lifeline for millions of people across the country. This includes 17 million older adults and individuals with disabilities who rely on Medicaid for healthcare and essential home and community-based services. You can use this simple form from our partners at the National Disability Rights Network to email your members of Congress to tell your story about the vital services Medicaid provides to you or a loved one: https://lnkd.in/e8QWJeNb. You can also call Congress to share your story at 866-426-2631. Let’s help ensure that children, older adults, and people with disabilities here in Delaware and across the country can continue to receive these critical services.

Delaware's Special Election is TODAY, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025 for Senate District 1 and Senate District 5! Polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. The election is to fill two open Delaware State Senate seats vacated by now-Congresswoman Sarah McBride and Lt. Gov. Kyle Evans Gay. To learn more, visit VoteDelaware.org. Find your district: https://lnkd.in/eu5pR9GY Find your polling place: ivote.de.gov Voters with disabilities who encounter access problems at their polling places should bring these barriers to the attention of poll workers, their county Board of Elections, and Nina Kegelman, CLASI's Voting Rights Advocate with Disability Rights Delaware, who can be reached at nkegelman@declasi.org or 302-856-2027. [Image description in alt text.] #Delaware #SpecialElection #DisabilityVote

NOTICE: On Wednesday, February 12, 2025 CLASI’s Kent and Sussex County offices will be CLOSED and CLASI’s New Castle County office will open at 10:00 a.m. due to winter weather. [Image description in alt text.]

CLASI is excited to announce that our Disabilities Law Program has a new name: Disability Rights Delaware! Although our name has changed, our services and structure remain the same. The program was first established at CLASI in 1977, after Congress created the national Protection and Advocacy or "P&A" system to address abuse, neglect, and lack of services in institutions for people with disabilities. We're designated by the Governor to serve as Delaware’s P&A system and Client Assistance Program (CAP) for people with disabilities, providing free legal representation and advocacy services to adults and children with disabilities statewide. Our new name more clearly aligns our program with the National Disability Rights Network of P&A and CAP member agencies across the country. It also better captures the varied work we do, including rights-based advocacy as well as traditional law practice. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/eK-hXam7 #DisabilityRights #DisabilityLaw #LegalAid #Delaware [Image descriptions in alt text.]

Join us TONIGHT, Thursday, January 30, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. as Fireside Chat hosts Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. (CLASI) Advocacy Director and national Social Security expert John Whitelaw, Esq., for Part 1 of "The Ins and Outs of Benefits Available from the Social Security Administration and Medicare/Medicaid for Parents and Their Children with Disabilities." Register here for the Zoom link: https://lnkd.in/d-dwRJBj Part 1: Thursday, January 30, 6:30-8:00 p.m. Part 2: Thursday, February 27, 6:30-8:00 p.m. Fireside Chat is a virtual family-led monthly meet up providing information and resource sharing for people with disabilities in Delaware. Hope to see you there!

CLASI's offices will be closed on Monday, January 20, 2025, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. For a list of Delaware MLK Jr. Day service events and celebrations, visit: https://lnkd.in/eTq8syCH.

Thank you to Rep. Kendra Johnson and Sen. Spiros Mantzavinos for inviting CLASI to present at the Caucus on Aging's opening meeting of the 153rd General Assembly this week. CLASI Supervising Attorney Anthony V. Panicola and Advocacy Director John Whitelaw discussed the work of our Elder Law Program, which provides free civil legal services to Delawareans age 60 and over, and the critical issues we see facing Delaware seniors. We look forward to partnering with the Caucus on Aging this session. [Photo credit: Office of Rep. Kendra Johnson]