By-Laws
Central Virginia
Legal Aid Society
ACLU
American
Civil Liberties Union
ASWAN
A Society
Without A Name
For People
Without A Home
Central Virginia
Client Council
website and sub-pages
designed by
Central Virginia
Client Council
An important part of Central Virginia Legal Aid Society's outreach is the Central Virginia Client Council. Client Councils have their beginnings with the National Client's Council, which grew out of a National Legal Aid and defender Association Conference in October of 1968. A client [ad-hoc] committee (which became NCC) was formed that was committed to correcting the lack of client participation in legal services programs.
During an 1968 conference of the National Legal Aid and defender Association, an [ad-hoc] committee was recognized and funded by the National Advisory Committee on Legal Services (currently know as the Project Advisory Group-PAG). This [ad-hoc] committee later became National Client Council-NCC, they were placed on the agenda where they presented an petition and its spokesperson Haryellen Hamilton raised several concerns. Those concerns included; programs with no minority staff, program services, lack of client participation on local boards, refusal to provide funds for clients activities, and programs with no client training.
ACROSS THE COUNTRY
At the next conference in 1969, a commitment was made by the head of the "office of Economic Opportunity's Legal Service-OEO" to provide funding and to include client participation. This commitment was the establishment of a national organization for the empowerment of Legal services clients called "National Client Council-NCC." NCC held its first National Conference in Chicago in 1970. It is from this organization that "Central Virginia Client Council" get its beginning as an organization.
