Children's Law Center of Connecticut

Who We Are

The Children’s Law Center promotes the best possible outcomes for children and families in transition or crisis by providing access to legal services and support they could not otherwise afford and by advancing collaborative, non-adversarial options for resolving conflicts outside the court system.

In 1992, six year-old Ayla Rose was shot and killed by her father during a court ordered supervised visitation in eastern Connecticut, after a violent argument with Ayla’s mother. From this tragedy arose a coalition of concerned professionals and parents, united to examine how our legal system failed this little girl. Ultimately, the coalition identified that children should have an attorney of their own in their parents’ high conflict family court cases, which led to the founding of The Children’s Law Center (CLC).
Goals: We protect children and strengthen families.
Through its programs and services, CLC strives to create safe, stable environments for children whose parents are in chronic conflict. Our primary goal is to be the voice for children in their parents’ family court disputes, where otherwise their interests would be overlooked and they could potentially be in harm’s way. We work with parents to create parenting plans that enable and encourage safe, positive and loving relationships between parents and children. Overall our programs served nearly 1,700 children and families in 2020.

We serve low income children, aged from infancy to eighteen, with legal needs in Family Court. All of CLC’s programs are designed to protect children with limited resources from the harmful effects of parental conflict. Currently, most of our clients are from indigent families, which is defined as below 125% of the federal guidelines for poverty. Our cases are among the most complex the courts see, exacerbated by conditions of domestic violence, child abuse, neglect, addiction, mental illness, incarceration, police involvement, or chronic conflict.

Programs & Services: The Children’s Law Center offers three ongoing programs to serve the needs of children:

Legal Representation Program – provides court-appointed legal counsel to low income children whose parents are embroiled in high conflict family court disputes involving custody, divorce and visitation.

Children’s Law Line – a free telephone help line (1-888-LAW-DOOR) that answers legal questions and gives information and referrals to people seeking information regarding legal issues effecting children...