Justice in Schools - Legal Services of Western Missouri

Justice in Schools

Last year, 21% of students in Missouri school districts moved at least once during the school year.

WHY IT MATTERS: Students who move have poorer attendance and lower academic achievement than classmates who remain in the same class.

The Justice in the Schools project provides legal services to families who are affected by the high student mobility rates caused by housing, financial, and family instability. The project currently operates in the Kansas City Public School District, Hickman Mills C1 School District, Center School District, Hogan Prep Academy, Guadalupe Centers charter schools.

HOW IT WORKS: Licensed Legal Aid attorneys staff the school-based clinics and help with legal issues that negatively impact students and their families. All legal services are free of charge to eligible families.

The attorneys prioritize housing issues, such as evictions, public and subsidized housing issues, and habitability matters, but can assist in a wide range of areas including domestic violence, guardianship, healthcare, consumer issues, and access to public benefits.

BACKGROUND: The Justice in the Schools project was inspired by a community-wide desire to protect families from eviction and the destabilizing pressures that cause high mobility rates. Families too often, by force or necessity, move in and out of neighborhoods, changing schools, many times going through episodes of homelessness.