(BELLE GLADE, Fla.) – Florida Rural Legal Services will continue to provide essential legal services to families living in the Glades area who face complex challenges, such as sub-standard housing, employment issues and family law needs, thanks to funding from Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County.
The Access for Success program offers free civil legal assistance to children and households with children in the Glades community whose income falls below 150% of federal poverty guidelines. The program primarily engages clients through its outreach efforts and self-referrals, ensuring that legal support is readily available to those who need it most. This program addresses a wide range of critical issues affecting children and families, including but not limited to:
• Education law issues
• Medicaid benefits and access to health care for children
• Disability benefits for children
• Family law and custody matters that impact children
• Housing concerns that affect children
• Food stamps and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) benefits for children and households with children
• Wage and bank garnishments to safeguard household incomes for families with children
In addition to legal assistance, the program also refers families to non-legal services and collaborates with other agencies, such as BRIDGES in Pahokee and Belle Glade, Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Palm Beach County and HomeSafe, all programs that participate in Children’s Services Council’s early childhood system of care, to provide comprehensive support for family stability and functioning.
“The Access to Success program fills a critical gap in services, ensuring families in the Glades community who require legal guidance get the support they need so their children grow up healthy, safe and strong,” said Dr. Lisa Williams-Taylor, CEO of Children’s Services Council.
Florida Rural Legal Services (FRLS) takes on a crucial role by providing advocacy, legal representation, counsel, and education to families with children facing various challenges. These challenges may include housing issues, family law matters, wage garnishment, food stamps, Medicaid or Medicare access, education-related concerns, unemployment issues, and access to healthcare services. Additionally, FRLS is dedicated to addressing other legal issues that benefit children living in these households as identified by the assigned attorney.
Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County is a local, special-purpose government created by Palm Beach County voters in 1986 and reauthorized in 2014. For more than 30 years, it has provided leadership, funding, services and research on behalf of the county’s children so they grow up healthy, safe and strong.