Advocates for Children’s Services

Who We Are

ACS provides legal advice and representation to children from low-wealth families.  ACS staff is small and unable to represent every eligible client who requests legal representation. The focus of ACS’ legal advocacy is public education; however, ACS will take a limited number of Medicaid or foster care cases. Examples of education cases that ACS will consider for representation include:

– long-term suspension
– expulsion
– repeated short-term suspension
– denial of enrollment
– suspended students facing criminal or delinquency charges
– discrimination on the basis of race, national origin, gender, or disability
–  inadequate Personal Education Plans (PEPs) or Individualized Education Plans
– special education

2) ACS provides community education in the form of publications, presentations, training, and media outreach.

3) ACS collaborates with other organizations and individuals working for education justice.

ACS has two special projects:

1) The Push Out Prevention Project (POPP) focuses on school push out issues in Wake County, such as suspensions and wrongful placement in alternative schools.

2) The Juvenile Reentry Action Project (J-RAP) focuses on students who are on juvenile court probation or who have been in a secure out-of-home placement (e.g., youth detention center, youth development center, psychiatric residential treatment facility) and who face barriers when trying to return to school, such as denied enrollment or placement in an alternative program.

Who We Serve

Area(s): Statewide

Your family’s income should be at or below the following percentage of the federal poverty level

187

Is this organization accessible by wheelchair?: Yes

Does this organization provide access for the hearing impaired?: Yes

Eligibility Restrictions

This program does not serve: Over 60; Immigrant; Prisoner; Homeless

Type of Help

This group provides the following types of services based on your legal needs and its resources:

• Full Legal Representation
• Brief Advice
• Self-Help Materials

How to Get Help

You can contact this organization by: