Helping Survivors Fight Back

Legal Aid DC’s Family Law and Domestic Violence Unit assists clients during some of their most vulnerable times — helping them navigate complex systems to achieve lasting safety and independence for themselves and, often, for their children. These attorneys cover a wide variety of matters, helping domestic violence survivors obtain Civil Protection Orders (CPO) and counseling clients through custody, divorce, child support, and parentage cases.  

Clients working to keep custody of their children or leave their abuser can face challenging odds in a court system that is often manipulated by those trying to maintain power and control. Having an attorney can make all the difference, from providing same-day representation for emergency CPO trials to working over long periods of time to repair fractured family bonds and help create a structured routine for children growing up in the District.

In one recent case, Ms. Nelson* was fighting for permanent sole custody of her two teenage children. After her son attempted suicide, he revealed to Ms. Nelson that his father had been physically abusive. Fearful for her children's physical safety and their mental health, Ms. Nelson asked Legal Aid for help seeking custody. Her attorney fought by her side to prove not only that Ms. Nelson's ex-husband was a danger to his children, but that she was capable of parenting them on her own. The judge granted Ms. Nelson sole custody as well as a child support order. 

Focus on Child Support  

Because Legal Aid’s Family and Domestic Violence attorneys have deep connections in the community, they’re able to identify gaps in service and policy pitfalls that harm families. On child support issues, attorneys and advocates look for solutions to meet children’s needs without forcing the paying parent into poverty.

Legal Aid helped successfully advocate for an adjustment to the way the District manages the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to ensure that low-income families receive a higher percentage of their child support payments. Eligible families will now receive an additional $50 per month in support.

And the team identified another recurring issue in child support in the District: a child support order isn’t automatically paused if a parent is incarcerated. A parent can file a motion with the court to suspend their payments, but too few people are aware of that option or know how to take the right steps. That means that DC residents returning to the community after incarceration can end up with massive amounts of delinquent child support payments.  

This feeds into a damaging cycle. A parent struggling to find work due to a criminal record or large gap in their work history may not be able to pay down child support debt – which could lead them to be incarcerated again.  

This year Legal Aid launched a new effort, led by Senior Staff Attorney Julia Ward, to inform and help incarcerated residents with child support. Legal Aid made a presentation to incarcerated students in the Georgetown Prison Scholars Program at the DC Jail and partnered with Free Minds Book Club to distribute information at the jail and to DC residents in the federal prison system. Working around the communications and technology restrictions in jails and prisons, we encouraged residents to reach out to us by mail.  

After receiving our flyer, one client wrote to Legal Aid asking for help ahead of a child support hearing. Legal Aid promptly arranged a legal visit to the DC Jail to meet with him and later represented him at the hearing, where the judge agreed to pause his child support order during his incarceration so that he can reenter the community with one less hurdle to overcome.