Civil legal services can be a powerful tool in preventing family separation and children from entering foster care. Since 2023, the Louisiana Bar Foundation (LBF) has funded the My Community Cares (MCC) Civil Legal Network in five locations to accomplish this very goal. The types of cases handled by the MCC civil legal attorneys include domestic violence, family law, public benefits, housing, and consumer health and protection.
MCC is a community-driven, neighborhood-based approach to reducing the number of children who experience abuse or neglect, keeping children and parents together, and connecting families to available resources and support. The aim is to ensure that every neighborhood in Louisiana has access to the services and supports they need to be healthy and safe. Beginning as a pilot in four parishes in 2019 as part of the Child and Family Services Review Program Improvement Plan, MCC now exists in every Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) region in Louisiana. The Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI) provides state oversight for MCC and partners with the DCFS who funds the program.
Our speakers will provide information about MCC generally, the MCC civil legal network, and how civil legal aid can stabilize families and help keep them together.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn about the My Community Cares civil legal attorney network.
- Understand how the provision of civil legal services can help keep families together and prevent children from entering foster care.
SPEAKERS
Claire Edwards, JD, Family Attorney, The Extra Mile
Claire B. Edwards is a family law attorney who currently practices as a My Community Cares attorney, with her office located at The Extra Mile. Claire has participated with the Lafayette Bar Association’s Pro Bono Protective Order Panel. She has served as the president of the Family Law Section of the Lafayette Bar Association. She is a member of the Association of Family and Conciliatory Courts and has been trained in Interdisciplinary Collaborative Divorce Law. She is an Advisory Board member of the Hilliard Museum, a former board member of the Acadiana Latin Cultural Association, and is a parishioner of St. John’s Cathedral Catholic Church. Her practice spans custody, divorce, child support, spousal support, community property, domestic violence, and out of court family law matters.
Emily V. Aucoin, JD, Staff Attorney, Loyola University College of Law, Stuart H. Smith Law Clinic
Emily V. Aucoin is a staff attorney with the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, Stuart H. Smith Law Clinic under a My Community Cares (MCC) grant funded by the Louisiana Bar Foundation. Through the MCC statewide initiative, Emily provides civil legal services as a preventive resource to support and protect children and families by promoting family stability, strengthening parent-child relationships, and preventing formal intervention by child protection agencies. Emily provides supervision on cases with 3L student practitioners in the Children’s Rights, Family Law, and Youth Justice sections. Before joining the Loyola Law Clinic, Emily worked as a child’s attorney at Southeast Louisiana Legal Services representing children in CINC proceedings. Emily is a graduate of Loyola University New Orleans College of Law and Spring Hill College.
