Boston Center for Independent Living, Inc.

Assisting people with a disability to live as full a life as possible through:

• Adult skills training assistance (including areas such as employment, housing, social/recreation, education, and financial issues)
• Assisting with information and referrals (affordable and accessible housing, health insurance, CORI, civil rights for disabled persons, transportation, home modifications, equipment, and other related services)
• Peer mentoring
• Individual advocacy
• Personal Care Assistance Program (PCA) – for people with a disability who need physical care assistance and have MassHealth Standard coverage
• Youth Services Program for individuals ages 14 to 22 that includes Peer Mentoring, Skills Training, Information and Referral, and Advocacy

Monday through Friday: 8:45am to 5:00pm

1526 Dorchester Avenue
Dorchester, MA 02122

Any individual/family member who self identifies with a disability.

De Novo: Center for Justice and Healing

De Novo provides free civil legal assistance and affordable psychological counseling to low-income people. Their services combat the effects of poverty and violence by helping clients and their children meet basic human needs for safety, income, health and housing.

De Novo provides high-quality, free civil legal assistance to low-income people living in Greater Boston, and to immigrants and refugees statewide. They offer legal assistance in the areas of housing and homelessness prevention, family law/domestic violence, immigrant and refugee rights, and disability benefits.

De Novo offers free legal services to victims of crime regardless of their income.

Legal Services

• Family law
• Immigration
• Housing
• Disability Benefits

They also provide counseling services.

• Individual psychotherapy
• Couples counseling
• Group psychotherapy

To request legal assistance, contact their Intake and Referral Line at (617) 661-1010 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday

Disability Law Center

DLC is committed to promoting the civil and human rights of all persons with disabilities.

DLC’s Core Function is to keep people with disabilities safe from abuse and neglect wherever they live and where they receive services. DLC does this primarily by monitoring for abuse and neglect as well as investigating suspicious deaths and allegations of abuse and neglect.

Client services:

• They provide information, referral, technical assistance and representation regarding legal rights and services for people with disabilities
• They provide legal services to eligible people and groups whose cases meet DLC’s focus areas. Click here to view the issue areas that DLC will be focusing on in its current Fiscal Year
• They seek to strike a balance between systemic advocacy and individual representation
• Their experienced lawyers and paralegals conduct trainings for community groups and other advocacy organization

Please note that due to COVID-19 staff are working remotely. They are therefore not taking any walk-in visitors to help slow down the spread of COVID-19.

M-F: 9am - 5pm

Who They Serve:

• People with disabilities
• People with disability-related problems
• People with disabilities whose legal problem falls within a priority
• People with disabilities whose case has merit and DLC has the staff time and resources necessary to resolve the issue

Justice Resource Institute (JRI)

JRI works in partnership with individuals, families, communities and government to pursue the social justice inherent in opening doors to opportunity and independence.

JRI offers a wide array of services including:

• Behavioral Health Clinics & Trauma Services 
• Community Services 
• Developing Abilities 
• Educational & Residential Services
• Foster Care & Childhood Services
• Health & Housing
• Intensive Services & Juvenile Justice 

Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD)

The Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) is the independent state agency that enforces the anti-discrimination laws of the Commonwealth through training, mediation, investigation, prosecution and adjudication. The people of Massachusetts, its workers, and visitors may file a Complaint if they believe they were treated differently or unfairly in Massachusetts based on their identity as a member of a protected class. Complaints filed at the MCAD are investigated by an MCAD staff member to determine if there are sufficient facts to find that the treatment alleged constitutes unlawful discrimination. The MCAD conducts its investigation as a neutral entity. If it is more probable than not that there was an unlawful practice, the Complaint may move forward to prosecution and adjudication.

The MCAD has three offices, Boston, Springfield, and Worcester, where one can meet with an intake specialist for a free consultation and file a Complaint. The MCAD closed its New Bedford office temporarily while searching for a new office location in the region.

The MCAD also offers training and outreach to address and prevent discrimination. The Commission also conducts policy reviews, provide draft model policies online, and issues guidance on Acts that affect the work of the Commission.

M-F, 9-5pm

MCAD Springfield
436 Dwight Street, Room 220
Springfield, MA 01103
Phone: 413-739-2145
Fax: 413-784-1056

MCAD Worcester
484 Main Street, Room 320
Worcester, MA 01608
Phone: 508-453-9630
Fax: 508-755-3861

In all but a few exceptions, the MCAD cannot accept complaints based on incidents over 300 days old. You should review the MCAD Questionnaires

You should bring with you any relevant names, addresses, or telephone numbers, witnesses’ names, and any other paperwork that will help investigate and establish your allegation of unlawful discrimination. You should also be able to give the date the alleged discrimination occurred.

For an employment case: You should have your employer’s name, address, the approximate number of employees, and the name of the parent company, if applicable.

For a housing case: Supply the landlord’s or property manager’s name, the real estate company’s name, or the real estate agent’s name, if appropriate.

For public accommodations: Bring the name of the owner or manager of the establishment.

Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA)

The Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) assists and empowers low-income individuals and families to meet their basic needs, improve their quality of life, and achieve long-term economic self-sufficiency. DTA serves one in eight residents of the Commonwealth with direct economic assistance (cash benefits) and food assistance (SNAP benefits), as well as workforce training opportunities

In addition to food and cash benefits, DTA offers other services to help you meet your basic needs and achieve economic mobility.

Services include:

• Domestic Violence
• Disability Access
• DTA help for seniors
• SNAP help for veterans
• SNAP Nutrition Education
• SNAP Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Pilot 
• Funeral & Burial Assistance
• Appeals and Hearings
• Rights, responsibilities, penalties
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
• DTA Pathways to Work (employment & training)
• Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) 
• Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC)
• Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled and Children (EAEDC)

DTA Assistance Line: Mon. - Fri. 8:15am - 4:45pm

You can find locations at https://www.mass.gov/orgs/department-of-transitional-assistance/locations?_page=2#

Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC)

The Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC) helps individuals with disabilities to live and work independently. MRC is responsible for Vocational Rehabilitation, Community Living, and Disability Determination for federal benefit programs.

M - F: 8:45am - 5pm

Programs are for persons with disabilities. Some services may have other eligibility requirements. Must be a Massachusetts resident and eligible to work in the U.S.

The Federation for Children with Special Needs

The Federation currently oversees over 15 projects related to supporting families whose children have special educational needs and special healthcare needs, as well as families of culturally and economically underserved populations by promoting family engagement within general education.  The projects are organized into five “Centers” by the primary type of service offered to families and are described below.

Programs

• Special Education Parent Center: Focuses on providing support, information, training and workshops related to special education to families of children with special needs (includes their outreach programming to culturally and linguistically underserved families). Through a variety of activities, parents can learn about the special education process (including IEP, Basic Rights, Transition Planning, MCAS, etc.) so that they can best support their child
• Family Support Center: Focuses on providing parent to parent support for families who have children with special health care needs or disabilities; women, children, adolescents and young adults infected/affected by HIV/AIDS; families of young children with early childhood mental health issues; and families who have a serious mental health challenges and complex DCF cases with child custody concerns
• Health Advocacy Center: Focuses on providing healthcare information and support to families of children with special needs, and programming that helps build capacity for family partnerships and supports partnership activities between managed care organizations and parents around improved access to services and supports
• Family and Community Engagement Center: Offers education improvement services to districts and schools in Massachusetts, partnering with districts and schools to improve student achievement and school performance through strengthening family and community engagement policies. The Center also trains community volunteers to act as “surrogate parents” for educational decision-making for students whose parents are not available.
• Parent-Professional Leadership Center: Focuses on activities that help build collaborative relationships among key education stakeholders (parents, educators, other professionals, and community partners) ensuring systemic efforts at improving educational outcomes for all students.

The Federation provides information, support, and assistance to parents of children with disabilities.