History

In November 1992, a six-year-old girl was shot and killed by her father during a supervised visitation session at the office of the Child Protection Council of Northeastern Connecticut. From this tragedy sprang a coalition of concerned professionals and parents united to examine the weaknesses in the system that had failed that child. The lack of legal services for children in family court was identified as a major concern, which led to the founding of the Children’s Law Center.

In 1996, the Children’s Law Center hired its first staff attorney, Garret Tuller, through a contractual arrangement with Connecticut Legal Services. Under his direction the organization represented over 200 abuse/neglect cases in juvenile court. In 2002, the Children’s Law Center relocated its office from eastern Connecticut to Hartford, to become more accessible to a wider demographic of clients.

In 2010, the Legal Representation Program served 655 children in six judicial districts.Through our combined programs, the Children's Law Center served nearly 3,000 children last year.

Because there are many more children who need advocates, the task ahead is to continually expand our programs and services until all of Connecticut’s communities are served.