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Law Center Hosts Event Marking 25th Anniversary of McKinney-Vento
Twenty-five years ago -- on July 22, 1987 -- Congress passed the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. This landmark legislation provides federal funding for shelters and other services for people who are homeless. It also offered educational protections for children whose families do not have a home address.
The Law Center marked the occasion on July 19 with an event celebrating the Act's successes, while laying out a vision for finally ending homelessness in America. The National Association of Realtors, with which the Law Center is working to ensure renters of foreclosed properties known their rights under the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act, hosted the event at its office overlooking the Capitol.
To read more, click here.
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Supreme Court's Health Care Ruling Will Impact Homeless Americans
 In a 5-4 ruling on June 28th, the Supreme Court ruled that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is constitutional -- with one key exception: states must be allowed to decide whether to opt into the Act's Medicaid expansion.
Traditionally, Medicaid has been available to low-income persons who have children, are pregnant, or have certain disabilities. ACA's Medicaid expansion would have allowed any individual below 133 percent of the federal poverty level to enroll in the program-bringing health care to 17 million new people by 2016. Unfortunately, because the Court found that expanding Medicaid is optional for states, several governors -- including Florida's Rick Scott and Texas' Rick Perry -- have already said they will not participate, meaning many Americans will still go uninsured.
To read more, click here.
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DLA Piper Honored for Work to Protect Homeless Children's Rights
On June 6th, DLA Piper received the National Legal Aid & Defender Association's Beacon of Justice Award for its role in Project LEARN, a pilot program of the Law Center.
Project LEARN (Lawyers Education Access Resource Network) is a cutting-edge initiative designed to ensure children who are homeless have a stable school life. The Law Center has trained over 60 DLA Piper volunteers from across the country to: provide legal support to families when schools refuse to enroll children based on their lack of housing; train and provide support to school officials on best practices; and advocate for new education protections for homeless children. DLA Piper's work, done on a pro bono basis, has already changed the lives of numerous homeless children in their families. The Law Center is proud to have such a committed partner on this critical work. Congratulations to DLA Piper!
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Law Center Welcomes Georgia Kazakis to Board of Directors
The Law Center is excited to announce the newest member of its board of directors, Georgia Kazakis.
Ms. Kazakis is a partner at Covington and Burling, where she works primarily on insurance coverage disputes. She is also currently a managing editor of Coverage, a leading publication of the ABA Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee. She is also concerned about issues of homelessness and poverty and contributes much of her time to the cause. Ms. Kazakis is lead counsel for the Law Center, on a pro bono basis, in litigation against the federal government concerning its compliance with Title V of the McKinney-Vento Act. She also serves on the board of directors of FOCUS, a homeless service provider in areas across the country.
Ms. Kazakis earned her B.A. from the University of Virginia and her J.D. from Harvard Law School. She is currently admitted to the Bar in Virginia, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia.
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About the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
The Law Center is the only national legal advocacy organization dedicated to ending and preventing homelessness in America. It fights in the halls of power for laws and policies that protect homeless people's rights and help them rise out of poverty.
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