Community Legal Services of Philadelphia

06/02/2026

The information in these flyers will help many people prevent utility shutoffs before they are in need of legal help. If you are behind on bills or have received a shutoff notice, follow these steps right away!

After you try these steps, if you still need legal help, CLS’s Energy Unit will be open for intake starting Monday, June 22 by telephone at 215-981-3700 Mondays–Thursdays 9am-3pm and in person Tuesdays & Thursdays 9am-12pm at our Center City office: 1424 Chestnut St. and North Philadelphia office: 1410 W. Erie Ave (Broad & Erie)

You can also find all of this information in a printable PDF format at clsphila.org/services/utility-shutoffs

06/01/2026

June is Reunification Month! Help CLS celebrate children being reunified with their parents and families by donating to our resource drive!

These donations will be provided free of charge to CLS’s parent clients who are fighting to safely keep their families together or to reunify in family court.

Visit our Amazon wishlist: clsphila.org/supplydrive

We are collecting: Books, toys, baby supplies, hygiene products, household goods, and more!

06/01/2026

Last week, CLS and our supporters celebrated justice at the 37th annual Breakfast of Champions! We were thrilled to honor our Equal Justice Awardees, City Council President Kenyatta Johnson and CLS Managing Attorney of the Family Advocacy Unit Kathleen Creamer. We also inducted Ballard Spahr LLP into our Hall of Fame, one of only four members over the past 37 years, recognizing their outstanding commitment to justice.

We also took the opportunity to reflect on some of our most impactful victories over the last 60 years. Since 1966, CLS has been fighting for justice alongside our dedicated clients and community partners; the support from our strong community allows us to represent even more clients who have been denied justice.

CLS is especially grateful to the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association for its continued, generous sponsorship of this event and the CLS Bar Campaign.

Thank you to our Leadership Council for their tireless work to make this year's Bar Campaign a success and to the many firms and individuals who donated in support. To make a gift to the Bar Campaign, please visit www.clsphila.org/give.

Photos by: Nicole Guglielmo

05/29/2026

The Youth Justice Project can provide free legal assistance to young people ages 16–25 for a variety of services including employment, family, public benefits, loans and debt, and housing. All services are free and confidential!

Visit our virtual intake at bit.ly/YJPintake, call 484-267-5740, or email [email protected]

05/28/2026

We want to hear from you about which legal problems are impacting you and your neighbors. We will use this information to better understand how we can be more helpful to our community. Your answers to this survey are confidential.

Complete the survey at clsphila.org/communityneeds

05/26/2026

Ben Clark is an Attorney and Equal Justice Works Fellow. For his fellowship project, Ben works to increase access to programs that help low-income Philadelphians get critical repair work done to make their homes more climate resilient. These repairs can help lower heating and cooling costs, keeping families safe and comfortable year-round.

05/22/2026

Dennisse Bones-Santiago, Senior Paralegal in our Intake Unit, has been with CLS for nearly thirty years. For our 60th Anniversary, Dennisse reflects on her surprising start at CLS, why she stayed, and an important moment from her career.

05/21/2026

CLS will be closed Monday, May 25 for Memorial Day. Regular hours will resume Tuesday, May 26.

05/20/2026

Join us for “Understanding Relational Permanency” on Tuesday, June 2, from 2:30-4:30pm at 1501 Arch Street, 15th Floor.

Child welfare policy makers and researchers have increasingly emphasized the importance of preserving key relationships for children in foster care as foundational to child-centered permanency planning.

Please join CLS, SCCA, and the CAU for a CLE presentation about "relational permanency" - what it is, why it's important for kids and families, and how it can inform our practice in dependency cases.

Featured Speakers:
Esther Sherrard, MSW Child Welfare Consultant
Trish Kinkle, MSW, LSW Director of Social Services, Phila. Defender Child Advocacy Unit
Gillian Schaps, Esq. Divisional Supervising Atty, CLS
Sherry Lee Kinship Caregiver

Free to attend. CLE credits awarded upon receipt of both online post-attendance survey
and payment.

CLE Credit: 1.0 substantive, 1.0 ethics
Cost for CLE credits: $20.00
Submit payment at clsphila.org/give and select "Payment for CLE Credit"

Register: forms.gle/M3hLny3elUWHBpZh6

Questions? Contact Caroline Buck, 215-981-3733, [email protected]

05/13/2026

A memorial service for Marge Janoski will be held at Green Street Friends Meeting House, 45 W. Schoolhouse Lane, on June 13 at 11am. All are welcome.

CLS is sad to share the news of the sudden passing of Marge Janoski, a beloved and brilliant longtime attorney in our Family Advocacy Unit. Marge was an attorney at CLS for 44 years, from 1974-2018. She was a founding member of the FAU, pioneering a trauma-informed, interdisciplinary model of practice to represent parents navigating child welfare involvement. Marge was a true champion for Philadelphia families, working tirelessly to keep families together. She believed in the dignity and worth of every parent and cared deeply about her clients.

Marge was also a wonderful mentor, supervisor, and colleague. Members of the FAU turned to Marge regularly for her empathy, her legal acumen, and her knack for thinking outside of the box to find solutions to our biggest challenges. She brought calm, curiosity, and a sense of humor to her work, while always remaining tenacious in her defense of her clients. Marge also showed a younger generation of family defenders how to find joy, balance, and longevity in very difficult work.

Marge retired from CLS in 2018 to spend more time with her beloved daughter Kate, son-in-law Alex, and granddaughter Kavya, but kept in touch with what she called her “FAU family.”

We are profoundly grateful to have had the privilege of knowing and working with Marge and for the incredible work she did for and alongside CLS clients. Marge touched many people at CLS and in our community and she will be deeply missed.