The Cleveland Homeless Legal Assistance Program (CHLAP) is a program of the CMBA. It works with the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH) and focuses on the legal issues that are of concern to those in Cleveland who are homeless or at-risk of becoming homeless. The program offers an important service to the individuals in need by providing access to justice through brief advice and counseling clinics at regularly scheduled times in shelters and social service sites where they reside or gather for meals and other service.
CHLAP aims to provide pro bono legal assistance to homeless and at-risk individuals. Volunteers provide a variety of services, including shelter site intake interviews, brief advice, and information service, and direct representation in matters requiring further assistance. Volunteers help individuals with civil legal issues, including driver’s license reinstatement, credit problems, criminal record expungement, landlord-tenant problems, public benefits, and family law.