News

Leaders of the Mass Speaks coalition, including Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy (MIRA) Coalition, Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, Massachusetts Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, and Justice Center of Southeast Massachusetts, LLC joined forces with community members to testify in support of making state government more equitable and accessible by expanding the capacity of public facing state agencies to serve limited English proficient state residents. 

Written by MLRI Board Member, John Carroll, for Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly

In the heady days of the mid-1960s, President Lyndon Johnson initiated the “War on Poverty.” Unfortunately, he was also waging a war in Vietnam. The country could not effectively or affordably engage in both wars at the same time. As a result, both wars suffered.

The War on Poverty enjoyed more success, even though spotty. One of its crowning successes, and one of its most durable, was the creation of the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute in the late 1960s.

The Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless (MCH), Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA), Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI), and the undersigned organizations support the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s efforts to expand resources for shelter, housing, and other resources for families experiencing homelessness in Massachusetts. We affirm the Administration’s commitment to preserving access to the Commonwealth’s Emergency Assistance family shelter system for all eligible families with children. We are also grateful for the broad call to action to support newly arrived immigrant families. We stand ready to share our knowledge and assistance in these efforts in the days and weeks ahead, and we offer key recommendations today.

The Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) has launched a new website, MassHealthProject.org, for its MassHealth Monitoring Project. The purpose of the project is to monitor MassHealth redeterminations and provide MassHealth beneficiaries and their advocates with the tools and resources to maintain their MassHealth coverage or successfully transition to other affordable coverage.

For Immediate Release

Media Contact
NASW-MA: Rebekah Gewirtz | rgewirtz.naswma@socialworkers.org | 617.645.4773

BOSTON, MA (July 31, 2023) – The Massachusetts FY 24 budget includes a 10 percent increase in cash assistance benefits starting April 2024, marking another historic step forward for families in Deep Poverty. This is the fourth increase in four years after decades of frozen benefit levels. These successive increases demonstrate our legislative leaders’ moral commitment to our most vulnerable children, older adults, and people with disabilities.

For Immediate Release 

Media Contact:
Allie Girouard
agirouard@mlri.org | (617) 357-0700 x 305 

BOSTON, July 27, 2023 – Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) will be honoring Dr. Michael Curry, Esq. with the 2023 Catalyst for Change award at a reception on October 10, 2023 at the UMass Club in Boston. 

The Massachusetts Legislature is considering whether to include tuition equity in the FY24 budget. This measure would extend in-state tuition and access to state financial aid to students in the Commonwealth, regardless of immigration status.

The Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) is deeply disappointed in yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College. Although the ruling was not unexpected, the upending of decades of precedent is once again shocking. This decision is a setback in the progress that has been made to increase educational and economic opportunity for communities of color who have been historically and presently excluded from so many opportunities, most notably opportunities of educational and economic advancement.