PROBONO Bulletin - Summer 2008 - (Page 25)

SIGnATURE PRoJECT UPDATE new york Signature Project Update As part of the New York office’s Access to Education signature project, more than 40 DLA Piper lawyers are on teams that represent 22 Head Start programs in New York City. The teams are comprised of a partner or counsel as well as at least one associate. Each team assumes the role of outside general counsel to a Head Start program, fostering the programs’ ability to provide essential child-care and related services to low-income families in New York. WHAT IS HEAD START? Head Start is a federal program that promotes school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of children through the provision of educational, health, nutritional, social and other services to low-income children and families. Head Start programs provide these services to children up to age five, pregnant women and their families. In New York City, most Head Start programs — operated by a range of nonprofit entities — are funded through the City’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), which receives funding from the federal Administration for Children and Families, an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. WHy IS DLA PIPER InvoLvED? As the primary source of child care for thousands of low-income families in New York City, Head Start programs provide a vital service in a highly regulated and demanding environment. Head Start programs have considerable legal needs, yet very limited resources, meaning they are often unable to pay for legal services. DLA Piper’s goal is to provide legal services to as many of these vital programs as possible. WHo ELSE IS InvoLvED? Longtime firm client PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is actively partnering with DLA Piper to provide financial oversight and accounting services to many of the Head Start programs. The participation of PwC professionals has been invaluable to the success of this project. Lawyers Alliance for New York (Lawyers Alliance), New York’s leading provider of business and transactional legal services for nonprofit organizations, is also partnering on the project. DLA Piper is funding a parttime Fellow at Lawyers Alliance, who provides vital assistance to DLA Piper lawyers working with Head Start programs. HoW IS DLA PIPER HELPInG? DLA Piper lawyers, with support from Lawyers Alliance, are currently working on a range of legal issues. For example, Head Start programs now must revise their bylaws to reflect changes in the recently reauthorized Head Start Act. We are developing a set of model Head Start bylaws and will work individually with each program both to adjust the bylaws to each program’s particular needs and to ensure the bylaws are adopted. Many programs have asked for assistance reviewing and SUMMER 2008 | 25

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of PROBONO Bulletin - Summer 2008

PROBONO Bulletin - Summer 2008 Contents A Firm Response to a Natural Disaster Protecting Our Electorate National News An Interview with Sandy Gohn Mapping Impact FourThought Signature Project Update New Perimeter Launches Addis Ababa Law School Project Awards and Recognition What Our Clients Say About Us

PROBONO Bulletin - Summer 2008

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