Results

CLIA has had amazing results — take a look!

... in the communities we serve:

CLIA youth have become an exciting and effective mechanism for community improvement and empowerment. Over the last four years, working with law students, faculty members, public officials and community members, CLIA youth:

• Forced local outdoor advertising companies to remove over 75 illegal alcohol and tobacco advertisements from area billboards, along with over 20 illegally constructed billboard structures.
• Surveyed a thirty-block area of Northwest Baltimore and created a comprehensive study of vacant properties in urban areas. Many of these properties were later demolished by the city, making way for new development. Students worked with city and community leaders to take back 16 blocks of East Baltimore using code violation enforcement strategies and community mapping.
• Gathered extensive data on non-compliant bars and liquor stores that regularly violate the liquor code. Students also investigated liquor stores that open regularly at 6 a.m. and target youth, young mothers and alcohol addicted individuals.
• Researched houses suspected of dealing drugs in the Park Heights community. In one semester, high school students helped law students draft and file several drug nuisance pleadings.
• Assisted community leaders research and lobby for a 1997 bond bill that eventually led to funding of the Earles R. Mitchell Community Center in Park Heights.
• Surveyed a local middle school and documented multiple violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This information was included in a detailed report to the Baltimore Board of School Commissioners. Students also created a comprehensive school safety survey and distributed over 600 copies to local middle school students. The results will be used to develop safety plans for participating schools.
• Created a video and an accompanying pamphlet geared towards educating young homeowners and first-time home buyers to avoid real estate fraud (commonly known as flipping) and fraudulent door-to-door sales practices.
• Currently, students are working on a public information project geared towards young victims of child abuse and neglect, while another group is working with the Baltimore Department of Parks & Recreation to assess current services and recommend changes and improvements.

... in the lives of youth:

• 77% acceptance rate among CLIA students who applied to college;
• Increase to 94% attendance of students in CLIA programs;
• Average 4% increase in CLIA students' GPA in 1 year.

Community Law in Action
520 West Fayette Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
(410) 706-3875
(410) 706-0041 fax
clia@communitylawinaction.org
© 2007