The Texas Crime Victim Legal Assistance Network (TCVLAN) began in 2012 as a project funded by the Office for Victims of Crime at the Department of Justice. The goal of the project was to create a network of victim service providers working collaboratively to help ensure survivors of crime access the free civil legal help they need to recover from victimization. No one partner can meet the needs of every survivor on its own but working together we have a much better chance of meeting those needs.
Lone Star Legal Aid served as lead partner in this endeavor and began to build a coalition of initial partners and steering committee members that represented a diverse group of providers. Lone Star Legal Aid with the invaluable input and support of Partners including the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas, Cabrini Center of Catholic Charities, the Department of Public Safety Victim Services, Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, Houston Mayor’s Victim Service Office, Poverty Law Section of the State Bar of Texas, Texas Access to Justice Commission, Texas Access to Justice Foundation, Texas Legal Services Center, University of Houston Law Center’s Civil Legal Clinic Program, and YMCA International, set out together to share their experience working with a diverse group of survivors to build the Network.
Today, the TCVLAN has expanded to include partners all over Texas and continues to grow with partners representing legal aid, non-profit victim services, other legal statewide collaboratives such as Legal Assistance for Survivors of Sexual Assault (LASSA), and local, state and federal criminal justice partners. The TCVLAN provides a central location for our survivors to find help and a central location for our partners to help survivors benefit from the services of all TCVLAN partners. Together we have connected hundreds of crime survivors with both legal and non-legal services as our survivors work to rebuild their lives. We look forward to serving thousands more in the years to come.