CLASP

Alan Houseman. Mr. Houseman is CLASP's Executive Director, a position he has held since joining the organization in 1982. His expertise is innovative anti-poverty strategies and civil legal assistance. He has written numerous articles, manuals, papers and books on legal services, poverty law advocacy, and welfare policies, including Securing Equal Justice for All: A Brief History of Civil Legal Assistance in the… See full bio.

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Story: In August 1969, CLASP began as four lawyers energized by the Civil Rights Movement’s successes and deeply concerned that decision making in government and traditional legal practice failed to consider important issues and constituencies. At the time, public interest law was a concept but no legal organization entirely dedicated to the public interest existed. CLASP filled this void and quickly attracted legal professionals who strongly believed in serving the public and being effective advocates for underrepresented people. Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg chaired the new organization’s board of directors. CLASP ’s early years were, as founder Charles Halpern described, during a period of momentous change. The country was ending a decade defined by the Vietnam War, the oldest Baby Boomers’ coming of age, the deaths of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society programs, including health care for poor and elderly people. But the spirit of the country determined that there was still room for and great need of more social change. And there was recognition that the courts and government had a role to play in making society better for all citizens. CLASP stepped in to be a vehicle for change through legal, and soon after, legislative and regulatory channels. The small organization wielded significant impact with a staff of talented attorneys and students who participated in the organization’s public interest legal clinic—the first of its kind in the nation—which eventually grew from 12 students a year to 55. During the 1980s, the landscape for public interest advocacy changed dramatically. Funding for public interest law became scarce and the federal government turned many programs over to the states. In 1982, under leadership of a new executive director, Alan W. Houseman, CLASP changed its focus from general public interest law to extensive anti-poverty policy, with particular emphasis on child and family poverty and civil legal assistance. This shift reflected a deliberate effort to target resources where they would have the greatest impact. (Source: http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/2009.pdf)

Evidence of Impact Summary:

The Center for Law and Social Policy is credited for their range of research and analysis highlighting trends and issues relating to workforce development. Their research has fueled the decisions and advocacy of practitioners in this space.
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Organization Strengths Summary:

Experts praise CLASP for their bright and qualified staff and the positive work environment this organization has been able to create for their employees. This speaks to the great leadership and management of the organization, as well. Additionally, experts agree CLASP produces high quality research.
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Areas for Improvement Summary:

Areas for improvement mentioned were mixed but included program expansion, neutrality, diversity , and marketing enhancements.
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Mr. Houseman is CLASP's Executive Director, a position he has held since joining the organization in 1982. His expertise is innovative anti-poverty strategies and civil legal assistance. He has written numerous articles, manuals, papers and books on legal services, poverty law advocacy, and welfare policies, including Securing Equal Justice for All: A Brief History of Civil Legal Assistance in the United States (with Linda Perle). In addition to directing CLASP, Mr. Houseman is currently counsel to the National Legal Aid and Defender association (NLADA) and is a leader of national efforts to preserve and strengthen the federal legal services program. Mr. Houseman has a long history of involvement in poverty law advocacy and legal services for the poor. He is a past member of the NLADA board and executive committee and past chair of the organization's Civil Committee. He also is a past chair of the Organization of Legal Services Backup Centers (representing all state and national centers), past Vice-Chair of the Project Advisory Group and past General Counsel to the Coalition on Legal Services. He also has been involved in a variety of capacities with the American Bar Association (ABA).  In 2005-2006, he was staff to the ABA Presidential Task Force on Access to Justice and a member of the ABA Task Force to Revise the Standards for the Provision of Civil Legal Aid. He also is a past member of the ABA Comprehensive Legal Needs Study Advisory Group, the ABA Policy Development Committee of the Comprehensive Legal Needs Study and the ABA Special Committee on Access to Justice.  He has served as an advisor to the ABA Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants and other ABA initiatives.  Mr. Houseman has been an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Law Center and the University of Michigan Law School, and he previously taught at Wayne State University Law School. During law school, Mr. Houseman served as the national Assistant Director of the Law Students Civil Rights Research Council.  In 1968, he was a Reginald Heber Smith Fellow with Wayne County Neighborhood Legal Services.  In 1969, he founded Michigan Legal Services, a statewide legal services program that represented organizations working on welfare, health, housing, consumer, prison, mental health, education and family policy issues. Between 1968 and 1976, he was General Counsel for the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization and co-chair of the legal committee of the National Welfare Rights Organization.  From 1976 to 1981, he was a senior staff member at the Legal Services Corporation and director of the Research Institute, which he founded and developed.  The Research Institute developed new directions in poverty law and researched delivery of civil legal aid services. At the Legal Services Corporation, he also oversaw and was responsible for funding its national and state support centers and the National Clearinghouse (now Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law).  Mr. Houseman is a graduate of Oberlin College and New York University School of Law, where he was a Field Fellow in Social Welfare Law (as part of the Hays Civil Liberties Fellowship Program).  His numerous awards and honors include the National Equal Justice Award and, most recently, the Oberlin College Distinguish Achievement Award.

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