How Does Membership Work? | Application & Dues I Current Members

Every day, CAAs face situations that call for legal solutions and need access to legal knowledge and tools that will enable them to protect their agencies and maximize available resources for the poor. Community Action Program Legal Services, Inc. (CAPLAW) provides the legal solutions and knowledge CAAs and their state associations need. Through its in-house legal staff and nationwide network of attorneys, CAPLAW offers you and your members high quality legal advice and education specifically tailored to the needs of the Community Action network. CAPLAW complements, but does not replace, local CAA and CAA association attorneys; we advise and educate CAAs, CAA associations and their local attorneys on legal issues of national scope affecting CAAs and the Community Action network.

Learn More: Individual CAA Benefits | State and Regional CAA Benefits

 

 

Membership for Individual Community Action Agencies

 

Quick and expert resolution of legal issues

Get immediate access to consultations with CAPLAW staff attorneys on a wide variety of legal issues, generally at no additional charge. Here’s a quick sample of issues we have addressed recently:

 

• Rights, responsibilities, and composition of CAA Boards

• Lobbying and political activity rules, including the Hatch Act

• Treatment of employees and clients with disabilities

• Legal use of grant funds

 

Access to nationwide CAA Attorney Network

Get referrals toattorneys from across the country with expertise in key issues affecting CAAs, such as Head Start, employment law, and tax-exempt organizations, generally with no additional charge for initial consultation. Here are some issues attorneys in our network have addressed:

 

• Setting up a community foundation at the statewide level for CAAs

• Successfully addressing Head Start deficiency notices and implementing corrective action plans.

• Using TANF funds to fund a local transportation system

 

Practical training at national conferences

Your agency will enjoy reduced registration fees for CAPLAW’s annual conference and audio/web conferences. 

 

Current information on CAA legal issues

Your agency will stay up-to-date by receiving CAPLAW’s Legal Update newsletter and periodic e-bulletins, a series of brief e-mail reports from CAPLAW on current legal developments affecting CAAs. We have recently written about issues such as:

 

• Charitable deductions for vehicle donations

• Board governance and Sarbanes-Oxley issues

• Religious accommodation decisions

• Email communication in the workplace and the law

• Political activity rules

• Administrative agency decisions

• Head Start legal updates

• Tax-exempt organization updates

 

Members-only publications

You agency will get access to the Members Only section of CAPLAW’s website, www.caplaw.org, which contains the following publications:

 

• Outline of Head Start Decisions

• Access to past years’ conference handouts

• Archived Legal Update and e-Bulletin articles

 

Membership for State and Regional

Community Action Associations

 

Here’s why your association should consider joining CAPLAW:

 

Quick and expert resolution of legal issues

Get immediate access to consultations with CAPLAW staff attorneys on a wide variety of legal issues, generally at no additional charge. Here’s a quick sample of issues we have addressed recently:

 

• Rights, responsibilities, and composition of CAA Boards

• Lobbying and political activity rules, including the Hatch Act

• Treatment of employees and clients with disabilities

• Legal use of grant funds

 

Access to nationwide CAA Attorney Network

Get referrals to attorneys from across the country with expertise in key issues affecting CAAs, such as Head Start, employment law, and tax-exempt organizations, generally with no additional charge for initial consultation.  Here are some  issues attorneys in our network have addressed:

 

• Setting up a community foundation at the statewide level for CAAs

• Successfully addressing Head Start deficiency notices and implementing corrective action plans.

• Using TANF funds to fund a local transportation system

 

Presentations at your state association conferences

CAPLAW will present workshops at your state association conference tailored to your  members’ legal needs, with no additional training fee; charges only for travel and lodging. Here’s a sample of trainings we have conducted:

 

• Lobbying Do’s and Don’t's

• Effective CAA Governance

• The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Community Action Agencies

• Employee Performance Appraisals

• CAPLAW Legal Liability Audit

• Head Start Facility Rules

 

Practical training at national conferences

Your association and its members will enjoy reduced registration fees for CAPLAW’s annual conference and audio/web conferences. Current information on CAA legal issues. You and your members will stay up-to-date by receiving CAPLAW’s Legal Update newsletter and periodic e-bulletins, a series of brief e-mail reports from CAPLAW on current legal developments affecting CAAs. We have recently written about issues such as:

 

• Charitable deductions for vehicle donations

• Board governance and Sarbanes-Oxley issues

• Religious accommodation decisions

• Email communication in the workplace and the law

• Political activity rules

• Administrative agency decisions

• Head Start legal updates

• Tax-exempt organization updates

 

Reduced CAA legal liability

Help your CAA members reduce their legal liability. We’ll distribute CAPLAW’s Legal Liability Audit Tool, with a supplement created just for your state’s laws, to your members. The Audit tool addresses:

 

• Nonprofit corporate requirements

• Employment and personnel law

• Retirement and health plan requirements

• Head Start Act and regulations

• Community Services Block Grant Act

 

Members-only publications

You and your members will get access to the Members Only section of CAPLAW’s website, www.caplaw.org, which contains the following publications:

 

• Outline of Head Start Decisions

• Access to past years’ conference handouts

• Archived Legal Update and e-Bulletin articles