Western Center on Law & Poverty, a 501(c)(3) organization, fights for justice for 8. 3 million low-income Californians in all 58 counties by improving and transforming the legal and public policy landscapes that touch their lives. We focus on expanding the availability of quality health care, affordable housing, needed public benefits, access to justice and eliminating racial disparities. Along with our legal service and community partners, we turn one person's problem into a real-world, system wide solution for many.

Western Center engages with public agencies and serves as the leading training and education resource for hundreds of organizations, including legal services and community based organizations, where funds from the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation would be allocated. Our tools include:SUPPORT CENTER ASSISTANCEWe directly serve 700 legal aid attorneys at nearly 100 legal services organizations throughout California, and scores of community based networks and organizations, through in-depth legal support, including technical assistance, on-site trainings, conferences, webinars, publications, and litigation support. ADMINISTRATIVE ADVOCACYWe monitor, advocate, negotiate and work collaboratively with federal, state and local agencies to protect and expand the rights of the most vulnerable. Our administrative advocacy efforts and support center activities are buttressed by both our ability to participate in class action litigation and our fluency in legislative and budget advocacy. LITIGATIONWe work with local legal services programs and pro bono co-counsel and file class action and other high-impact cases that address basic rights for all low-income Californians. LEGISLATIVE AND POLICY ADVOCACYWe sponsor and support bills—37 in 2017 alone, oppose harmful legislation and educate policymakers and other stakeholders on behalf of those living in poverty. Our legislative activity informs all of our work, much of which is achieved quietly through administrative processes.

Celebrating our 50th anniversary in 2017, Western Center was formed by a passionate group of attorneys and legal scholars who sought to create a unique organization, driven by the belief that all Californians deserve the finest possible legal representation before the institutions that shape their lives. Western Center was founded in 1967 and is a 501(c)(3) organization with offices in Los Angeles, Sacramento and Oakland. Our operating budget for 2017 is $4,372,000 and our diverse revenue model includes grants and contracts, individual and corporate contributions, event revenue, attorneys' fees and cy pres awards to ensure access to services and entitlements for more than eight million Californians living in poverty each year. Our supporters include regional and national funders, such as First 5 LA, the California Health Care Foundation, California Wellness Foundation, and the California Community Foundation. Western Center also values building on its current endowment as a means to provide financial sustainability for the organization. Our 31 staff members, community and legal services partners and pro bono attorneys serve all 58 counties in the state, focusing on low-income Californians living at or below 125% of the federal poverty level. Western Center's issue teams of health care, housing and public benefits include 14 attorneys and advocates with leadership and advice provided by our executive director, an active member of the California bar, director of litigation, special counsel and general counsel. Our 46-member Board is drawn from industries including law, finance, health care and the creative economy.

Western Center uses two different data streams to measure the effectiveness of our work, and we also track the technical assistance our staff offers to other stakeholders. Quantitatively we monitor:1) The number of people affected by the impact of our work. Specific items measured include the number of individuals enrolled in Medi-Cal or receiving CalFresh benefits, enrollment and increased funding for CalWORKs, or numbers of foster care children accessing services. 2) The financial value of services won and preserved. 3) The number and type of technical assistance delivered to legal aid organizations throughout the state. Western Center also monitors data through records from public agencies and consumer watchdog health and human service agencies. We ask local legal services and community organizations to complete evaluations after our trainings and workshops. In addition, we solicit informal feedback on all of our publications during our regular welfare task force meeting which our Welfare Advocate Team convenes on a quarterly basis. We also track the number of trainings, attendees and substantive evaluations completed by individuals who use our publications and participate in these trainings and workshops.

In 2016, Western Center led the initiative to increase the minimum wage throughout California to $15, along with the United Food and Commercial Workers and SEIU California. In addition to giving six million Californians a raise, the following are some of Western Center's other recent success stories:•130,000 poor children will receive financial aid for the first time in their lives with the repeal of the Maximum Family Grant rule, which previously banned welfare assistance to children born into households receiving aid. •Homeless, migrant and foster children will receive priority access and fee waivers in afterschool programs. •The school to prison pipeline will be restricted with the provision that children can't be charged with a penal code violation for failing to pay a transit fare. •The City of Fullerton agreed to permit homeless shelters and commit $1 million for housing. •Alameda County eliminated 10,000 food stamp application backlog. •Kern County reformed its low-income rental housing assistance program. •15,000 new preschool and child care slots were created for low wage working families.