Every day, Texas families face life-changing legal issues—but navigating the system to get help can feel impossible. In Texas and across the country, the demand for legal aid exceeds the number of available attorneys, leaving organizations overwhelmed. Texans in need often face a time-consuming, frustrating process: filling out multiple applications, repeating their stories, and waiting weeks for answers. Keeping track of which organizations they’ve contacted only adds to the stress of managing family crises.
Texas Family Help Link simplifies this process. Now available on TexasLawHelp.org, this innovative tool makes it easier for children and caregivers to get legal help for child welfare issues.
With one simple online application, families connect directly with legal aid organizations that specialize in their needs. Instead of navigating separate applications, applicants complete a single form and are immediately matched with the right organization. The system screens eligibility criteria upfront—helping ensure a greater chance of receiving assistance. If legal aid isn’t available, applicants receive self-help resources tailored to their situation.
Through Texas Family Help Link, families can find legal assistance for:
Protection from child abuse and neglect
Foster youth rights and resources
Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement
Accessing government benefits
Juvenile record sealing, driver’s license restoration, and name changes
Special education and school access
Support for kinship caregivers raising children
Housed on TexasLawHelp.org, Texas Family Help Link is accessible in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
Texas Family Help Link grew out of TLSC’s Family Helpline, which has provided guidance to families navigating the child welfare system since 2017. After listening to countless callers share their frustrations with the legal aid intake process, our attorneys recognized the need for a more efficient, user-friendly solution. TLSC Executive Director, Karen Speed Miller says, “Our hope is this tool will not only transform access to legal aid for child welfare issues, but also serve as a model for expanding legal access in other civil matters.”
Our hope is this tool will not only transform access to legal aid for child welfare issues, but also serve as a model for expanding legal access in other civil matters.
We are grateful to our incredible partners—Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Texas Advocacy Project, Disability Rights Texas, and Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas—for helping make this initiative a reality. And a special thank you to the Texas Access to Justice Foundation for its generous support.
Together, we’re breaking down barriers and bringing justice within reach for Texas families.
About TexasLawHelp.org
TexasLawHelp.org is dedicated to providing free, reliable legal information to low-income Texans. The site is a project by Texas Legal Services Center, a statewide nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide high-quality legal representation, advice, advocacy, and education at no cost to underserved people across the state.
About the Texas Access to Justice Foundation
The Texas Access to Justice Foundation (TAJF) is the leading funder of civil legal aid to the poor in Texas. Created in 1984 by the Supreme Court of Texas, TAJF support for civil legal aid benefits hundreds of thousands of low-income Texans annually including victims of crime, abused and neglected children, veterans, the elderly and the homeless.
