WHAT
The Children’s Law Center of New Hampshire is the state’s first civil legal services nonprofit dedicated exclusively to the rights of children.
We provide integrated legal representation and social services advocacy to court-involved children and children with special education needs who are growing up in poverty, and to children who are otherwise marginalized or at risk. In addition to direct representation of children, we identify and resolve systemic barriers to successful outcomes for children.
Because at-risk children often have overlapping legal and social services needs, we represent the whole child across legal settings, including in CHINS (RSA 169-D), delinquency (169-B), abuse and neglect (169-C), and education matters.
HOW
We are committed to excellence in legal representation in the trial courts and on appeal. We typically are appointed by judges but may be retained directly.
We demand better outcomes for at-risk children. We are dedicated to the principle that all children are worthy of fulfilling, satisfying childhoods in stable, supportive family and school settings that prepare them for productive, happy lives as adults.
We focus on our child clients’ strengths and refuse efforts to blame children for emotional and behavioral dysregulation. We understand neurodiversity and the science of adverse childhood experiences (ACES), and we advocate for the instruction, services, supports, and protective childhood experiences that children are entitled to receive from their schools, the courts, and State providers.
We know BIPOC and LGBTQ+ children experience disparate treatment and outcomes in their schools, the courts, and from state agencies.
WHY
Poor outcomes for at-risk children have lasting adverse consequences for them and for society.
We know that like their peers in abuse and neglect cases, nearly all children who enter the juvenile legal system have histories of exposure to trauma, with many justice-involved youth reporting exposure to chronic trauma across childhood and adolescence. Research has long demonstrated the mental-health harm that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) causes: Adults with four or more ACES have 12 times higher prevalence of health risks such as alcoholism, drug use, depression, and suicide attempts, and ACEs are also associated with chronic health conditions like coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
But evidence-based mental health therapies, executive-functioning skill building, and stress-response regulators like regular physical activity, developing and maintaining supportive relationships, and mindfulness practices can mitigate toxic stress, allowing children with trauma histories to make real progress in life.
And we know that education makes a lifelong difference: National statistics show that workers with college degrees have real wages 86% higher than those workers without. Similarly, research data show that quality special education instruction and services are associated with higher levels of employment and independent living for children with significant special-education disabilities.
We believe that effective legal intervention and social services advocacy make a qualitative difference in the lives of marginalized children.
WHO
Who our clients are
Our clients are resilient, determined, thoughtful children whose lives, voices, and futures matter.
Who we are
Lisa Wolford, Esq.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Lisa is a former New Hampshire Public Defender, New Hampshire Department of Justice Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Disability Rights Center special-education lawyer. She is an experienced manager of legal services staff and a skilled trial and appellate litigator who began her 20-year legal career representing children in delinquency cases. From 2019 to 2020, Lisa led the NHDOJ investigation into decades-long systemic criminal abuse of children at the Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester, NH.
Lisa is a member of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA), a national special-education nonprofit; and is the National Association of Counsel for Children’s (NACC) State Coordinator for New Hampshire. She is one of two New Hampshire Supreme Court appointees to the Oversight Commission on Children’s Services. She was a charter member of ABLE-NH’s Inclusive Education Task Force and served on the New Hampshire Bar Foundation Board from 2019 to 2023, chairing the Foundation’s IOLTA Enhancement Committee from 2022 to 2023. With Stephanie Hausman, she co-authored A Guide to Appellate Advocacy in New Hampshire.
Lisa is a graduate of Wellesley College and Cornell Law School, which awarded her the Public Interest Rising Star Award in 2008. In 2019, she was awarded the New Hampshire Bar Association’s Public Interest/Public Sector Award.
Stephanie Hausman, Esq.
LITIGATION DIRECTOR
Stephanie is an accomplished trial lawyer, appellate advocate, and social justice champion who is deeply committed to best practices in legal representation. During her 20-year career as a New Hampshire Public Defender, she represented children as young as six and adults charged with serious crimes, including homicide. Stephanie served as the Deputy Chief Appellate Defender for seven years and led the Public Defender’s Trial Skills Training Team for three.
She is the parent of two school-aged children and is a former foster parent who has experienced the challenges of parent advocacy for the special education needs of her child. Stephanie has served as president of the Parent-Teacher Organization at her child’s school and as the Chair of the Board of Trustees of her local public library.
Stephanie has volunteered for the Attorney Discipline System for ten years and is currently the Chair of the Professional Conduct Committee. She holds a University of New Hampshire bachelor’s degree and is a University of Michigan Law School graduate.
