The Child’s Advocate is a project of Legal Aid of North Carolina that provides attorneys for children in highly contested private custody cases. We are appointed by judges in family court in Wake and Durham counties to represent children in cases with the following: domestic violence, child abuse or mistreatment, substance abuse or mental instability of a parent, relocation of a parent, or a child with special needs.
By working with the parents and their attorneys, we settle most of our cases without the need for a trial. But when a trial is necessary, we present evidence and call witnesses so that the Court learns about the child’s experience, concerns and preferences.
Our role is different from that of a guardian ad litem (GAL). Instead of deciding what is best for our clients, we investigate and advocate for what our clients believe is best for them. To do this, we collaborate with mental health providers so we can better understand our clients’ perspectives and preferences. Throughout our representation of our clients, we maintain a confidential attorney-client relationship.
The Child’s Advocate recruits and trains pro bono attorneys from the private family law bar to ensure that we have the resources to represent every child appointed an attorney.
Our hope is to gradually expand our services to additional counties in North Carolina.
The Economic Justice Initiative, known as the EJI, is a statewide project of Legal Aid of North Carolina that strives to keep working poor and working families in possession of their homes and home equity.
By providing high-quality legal representation in foreclosure actions, the EJI saves homes, preserves credit ratings and strives to make prohibitive the cost of conducting business for unscrupulous brokers and lenders. The EJI also provides community education to increase awareness of home-finance best practices and the dangers of predatory lending.
The EJI collaborates with six other legal services organizations to form the Home Defense Project (HDP). The HDP saves homes and reduces foreclosures in North Carolina by securing loan modifications for borrowers and providing high-quality foreclosure-defense work in every county in the state. The HDP is funded in part by the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. The six other members of the HDP are:
Legal Aid of North Carolina’s Medical-Legal Partnership (MLP) project brings together physicians, nurses, social workers, community health workers, attorneys and paralegals to address social and environmental determinants of poor health that may have a legal remedy, including: substandard housing conditions; domestic violence; food, income, and housing insecurity; improper denials of Medicaid and disability benefits; and failure to provide children with the special educational services to which they are entitled. Our Medical-Legal Partnership project is expanding across the state. Examples of our current partnerships include:
Statewide and Regional
North Carolina Cancer Hospital
North Carolina Community Health Center Association
UNC Children’s Primary Care and NC Children’s Hospital
FirstHealth of the Carolinas
Durham
Lincoln Community Health Center
Duke Children’s Hospital and Health Center
El Futuro
Greensboro
Family Service of the Piedmont
Triad Adult and Pediatric Medicine
Cone Health
Mustard Seed Clinic
Winston-Salem
Downtown Health Plaza, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist
The Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Project (DVSA) is a statewide project of Legal Aid of North Carolina that provides legal assistance to victims of domestic violence. DVSA advocates are trained to keep victims safe and help them become self-sufficient so they can live independently from their abusers.
DVSA advocates work closely with community-based programs, agencies and task forces serving victims of domestic violence. The DVSA has existing formal collaborative agreements and referral protocols with more than 60 domestic violence victim services organizations throughout the state, and informal working relationships with at least 20 others. The DVSA also partners with the University of North Carolina School of Law by training and supervising law students in its Domestic Violence Clinic.
Legal Aid of North Carolina receives funding for domestic violence work from a Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grant to provide emergency-only services, such as obtaining and enforcing protection orders. LANC also receives funding for domestic violence work from the State of North Carolina.
The DVSA also operates Immigration Pathways for Victims, which provides comprehensive and culturally appropriate legal services to immigrant survivors of violence needing assistance with immigration.
Free help for immigrants who are victims of domestic violence. Learn more: IMMPAV.
Our intake line is available for low-income immigrant victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking who are seeking free immigration assistance.
About
Immigration Pathways for Victims (IMMPAV), part of our Domestic Violence Prevention Initiative, provides free immigration assistance to immigrant survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking. IMMPAV represents qualifying applicants across North Carolina in immigration matters including:
Self-Petitions and Petitions to Remove Conditions for victims of domestic violence who are married to (or recently divorced from) U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents who abuse them
U Visas for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking
T Visas for victims of human trafficking
Applications to Adjust Status (to become a permanent resident) for self-petitioners, U visa holders, and T visa holders
Removal defense for qualifying victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking
IMMPAV attorneys work with domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and immigrant rights advocates across the state to provide them with information about the rights of immigrant victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking. Through the DVPI, staff in local LANC offices, as resources allow, represent immigrant survivors in legal matters such as:
Jessica Alatorre is a Staff Attorney with Legal Aid of North Carolina’s IMMPAV Project. Before joining Legal Aid of NC in 2023, Jessica worked at an immigration law firm in Charlotte, NC for six years. Jessica obtained her Bachelor of Liberal Arts with a focus in international human rights from Bennington College in 2007 and her J.D. from American University’s Washington College of Law in 2014. She is fluent in Spanish.
Leah Arnold is a Senior Staff Attorney with Legal Aid of North Carolina’s IMMPAV Project where she has worked since 2015. Leah obtained her B.S. in Journalism with a certificate in Latin American Studies from the University of Florida in 2011, and her J.D. with a graduate certificate in global transmigration studies from the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law in 2015. She is fluent in Spanish.
Anna Cushman is a Staff Attorney within Legal Aid of North Carolina’s IMMPAV Project. Before coming to Legal Aid of NC in 2019, Anna worked at a small immigration law firm in Greensboro, NC for six years. Anna obtained her B.A. in Political Science and Spanish from Wake Forest University in 2008 and her J.D. from Campbell Law School in 2012. She is a Board-Certified Specialist in Immigration Law and is fluent in Spanish.
Patricia Dykstra-Lalangui is a paralegal with Legal Aid of North Carolina’s IMMPAV Project where she has worked since 2005. Patty obtained her degree in Business Administration from Miami Dade College in 2002 and her NC paralegal certification in 2007. She is fluent in Spanish.
Amanda Hinnant is the Supervising Attorney of Legal Aid of North Carolina’s IMMPAV Project. Before coming to Legal Aid of NC in 2010, Amanda worked as an elementary school teacher prior to attending law school. She obtained her B.A. in Elementary Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2005 and her J.D. from Charlotte School of Law in 2010. She is fluent in Spanish.
Rona Karacaova is the Managing Attorney of Legal Aid of North Carolina’s IMMPAV Project. Before coming to Legal Aid of NC in 2002, Rona worked with Connecticut Legal Services for three years and Legal Services of Southern Piedmont for one year. Rona obtained her B.A. in International Relations from Tufts University in 1993 and her J.D. from UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law in 1998. She is fluent in Turkish and proficient in Spanish and French.
Dora MacDonald is a paralegal and Department of Justice Board of Immigration Appeals Accredited Representative with Legal Aid of North Carolina’s IMMPAV Project, where she has worked since 2008. Dora obtained her law degree from Libre University in Colombia in 1998 and her paralegal certification from Penn State University in 2007. She is fluent in Spanish.
TeAndra M. Miller is a Managing Attorney and the Statewide Director for Legal Aid of North Carolina’s Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Project. TeAndra has worked with Legal Aid of NC since 1994. She obtained her B.S. in Communications from the University of Iowa, a Certificate in Non-Profit Management from Duke University, and her J.D. from North Carolina Central University School of Law.
Jalal Nadimi is a paralegal and Department of Justice Board of Immigration Appeals Accredited Representative with Legal Aid of North Carolina’s IMMPAV Project, where she has worked since 2013. Jalal obtained her law degree from La Universidad Católica de Santa Maria in Arequipa, Peru in 1994. She is fluent in Spanish.
Cara Palmer is a Staff Attorney with Legal Aid of North Carolina’s IMMPAV Project, where she has worked since 2020. Cara obtained her B.A. in History with a minor in Human Rights from the University of Southern California in 2013, her M.A. in History and a Graduate Certificate in Human Rights from the University of Connecticut in 2015, and her J.D. and a Refugees and Humanitarian Emergencies Certificate from Georgetown University Law Center in 2020. She is fluent in Spanish.
Jennifer Robinson is a Senior Staff Attorney with Legal Aid of North Carolina’s IMMPAV Project where she has worked since 2016. Jennifer obtained her B.A. in Women’s & Gender Studies from Dartmouth College in 2011 and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 2015. She is fluent in Spanish.
Heather Ziemba is a Staff Attorney with Legal Aid of North Carolina’s IMMPAV Project, where she has worked since 2022. Prior to coming to Legal Aid of NC, Heather founded and managed the Immigrant Justice Program at Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy and was also in private practice as an immigration attorney. Heather obtained her A.B. in political science from Duke University in 1993 and her J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1996. She is a Board-Certified Specialist in Immigration Law and is fluent in Spanish.
