"[1] Specifically, NCLEJ advocates for the following causes: income security, access to employment, fair treatment, public accountability, access to justice, fair and safe workplaces, community action, and civic participation.

NCLEJ’s key issues include child care/work supports, civil rights/racial justice, disability rights, fair administration/modernization, health care/health reform, low-wage workers, meeting basic needs, and SNAP (food stamps).

In 1968, NCLEJ won its first Supreme Court welfare case, King v. Smith,[2] which prevented the states from denying public benefits to families determined to be eligible under prior federal law.

In 1970, NCLEJ secured a victory in the landmark Supreme Court decision Goldberg v. Kelly,[2] which recognized the right for welfare recipients to receive notice and a fair hearing before being deprived of their benefits.

In NCLEJ’s 1970 case Califano v. Westcott,[2] the Supreme Court held sex discrimination in public benefits policies to be unconstitutional.