Tracy Goodman

Tracy Goodman is an attorney and director at Children’s Law Center, a nonprofit which fights so every DC child can grow up with a loving family, good health and a quality education. She has been practicing public interest law for over two decades. 

Tracy currently leads the Healthy Together medical-legal partnership (MLP), which brings lawyers side-by-side with providers in health clinics, along with parents and caregivers themselves, to find and fix the root causes of a child’s health problem—often a health-harming legal need rooted in systemic and racial inequities. She is particularly passionate about Healthy Together’s work because in DC, a child in Ward 7 and 8 is 20 times more likely to end up in the emergency room for asthma than a child living in Ward 3. When the underlying issue—often a factor like unhealthy housing—is fixed, the child’s health improves dramatically. 

Under her leadership since 2002, the program has grown from one staff attorney to 11 attorneys, 2 investigators and a family outreach worker, and serves over 3,000 children and families per year, addressing legal needs related to education access, special education, housing, public benefits and access to health care. Healthcare partners include Children’s National Health System, Mary’s Center and Unity Health Care. 

Prior to her work at CLC, Tracy was at the Legal Aid Bureau of Maryland representing children in abuse and neglect proceedings, and she also worked with a non-governmental organization in Brazil specializing in labor rights issues. During law school, she represented individuals seeking political asylum in the United States, and also worked on issues related to domestic and family violence. Tracy received her Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center, and her Bachelor of Arts from American University’s School of Public Affairs. Tracy was the 2017 recipient of the Washington Council of Lawyers Legal Services Award.