Statewide
Planning Initiative Work Groups
Work
Group 1 – Reducing the Need for Crisis Intervention
Work Group 1 - Final Work Group Report
Work
Group 1 Issue List
Clients’
lives and the justice system (legal aid providers, volunteer lawyers,
Courts) are all stressed by last minute emergencies.
Crisis intervention skews resource allocation away from work that
would foster earlier and more effective intervention.
How can we help people ‘upstream’ before a crisis develops and
possibly avoid the need for a legal intervention?
Examples
of issues to be considered include:
-
Partnerships with social service providers
-
The development of effective models in areas of law that
are particularly responsive to early intervention (or particularly
vulnerable to crisis)
-
Statutory changes on issues that bring people into court
-
Juvenile justice system issues
-
211and education about resources
-
Explore and develop mechanisms for collaboration
-
Expansion of DV courts and development of other models like it
-
Use of legal advocates in different contexts (outside of court system), i.e.
in health care facility, work with other professionals
-
Increase opportunities for conversation and collaboration between legal
system and community service providers
-
“Advocacy Institute” - train CAP agencies, Head Start etc. to be
potential lay advocates and resolve issues before they become legal problems
-
Move toward non-litigation resolutions
-
Review new rules, forms and legislation affecting access and that bring
people into court
-
Expansion of capacity for systemic advocacy
Information/Resources
Providing Comprehensive, Integrated Social Services to Vulnerable Children
and Families: Are There Legal Barriers at the Federal Level to Moving
Forward?
by Rutledge Q. Hutson.
Over the past several years, social service providers have increasingly
recognized that families seeking assistance often face multiple, complex
needs and that they require the services of more than one program. Working
in consultation with state and local officials, this paper offers a model of
cross-system integration focusing on comprehensive services for children and
families. This paper was written as part of a collaborative effort between
the
National
Governors
Association
Center
for Best
Practices, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), and the Hudson
Institute. Pub No. 04-11. 38 pages.
2/10/2004
, http://www.clasp.org/
HOLISTIC
ADVOCACY FOR THE HOMELESS: BUILDING STRONGER COMMUNITIES
Phil
Lynch, Co-coordinator, Homeless Persons Legal Clinic
This
paper will consider the role of lawyers in identifying and addressing
underlying causes of homelessness. Within a paradigm of holistic advocacy,
it will examine strategies to ensure the promotion and protection of
homeless people’s rights, the elimination of discrimination, and
meaningful client participation in decision-making processes and public
policy formulation. The paper will aim to inform a movement of lawyers using
their resources, skills and expertise to contribute to community empowerment
and, by extension, the amelioration of homelessness.
http://www.nationalprobono.org.au/conference/pdf/2003_papers/4a_lynch.pdf
Michigan
"Promoting
Access to Justice in Public Policy"
Background information about The Justice Policy Institutes role,
which is to analyze policy proposals and make recommendations to the
Michigan State Bar’s Commission on Justice Initiatives.
Jurisdiction-Wide
Strategic Practices
Access
to Justice Needs Studies: Such
studies have helped change the political and financial climate, since they
show the breadth of need, and the breadth of the constituencies served by
change.
Access
to Justice Impact Statement Requirement for Changes:
An access to
justice impact statement is the requirement that any procedural or other
change within the authority of a particular decisions maker must be
assessed for its impact on access to justice, including on
self-represented litigants.
Tenants to Gain Stronger Services With Launch of Joint Project by Columbia
University and Harlem Legal Services in New York City’s Community Board
District 9
In order to strengthen
tenant advocacy services in Community Board District 9, which covers the
Harlem neighborhood of New York City, Columbia University and Harlem Legal
Services, a program of Legal Services for New York City (LSNY), have opened
the Columbia University-Legal Services for New York West Harlem Community
Advocacy Partnership. The new project will provide free legal
representation and advice to low-income tenants, focusing on elderly people,
people with disabilities, and recent immigrants. It
will also hold workshops to help community-based organizations identify
at-risk tenants. Andy Scherer, LSNY’s
executive director, says the project “will provide sorely needed expert
legal assistance in housing matters.”
Columbia
University, Press Release: Columbia
University Establishes Community Law Partnership With Harlem Legal Services
in Support of Tenant Rights (
May 12, 2005
) (on file with the Brennan
Center).
(Brennan Center for Justice at NYU
School of Law, http://www.brennancenter.org/)
For
the First Time, Low-Income Floridians Statewide Could Benefit From Florida
Civil Legal Assistance Act
More low-income
Floridians will be able to obtain legal assistance for family law, domestic
violence, abuse, public benefits, and immigration cases if the Florida
legislature decides to expand funding for the Civil Legal Assistance Act
program statewide for the first time. The
program, enacted in 2002 as a pilot project in seven of
Florida
’s
20 judicial circuits, provides funding to civil legal aid organizations to
promote family stability by resolving problems before court intervention is
necessary.
Representative Dudley Goodlette (R-Naples), the
chief House sponsor of the Civil Legal Assistance Act, says, “[N]ow
. . . is the appropriate time to take the program statewide.” He
says that two other Republican state representatives have already allocated
$5 million in this year’s budget to expand the program, adding that the
program ultimately is “cost-effective” for
Florida. Over the past three years,
the program has received a total of $4.5 million in state funding.
Mark D. Killian, State Money for Legal Aid in the Works: Civil Legal
Assistance Act May Go Statewide This Year, Florida Bar News,
Apr. 15, 2005
, at 1.
(Brennan Center for Justice at NYU
School of Law, http://www.brennancenter.org/)
Legal
Services of New Jersey Publishes Study on “The Real Cost of Living” to
Aid in Policy Decisions Affecting New Jersey’s Low-Income Communities
To provide a better
basis for making decisions about the programs and polices that affect
low-income people, the Poverty Research Institute of Legal Services of New
Jersey (LSNJ) has published a new report entitled, “The Real Cost of
Living in 2005: The Self-Sufficiency Standard for New Jersey.” As
with previous studies conducted in 1999 and 2002, the report notes that the
cost of living in
New Jersey
varies by family size and
composition, children’s age, and location of home. For example, the
report calculates that a single adult with no children in
Camden County
needs to make $7.99 per hour to
cover his or her basic needs, while an adult with a preschooler needs to
make $13.99 per hour. Tom Makin, LSNJ’s
director of development and communications, says, “The report provides
data that supports arguments for increasing the minimum wage, enlarging the
housing subsidy program in
New Jersey
, and addressing other areas of
government support for low-income people.” He notes, “It has the
greatest impact on things that involve economic matters . . . and any kind
of situation in which the poverty level might be used as a yardstick.”
Legal Services of New Jersey Poverty Research Institute, The Real Cost of
Living in 2005: The Self-Sufficiency Standard for New Jersey (Apr. 2005), available
at http://www.lsnj.org/PDFs/PovertyResearchInstitute/RealCostofLiving2005.pdf;
also based on original reporting by Brennan Center staff.
(Brennan
Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, http://www.brennancenter.org/)
Medical
Center and Legal Aid Lawyers in Cleveland, Ohio Team Up for a Holistic
Approach to Health and Well-Being
Children, seniors,
homeless people, and persons with previous criminal convictions will benefit
from a newly expanded program in Cleveland, Ohio that will connect MetroHealth
Medical Center with legal aid attorneys to provide holistic services to
clients. This month, four attorneys and a paralegal will begin meeting
with patients at the Medical
Center
and at its three neighborhood
clinics. The program, which expands an initiative that began in 2003,
will connect attorneys with patients who need support in attaining Social
Security benefits, special education, public assistance, food stamps,
Medicaid, child care, and housing. The LSC-funded Legal Aid Society of
Cleveland and MetroHealth, along with private
foundations and law firms, have committed $1.27 million for the planned
expansion, which will hopefully reach over 400 families in the next year.
Melanie Shakarian, spokeswoman for Cleveland’s Legal Aid Office, says, “It
only makes sense that doctors with low-income patients and Legal Aid
attorneys for low-income families work together.” Donna J. Miller, With
Friends’ Help, MetroHealth Expands Legal Aid
Program, The Plain Dealer,
Aug.
11, 2006
.
(Brennan Center for Justice at
NYU School of Law, http://www.brennancenter.org/)
EXAMPLES
OF A LEGAL SERVICE PROGRAM’S EFFORT TO ESTABLISH SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCIES
AND THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT IT HAS BROUGHT TO THE AREA
Pisgah
Legal Services (North
Carolina)
helped establish the following organizations:
ACCESS
Independent Living – 1999
Affordable
Housing Coalition of Asheville
and
Buncombe
County
- 1991
Coalition
for the Homeless - 1987
Community
Housing Coalition of Madison
County
- 2003
Empowerment
Resource
Center
of
Asheville
and
Buncombe
County
- 2001
Family
Visitation
Center
– 2000
Henderson
County
Free
Medical Clinic - 2001
Hospitality
House Homeless Shelters -
1986
Latino
Advocacy Coalition of Henderson
County
- 2002
Manna
Food Bank - 1982
Mediation
Center
- 1984
Mountain
Housing Opportunities -
1988
Neighborhood
Housing Services - 1989
Residents
Council of Asheville
Housing Authority - 1985
Rutherford
Housing Partnership, Inc. -
1998
Western
North Carolina
Branch of Self-Help Credit Union
- 1990
WNC
Community Health Services
– 1993
Pisgah
Legal Services Increases Federal Funding for Community Organizations -
Total
Secured is greater than $10.3 million
|
Hope
House, 1993
- to provide housing and support services for homeless people with
HIV
|
$300,000
|
|
Mental
Health Housing, 1993 - to
construct apartments for chronically mentally ill persons
|
$1,000,000
|
|
Shelter
Plus Care, 1994; 2000-2003 –
to provide permanent housing for people with severe and persistent
mental illnesses
|
$1,747,070
|
| Kenilworth
HIV Wellness Center, 1994 –
to open and operate a primary care clinic for the poor with
HIV/AIDS
|
$72,000
|
| Entrepreneurial
Empowerment, 1995 –
to provide services for first-time homebuyers and to build
self-sufficiency
|
$400,000
|
| HIV
Primary Care, 1995 –
to provide primary health services for the poor with HIV
|
$837,000
|
|
Interlace
Supportive Housing Services, 1995 -
to provide transitional shelter and supportive services for
victims of domestic violence
|
$808,137
|
| Tenant
Opportunities Program, 1995 –
to assist with self-sufficiency, employment opportunities, and
public safety
|
$100,000
|
| Homeless
Outreach Program, 1995 –
to provide outreach and shelter for homeless people who are
mentally ill
|
$200,000
|
| Housing
for People with Mental Illness, 1995 –
to provide a family care facility for people with mental illness
and another serious illness, such as HIV; includes 20 years worth
of rental assistance
|
$354,000
|
| Safe
Haven Homeless Program, 1996 –
to provide outreach, treatment and supportive housing services for
homeless people with mental disabilities
|
$400,000
|
| Interlace
Supportive Housing Services, 1997-2003 –
to provide transitional shelter and supportive services for
victims of domestic violence
|
$1,387,880
|
| Home
Again, 1998 –
to provide permanent housing for people with severe mental illness
|
$137,000
|
| Transitional
Housing for Homeless Youth, 1998 –
a transitional housing program for homeless youth to help them
become self-sufficient and move on to permanent housing
|
$132,930
|
| Mountain
Housing Opportunities - Cornerstone Apartments, 1999 –
to renovate eight apartments, linked with support services, that
will provide permanent housing for 8-10 homeless people with
disabilities
|
$145,950
|
| Eliada
Homes, 1999 –
to provide transitional housing and support services for young
people who are homeless, released from foster care or juvenile
detention with no home to return to
|
$265,860
|
| WNC
Housing - Independence Cottage, 1999 –
to construct two purpose-built cottages that will be rented to
homeless individuals living with mental illness
|
$40,000
|
| The
Way Home, 2000 –
to provide housing counseling and temporary housing assistance to
help families with children improve their housing situations
|
$378,000
|
| Woodfin
Apartments, 2001 –
to renovate 18 apartments, linked with support services that will provide
permanent housing for people with mental illness
|
$420,000
|
| A-HOPE,
2001 –
to provide outreach & shelter services for mentally ill
homeless people
|
$182,886
|
| A-HOPE,
2002-2003 –
for the A-HOPE Day Center and Safe Haven programs for homeless
people to access services and shelter, and to provide for homeless
people identified as in immediate danger
|
$365,732
|
| WNC
Community Health Services/Housing Authority of the City of
Asheville, 2002 –
to provide housing for families affected by HIV/AIDS
|
$251,940
|
| ABCCM
–
to provide 48 beds of transitional housing for homeless veterans,
integrating with existing programs to provide respite care,
sobriety aftercare, and other supportive services to help vets
find employment and otherwise support their transition to housing
|
$472,164
|