MEMORANDUM
TO: LSC Board of Directors FROM: Randi Youells, Vice President
for Programs DATE: January 8, 2002 SUBJECT: Strategic Directions
2000-2005
I am pleased to submit to you our report concerning the progress
of the programs' units and offices-primarily OPP and the State
Planning Team with some statistical and reporting assistance from
OIM-in terms of meeting the goals and objectives of your strategic
planning document, Strategic Directions 2000-2005.
I would like to put this report in its proper perspective. We
are all acutely aware that our civil legal services delivery system
is strained to the breaking point. Legal services programs
nationally have been battered by economic pressures and escalating
demand. Our grantees now estimate that they currently turn away
four out of every five low-income individuals who are seeking
critical legal assistance. Courts are witnessing an unprecedented
increase in the number of people who enter the justice system today
lacking legal representation and who are consequently forced to
represent themselves in complex and complicated legal proceedings.
Our communities are experiencing unrelenting pressures as
unresolved civil legal problems result in homelessness, loss of
self-sufficiency and growing crime rates. Despite the hard work and
the advancements of the last thirty years, economic and social
inequality coupled with racial and gender-based discrimination
continues to be the central reality of our clients' lives. The fact
that we are now seeing second and third generation low-income
people walk through our doors and sit in our waiting rooms is a
brutal reminder that the realization of justice for many Americans
remains more an aspiration than a fact.
LSC and our grantees live and work in a world that is marked by
continual challenges and crises. That is the bad news. The good
news, however, can be found in reports like this one. Reports that
demonstrate that there are many people both within LSC and our
grantee programs and outside of our federally-funded structure who
care deeply about issues related to equal justice and who have
refused to take our many crises lying down. People like the staff
at the legal services programs in New Jersey, Maryland, Washington,
Texas, Missouri, California, and Indiana who are actively and
continuously engaged in reassessing their delivery practices and
policies to meet emerging and unmet needs. People like those legal
services heroes in Arkansas, Illinois, Florida and Alabama who have
worked closely and in partnership with LSC to expand access to and
enhance resources for legal services providers and their clients.
People like my legal services friends in Iowa, Ohio, Virginia,
Arizona and Kentucky who have devoted years of their lives to the
legal services movement. People like yourselves who in this era of
diminishing resources and escalating need have devoted time and
energy to strengthening legal services and helping to make
essential changes in that way we practice legal services so that we
can ensure that the phrase "justice for all" is not relegated to a
sexy slogan on a t-shirt or a banner.
This report demonstrates that our grantees and the broader equal
justice community are doing great things for clients and are doing
it more efficiently and effectively with fewer resources. But for
me it demonstrates another very important point. It shows that a
small group of committed individuals, the fourteen lawyers and five
non-lawyers professionals working in OPP and on the State Planning
Team (Michael Genz, Robert Gross, Anh Tu, Tim Watson, Cyndy
Schneider, Reginald Haley, Melissa Pershing, Althea Hayward, Willie
Abrams, John Eidleman, Barb Donnelly, Monica Holmen, Joyce Raby,
Glenn Rawdon, Jennifer Bateman, Lou Castro, Lisa Thomas, Gloria
Wood) and Pat Hanrahan and Wendy Burnette in the Executive Office
(aided and abetted by John Meyer and his wonderful staff in
OIM)-terrific, hard-working, experienced, conscientious
individuals-are the heart and soul of LSC. Without them breathing
life into your strategic plan, you would simply have a meaningless
report that would be gathering dust on a shelf down in our
Reprographics department.
I think this report shows that we have had an inordinately
productive and successful year. But we didn't do it alone. We did
it with the help of the Board and the other staff at LSC. We did it
with the help and assistance of our grantees. We did it with the
aid of consultants and other equal justice stakeholders. And we did
it with the support of two terrific Presidents-John McKay and John
Erlenborn-who evidenced their commitment and support for the
program's initiatives in this document with their helpful advice,
their useful feedback, their sometimes annoying challenges and
criticisms, and ultimately their unswerving support for us, for our
grantees and for the clients we are so privileged to serve.
Strategic Directions 2000-2005 Progress Report
Strategic Directions 2000 - 2005 challenges LSC staff to expand
the support offered to LSC programs and to increase state planning
guidance specifically to improve clients' opportunities to access a
full range of high quality civil legal services. In response, staff
has grown in size and capacity. The Office of Information
Management (OIM), the Office of Program Performance (OPP), and the
State Planning Team are now completely staffed. In 2001, OPP and
the State Planning Team focused their hiring activities on
recruiting individuals with expertise in critical areas like
diversity, technology, and organizational development. Innovations
in staff assignments and approaches have brought about more focused
state planning efforts throughout the country and program support
that emphasizes strengthening quality at individual organizations
and within the state legal services delivery structure.
GOALS
Strategic Directions 2000-2005, adopted by the LSC Board of
Directors January 28, 2000, establishes two strategic goals:
By 2004, LSC will dramatically increase the provision of legal
services to eligible persons, which anticipates as outcomes:
Increasing numbers of clients receiving appropriate
services.
Expanding relevancy of delivery systems to the most pressing
needs, with clients taking a leading role.
Increasing perception among low-income individuals that they
have recourse if they require civil legal information, counseling,
or representation.
Increasing the public perception of the legal system as
successful in providing equal justice.
Expanding federal funding and other public and private resources
for legal services.
By 2004, LSC will ensure that eligible clients are receiving
appropriate and high quality legal assistance, which anticipates as
outcomes:
Expanding range, and improvement in the quality, of
services provided by programs.
Increasing consistency in the quality of legal services
programs.
Achieving significant beneficial results for clients as
determined by outcome measurements.
STRATEGIES
In order to achieve these goals, LSC is utilizing integrated
strategies based in three essential areas: 1) State Planning, 2)
Technology, and 3) Program Oversight:
USE OF STATE PLANNING to integrate, coordinate, and increase
resources available in every state and territory. Objectives
include:
Identifying the most important issues involving the
delivery in all 50 states, territories and DC.
Identifying the adequacy of existing capacities and existing
funding to address issues of access and quality.
Expanding legal capacity through coordination with other
providers.
Recommitment to the provision of services to Native Americans
and migrant workers.
Developing programmatic and financial capabilities to reach more
clients with a wider range of services.
USE OF TECHNOLOGY to improve access and client service delivery.
Objectives include:
Expanding the number of clients receiving some level of
appropriate legal advice and referral via technologically
sophisticated intake advice and referral systems.
Providing consistent, quality information and assistance to a
greater number of persons through computerized and web-based self
help programs.
Supporting quality advocacy via video/teleconferencing, improved
legal research and information gathering, improved supervision and
expanded training opportunities through technology.
Fostering new or expanded linkages with the providers, courts,
pro bono attorneys, and others working to provide legal
representation.
USE OF PROGRAM OVERSIGHT to ensure quality and accountability.
Objectives include: Improving the grant management process to
utilize the information received to provide standards-based
feedback to programs.
Undertaking regular visits to programs to ensure
consistent program quality and compliance.
Developing new information systems that provide more accurate
and useful information about the work programs perform which can be
used for both evaluation and grants management.
Working with grantees in each state to develop systems and
procedures to ensure that legal services program staff receive
appropriate training and that the work in each state is performed
in a coordinated manner.
Working with grantees and planners in each state to promote
leadership training, including local board training, and to promote
client board member participation and training (outreach to client
leaders).
LSC COMMITMENTS ACHIEVED IN 2001
USE OF STATE PLANNING
Commitment: Broad agreement by the civil justice community,
including the courts and IOLTA programs, on the values, purposes,
and objectives of the State Planning Initiative.
2001 Achievements
In March of 2001, LSC released Building State Justice
Communities: a State Planning Report from the Legal Services
Corporation. This publication examined state planning in 18 states
as models for building various components of a clientcentered,
comprehensive, integrated state justice community.
In April, LSC announced significant changes in service
areas of 14 states.
A Special Report to Congress on State Planning and
Reconfiguration was released late in the year, along with the LSC
Board Taskforce Report on Configuration, adopted by the LSC Board
of Directors in November.
In a number of states, additional resources are now available
for civil legal assistance:
Successful efforts by the Tennessee Alliance of Legal
Services (the state planning entity) to have bail bond fee
legislation passed will result in an additional $2.5 million in
state funds for legal service programs. In western Tennessee, a
collaboration by two programs will bring over a million dollars in
US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) fair housing
grants to Tennessee.
The Illinois Equal Justice Commission (Illinois state
planning body) has begun a campaign to secure additional Illinois
General Assembly funding for legal services. A two-year effort for
more state funding raised $70,000 to hire a public relations firm
to coordinate the campaign. An additional $90,000 is expected over
the next two months from corporate donors and
foundations.
The three LSC-funded programs in Alabama have hired a
statewide Director of Development, an experienced fundraiser who
previously worked with the Red Cross and the Girl Scouts. The major
challenge is the Alabama Campaign for Legal Services, where a
consultant retained by the three programs did initial preparation.
These early efforts were funded by a special grant from the
American Bar Association Litigation Section ($10,000) and matching
LSC technical assistance funds ($5,000) augmented by a $5,000
contribution made on a pro rata basis by the three programs. LSC
currently provides over 90% of the funding for legal services in
Alabama, and realization of the need for diverse funding is
prompting the state justice community to create a development
office that will seek diverse funding for legal services in
Alabama. In the first year of the campaign over $50,000 was raised,
almost entirely from the legal community.
The South Dakota State Bar has agreed to house the new
Access to Justice Coordinator position funded by IOLTA. Access to
justice is of paramount importance for this year's Bar president.
South Dakota's LSC programs have jointly applied for US Department
of Justice Violence Against Women Act funds. This is the first time
they have collaborated on a funding application that will benefit
the entire state.
Florida undertook a successful effort to persuade the
Florida Supreme Court to amend the IOTA rule. The amended rule will
result in banks paying higher interest rates on IOTA accounts,
which could yield an additional $15 million dollars in IOTA
revenues. The President of the Florida Bar is leading a Florida
Justice Community campaign to obtain a minimum of $10 million
dollars a year from the Florida Legislature. At present, the
Florida Legislature does not fund civil legal services for the
poor.
Commitment: Internal capacity and expertise to support
meaningful planning and plan implementation consistent with the
values, purposes, and objectives of the State Planning
Initiative.
2001 Achievements
With the hiring of three fulltime program counsel or
analysts in the last six months, the state planning team is now
fully staffed (in terms of the 2001 budget). All state planning
team members have significant field program and legal services
leadership experience. Among the five-fulltime state planning team
members (Barbara Donnelly, Robert Gross, Althea Hayward, Melissa
Pershing and Timothy Watson) and two part-time consultants (Chuck
Cook and Joseph Dailing) there is a total of 260 years of field
program experience.1
State planning-related program visits took place in
Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri,
Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma,
Oregon, South Carolina, and South Dakota.
LSC executive and state planning staff were present and
participated in community stakeholder meetings or statewide
conferences in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado,
Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio,
South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia and Washington state. Staff also
attended meetings of the Midwest Project Directors Association and
Southeast Project Directors Association during the course of the
year.
Technical Assistance funds were given to assist merging
programs in Arkansas, Iowa, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania.
National initiatives undertaken or completed in 2001
include:
"Making Mergers Work" workshop at the national NLADA/ABA
Equal Justice Conference in March.
Diversity in the Legal Services Community conversations took
place throughout 2001 involving groups of program directors, staff,
clients, and board members from throughout the legal services
community.
1 Now that each unit is fully staffed, the LSC Office of Program
Performance and its state planning team contain over 260 years of
experience in LSC-funded programs. Many staff also have experience
in other nonprofit organizations that work as partners with our
grantees, such as bar associations, non-LSC funded legal services
providers and social welfare advocacy groups. In all, there are 14
lawyers on OPP and state planning staff. Their efforts are enhanced
by five other individuals who are not attorneys and two permanent
part-time consultants. Their combined expertise includes resource
development, organizational management, technology, migrant and
immigration law, access and intake systems. Prior to coming to LSC,
six staff were executive directors at their legal services programs
and three were managing attorneys. Two staff from the LSC Executive
Office assist OPP and the state planning team members on a regular
basis, and add almost forty years of experience in LSC-funded
programs to the rich mix of talents.
LSC has scheduled a meeting with its statewide grantees
for February 7-9, 2002. This meeting initially was scheduled for
September 13-15, 2001.
Client-Centered Conference, April 25-28 in Hershey,
Pennsylvania. Fifty-one conferees included 22 clients, 18 legal
services staff, and 11 others including judges and IOLTA staff and
16 organizational representatives from LSC, NLADA, and CLASP.
Participants authored twenty papers that were distributed at the
conference.
Client Board Member Training at the 2001 NLADA Annual
Conference.
Commitment: LSC's grant making and regulatory authority promotes
expanded, effective, and efficient state and local legal services
to low income persons.
2001 Achievements
Grantees in 11 states received the maximum grant term of
three years. Arizona, Arkansas, California, Illinois, Kentucky, New
Mexico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West
Virginia received three-year terms as an acknowledgement of their
"significant progress toward the development of comprehensive,
integrated delivery systems."
Grantees in 10 states received two-year grant terms (2002
and 2003) for demonstrating significant progress, though still
needing additional state planning. Those states are Alabama,
Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana,
New York (except for Legal Services of New York City which will
receive a three-year grant), North Carolina, and
Oklahoma.
Programs in Michigan and the District of Columbia received
one-year grant terms for 2002. LSC is in the process of a one-year
review of its prior reconfiguration decision in Michigan.
Grant conditions, riders, or reporting requirements are being
added to a number of grant awards to ensure continued broad-based,
inclusive state planning.
Program Letter 2000-7 was sent to the field at the end of 2000
calling on each state to evaluate and report on their state
planning progress. Reports began arriving late this year and are
being reviewed; LSC responses will be sent in early 2002.
USE OF TECHNOLOGY
Commitment: Statewide technology plans required as part of the
State Planning Initiative.
2001 Achievements
In 2001, LSC continued to play an active role in encouraging and
supporting states' technology plans.
LSC assisted several states by participating in planning
groups and providing training on technology at statewide trainings.
Some of the states were Oklahoma, Virginia, Arkansas, Nebraska,
Missouri, Mississippi, and West Virginia.
Technology grants assisted implementation of state plans. Three
grants in Texas helped with merger issues through integration of
disparate systems. Grants made to Arkansas and Virginia aided in
coordination of case management systems and building systems for
statewide client intake.
Twenty-eight grants targeted statewide web sites, which
encompass not only all of the LSC programs in a state, but other
state justice community partners.
Five national technology grants were made to assist states with
the implementation of other technology grants and technology
planning. (These national grants are described in detail below.)
Among them were:
■
A grant to support for implementation and content
management of statewide web sites.
■
A grant to link technical expertise from other programs
to technology grantees at no cost to grantees.
■
A grant to create a web site to provide information on
technology for all LSC programs.
Commitment: Technology and Pro Se initiative grants to be
awarded by LSC.
2001 Achievements
Ninety-five Technology Initiative Grant (TIG) requests
were received from 46 states and territories for a total of $19.2
million. Fifty-five grants were awarded, with $7 million allotted
for TIG 2001. Twenty-eight states received grants for statewide
websites, 13 for technology projects being undertaken on a
statewide basis (including three for statewide intake systems).
Five grants with a national scope were awarded (see below).
A TIG conference was held in Chicago in October to introduce
this year's grantees to the national support system that LSC has
developed, with the assistance of numerous grantees. These five
national support grants will give our grantees more resources than
they have ever had available to them for developing pro se tools
for clients. The first two, LSTech and LegalMeetings, will be
available to all LSC grantees, not just TIG recipients.
In the first national system, Legal Services of Southern
Michigan is creating a national web site (www.lstech.org) with
resources on legal services technology. They will be working
closely with NTAP so that grantees with questions can log onto the
web site and request assistance from NTAP. Other partners on this
grant are the University of Michigan, providing servers, and NLADA,
providing content and technical assistance.
The next grant is for a national legal services virtual
conferencing center to be coordinated by Gulf Coast Legal Services
in Houston. Using WebEx hosting services, our grantees will be able
to meet electronically via the web. Grantees can convene technology
trainings, state planning sessions, and advocates meetings. The
site that will facilitate this project is
www.legalmeetings.org.
A third national system grant, earmarked for the Legal Aid
Society of Cincinnati, will help grantees with project evaluations.
Our grantee, working with the Management Information Exchange and
experts on evaluations will create a national evaluation strategy
to ensure that our grants improve access for clients to the fullest
extent possible.
Building on work undertaken by last year's grantees, LSC has
approved grants to create 29 new statewide web sites. The majority
will be housed on Pro Bono Net using their LawHelp template. To
assist programs with implementing these web sites, the Northwest
Justice Project and ProBonoNet in New York are hiring two full-time
"circuit riders" to assist grantees with content management and to
ensure that each web site supports the entire state justice
community.
The National Technology Assistance Project (NTAP) coordinated by
the Legal Aid Society of Orange County will help grantees with
management or technology issues arising from their grants.
In addition, presentations on TIG funding availability and the
application process took place at the National Equal Justice
Conference, the Southeastern Project Directors Association meeting,
the Indiana Access to Justice Conference and Virginia's technology
planning meeting.
Commitment: Working with grantees, LSC has developed and
disseminated replicable models for the effective and efficient use
of technology.
2001 Achievements
With TIG 2000, grants were made for two statewide web
site templates. The theory behind these templates was to create a
structure that could be replicated by other states with all of the
functionality, but at a fraction of the cost. In TIG 2001, these
templates will be used in 28 states. The cost to implement the
technology portion is only 20% of the each grant ($10,000). The
remainder will be used to coordinate content. This is a good
example of how LSC's coordinating efforts can result in large
savings to our programs from replication.
Another tool being used for replication is the national
grant for the technology web site (LSTech, described above). On
this site, any program can find details on all of the technology
grants and avoid the expense and effort of creating new projects
for their states. There will be technical information on satellite
Internet access, video systems, telephone, and a host of other
subjects.
LSC co-sponsored a case management system conference in
conjunction with the Equal Justice Conference and participated in a
session on how to help advocates and staff use the technology tools
they already have.
Staff regularly confer with National Center for State Courts,
State Justice Institute, the Open Society Institute and Justice
Management Institute to facilitate pro se efforts, specifically
encouraging partnerships among our programs, the state courts, bar
associations and community organizations. Meetings are also
conducted with the National Access to Justice Funders Group (LSC,
Open Society, State Justice Institute, National Center for State
Courts and the Horowitz Foundation) on building broader justice
communities, statewide web sites, follow-up to the Pro Se
Collaboration Conference, technology support systems and
multi-lingual access.
In addition to the national grants and the statewide web
site grants, statewide grants were made to Virginia, Arkansas, and
Nebraska to improve their intake and delivery systems. Virginia and
Arkansas will be implementing single point of entry for all clients
into the intake system, even though each program will be doing its
own intake. Their case management systems will be running on an
applications service provider (ASP). This means that no software
will be needed to access their system, opening up the ability to do
intake from any computer with Internet access. This will help them
expand intake, such as allowing pro bono attorneys to do intake
from their offices.
Through our planning efforts, LSC is seeing many mergers
of programs. To help with these mergers, LSC made several
technology grants to help programs combine multiple information
systems into one integrated system. Examples of these are the three
grants to each of the new programs in Texas.
As well as making new grants, staff continue to monitor
the TIG projects from last year. The Minnesota and Ohio grants to
develop web templates are being used as models for this year's
statewide web site grants. The Orange County I-CAN project was
successfully completed and is being expanded with additional monies
this year. This project, working with the Courts, district
attorney's office, and libraries, placed self-help kiosks in
several locations in Orange County. The project has been so helpful
to clients and the courts that the Court system is examining the
project to see if it should be implement statewide. Hawaii's video
project is completed and operational. This project is used to
connect offices in the other islands to the main LASH office in
Honolulu. This allows them to do follow-ups on their pro se clinics
to insure they continue with the high success rates. LSC is sharing
what has been learned about the project with other interested
programs. DNA's satellites are providing high speed Internet access
to all of their offices. Before, many offices had to dial long
distance numbers to connect at very slow speeds. They are
installing their pro se kiosks and designing the web site that will
allow persons throughout their service area to obtain self-help
information in their native tongues.
Commitment: State Technology Planning Manual developed and
disseminated.
2001 Achievements
The purpose of the Technology Planning Manual is to
provide executive directors, technologists and/or technology
managers with a step-by-step guide to successfully creating a
statewide technology plan. The Manual will identify the main issues
involved in planning successfully for technology and will capture
information on planning, technology standards, legal services
issues, and partner communities.
The proposed Table of Contents is as follows:
(1)
Introduction (purpose of the manual, how to use it,
overview)
(2)
Process of Planning (staffing the group, identifying
constituencies, timeline, funding the effort)
(3)
Components of a Written Work Plan (state technology
support structure, standards in key technology areas, i.e. LAN/WAN,
hardware, software, connectivity, email, training, video
conferencing, etc.)
(4)
Implementation of the Work Plan (status tracking,
training, evaluations, periodic reports, staffing on-going support,
funding statewide efforts)
(5)
Funding (success stories, budgets,
partnerships)
(6)
Other Resources for Help (website links to other
resources and individuals)
Using the national NTAP grant (see above) LSC is
gathering information from experts within the legal services
community to prepare this manual. We believe disseminating the
broad experience of this group of experts will be useful for state
planners and technology managers. There was a planning meeting to
discuss the preparation of this manual at the TIG 2001 conference
in Chicago and soon we will have a timetable for its
completion.
Use of Program Oversight
Commitment: Develop methods to assess program quality, to ensure
that case handling staff are well trained and that the legal work
among programs is coordinated and of high quality.
2001 Achievements
LSC uses three primary tools to assure quality in the
programs that it represents:
■
The competition process;
■
Quality review visits; and
■
Provision of support and technical assistance to its
recipients.
In 2001 the Corporation again used the competition
process to review programs assure quality. LSC's competition
criteria have been refined to ensure that LSC recipients respond
and adhere to performance standards that result in effective legal
services for low-income people. An extensive guide has been
developed for evaluations that considers each criterion and
provides reviewers with standards against which to judge funding
applications.
In 2001, LSC created a protocol for on-site programs
reviews, published as a "Program Review Guide." It is a reference
tool for staff and consultants in reviewing programs and to draft
reports and recommendations based on the reviews. Program reviews
are one way to monitor program development, solve problems, and
establish new strategies for expanding access and enhancing
quality. Among other resources, the Guide contains a sample letter
introducing the program to the review process, a comprehensive list
of items to request prior to a visit; a simplified work form to
capture information while on site; a model work plan, a form to
help determine the quality of the legal work and suggestions for
conducting personal interviews. The implementation of the program
review process is discussed in the next section.
LSC engages in other efforts to increase quality. LSC
personnel are frequently asked by grantees for assistance with
various aspects of running a successful program. LSC can be a link
between the person making the request and other
programs that have addressed the same concern. In 2001, LSC
began to systematize this effort by creating the Information
Management Project. The project's purpose is to obtain and
publicize information on model practices, programs, and systems. A
staff member is engaged full-time in launching this effort.
Other activities that support increasing program quality
undertaken in 2001 are:
Producing Draft Characteristics on Intake, Advice, and
Referral System. LSC developed and distributed the document to the
public for comment; it will be final early in 2002.
Contracting with the National Center of Poverty Law (NCPL) to
provide training on legal research for poverty law practice to
legal services attorneys in ten states selected by LSC, and to
write and distribute a desktop research manual on poverty law.
Commitment: Undertake a series of program evaluation performance
pilot projects that are intended to provide in-depth understanding
of unique issues facing each program, more relevant and accurate
reporting of program activities and resource utilization,
performance measures that describe and project program success,
information that will lead to an improvement of the overall
effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery.
2001 Achievements
The Office of Program Performance conducted twelve on-site
program reviews in 2001. Under review were programs in Florida,
Alabama, Arkansas, New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma,
Massachusetts, and Ohio. OPP also organized a peer review of the
Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program. These reviews allowed us to
monitor program development, to learn about problems and to suggest
new strategies for expanding access and enhancing quality.
Commitment: Design a new management information system to obtain
more complete and accurate information about the quality and level
of work performed by each grantee and about outcomes achieved for
clients.
2001 Achievements
In 2001, LSC devised a method to measure other significant
responsibilities that programs undertake to help clients, in
addition to handling client cases. These "matters" consist of
activities such as pro se work, community legal education, and
analyzing client problems for referral to other resources. Programs
have been counting "matters" since July 1, 2001. LSC's first report
on this activity is due in March of 2002.
The 2001 Grant Activity Report (GAR) cycle, including Case
Service Reports (CSR's) and the allied Self-Inspection process, has
been successfully completed.
The results of the Self-Inspection show a great improvement in
the accuracy of CSR submissions, with the error rate reduced 55%,
from an 11% error rate for 1999 CSR's to a 5% error rate for 2000
CSR's. With this reduction in error rate, the CSR's now meet the
standard of "substantial accuracy" which was the objective when LSC
initiated the Self-Inspection process in 1998.
The total cases reported to LSC for 2000 are 1,012,368.
While this total is nominally a slight reduction from the 1,038,714
reported for 1999, it is actually an increase because LSC had to
adjust the 1999 total downward to 924,000 cases to take account of
the high error rate. With the great improvement in the accuracy for
2000, LSC can return to using the reported figures without any
adjustment.
Commitment: Performance standards will include criteria for
ensuring that grantees have effective administrative systems in
place and that clients receive quality assistance. LSC will provide
regular feedback to programs and applicants on the quality of their
applications.
2001 Achievements
LSC has developed performance guidelines for assessing
grant applications. These guidelines, embodied in the LSC
Competition Evaluation Guide, cover all aspects of program
performance including components of the delivery approach,
management, legal work supervision, identifying and establishing
the most critical legal needs, coordination within the delivery
system, and experience and reputation. They track, and are built on
the LSC Performance Criteria and ABA Standards for Providers of
Civil Legal Services to the Poor. In Spring 2002, LSC will publish
these guidelines. Following the competition for 2003, LSC intends
to inform each applicant about how well their program met each
criterion.
Commitment: Review the competitive grant making process, the
performance standards applicable to LSC grantees, and LSC's
statutory and regulatory compliance requirements for efficiency,
unnecessary duplication and implications for the delivery of high
quality, appropriate legal services.
2001 Achievements
Additions to the 2002 Request for Proposal (RFP) include
questions for applicants on staff diversity, recruitment and
retention strategies and training, and the organization's strategic
planning. RFP inquiries on technology and on state planning were
streamlined. Some modifications resulted in more comprehensive
information on applicants' proposed subgrantee relationships. LSC
staff conducted telephonic Applicant Information Sessions or
discussions on the application process with interested grantees and
experts. Another comprehensive review of the competition process is
scheduled for the beginning of 2002.
Commitment: LSC will seek additional funds to increase the
presence of LSC staff in the field.
2001 Achievements
With the hiring of new state planning team members as well
as the additions of Matilde Lacayo and Monica Holman to OPP Main
and Joyce Raby in Technology, there is now an OPP Main team member
and a state planning team member assigned to every state and
territory. Staff are also able to assume special initiatives and
projects and to participate in national, regional and statewide
meetings and conferences.
ADDITIONAL PROGRAM OUTCOMES ACHIEVED IN 2001
The Development of a State Planning Evaluation Instrument
An RFP was created, proposals reviewed and a consultant hired in
2001 to design a state justice community outcomes measurement tool.
Soon LSC will be in a position to quantitatively evaluate the
impact of state planning; for now we will demonstrate that state
planning activities have caused beneficial outcomes for state
justice communities, outcomes that position programs to
achieve:
Increased number of clients receiving appropriate legal
services.
Expanded relevancy of the delivery system to the most pressing
needs of lowincome clients Increased perception among low-income
individuals that they have recourse if they require civil legal
information, counseling or representation.
Increased public perception of the legal justice system as
successful in providing Equal Justice.
Expansion of federal funding and other public and private
resources dedicated to meeting civil legal needs of eligible
low-income clients.
Expanded range and improved quality of services provided by
legal services programs.
Greater consistency in the quality of legal services
programs.
Significant beneficial results for low income clients, as
determined by outcome measurements.
The Creation of Efforts to Link with the International Justice
Community
LSC has moved into a leadership position in the
international legal aid community. In June 2001 and again in
December 2001, LSC Vice President for Programs Randi Youells
participated in conferences that brought together leaders and
visionaries from the legal services community in common law
countries (Australia, England, New Zealand, Scotland, Ireland,
Wales, Canada and the United States along with Germany and the
Netherlands) and Southeast Asian countries to discuss emerging
legal issues, government and alternative funding sources, access,
technology and other urgent concerns facing providers of legal
services to poor clients around the world.
Addressing the Pan Pacific Legal Aid Conference
participants, Randi Youells observed that now, largely as a result
of strategic planning, "LSC has more efficient programs, new
partnerships with unlikely stakeholders, powerful new funding
sources, strong allies among the judiciary and the private bar, and
state and local governments have become more sensitive to the needs
of low income clients."
In Australia, in remarks titled Why Legal Services Has to
Change, Youells said, "over the last several years, the legal
services community in the United States has pursued a fundamental
review of our delivery system-the most far-reaching and challenging
we have ever undertaken. The objective has been to create
coordinated and integrated equal justice communities, which live up
to the values and ideals which legal services programs were
initially created to protect, but which also make sense in this new
and ever-changing environment."
LSC's Diversity Initiative
In conjunction with the National Legal Aid and Defender
Association (NLADA), LSC launched a series of conversations on
diversity in 2001. Over the year, eight separate conversations on
broad issues of diversity including disability, age, gender, race,
sexual orientation and ethnicity took place. Several were three or
four hour discussions with small groups of staff attorneys,
directors, or clients. There was also a two-day national conference
on diversity in the legal services community, a first for LSC and
NLADA. Fifty leaders from around the country participated. Reports
on each event will be the foundation for an action agenda for LSC
and the legal services community.
Suggestions and observations raised by client and staff
participants at the eight diversity events intensified LSC's focus
on diversity. Applicants for LSC funds must now describe efforts
underway to cultivate new leadership in their program and in the
state justice community, including how they ensure that leadership
is diverse. State justice community self-evaluations include a
series of inquiries on the diversity work advanced by a state's
plan and related activities. Moreover, LSC has hired a state
planning staff person whose area of expertise and emphasis is
diversity. She will assist state justice communities with this
critical initiative.
LSC Vice President for Programs Randi Youells repeatedly
emphasized diversity and inclusion in her speeches to the legal
services community. Keynote addresses for the Maryland Legal Aid
Bureau staff retreat and the annual state planning meeting in South
Carolina provided opportunities to highlight LSC's support for
multi-cultural competence in program staff along with expanded
outreach to marginalized client communities.
LSC retained a consultant to review staff data submitted
annually by grantees, and report on the diversity trends the
statistics show. While executive directors of color or who are
women in our programs has not diminished in spite of a decreasing
number of programs (from reconfiguration) the number of women
leaders and leaders of color is small compared with their numbers
in our pool of attorneys and other professional staff. The results
of these data will further inform the action agenda, noted
above.
Increased Quality and Services through State and Region
Collaborations
In several states and regions, collaborations around
client issues have resulted in the expansion of services to
clients. A benefit of Tennessee's fair housing efforts (noted
earlier) is that LSC-funded programs in Mississippi, in
collaboration with West Tennessee Legal Services, will receive a
three-year HUD grant of $350,000 to develop and administer a fair
housing initiative in Mississippi. Initially, West Tennessee Legal
Services, a program that has many years of experience in running
HUD projects, will oversee the grant. Gradually administration will
be transferred to South Mississippi Legal Services, which will hire
a Project Coordinator. Together, the three other Mississippi LSC
programs will receive $99,000 to implement the initiative in their
service areas under the guidance of the Project
Coordinator.
New Jersey continued its comprehensive efforts to ensure
that each legal services program in New Jersey was integrated with
the others such that all providers had a "critical mass" of
attorneys on staff, allowing for specialization. Further, their
efforts allowed all attorneys in all of the providers to understand
their role as part of a statewide delivery system.
Missouri created the Missouri Legal Services Commission
to, among other tasks, ensure that all of the Missouri delivery
system components work together.
Massachusetts' providers have formed the Advocacy Coordinating
Group (ACG) with the participation of all LSC and non-LSC programs,
combining expertise across practice areas to address broader issues
such as access to employment, quality of education and barriers to
service. The ACG identifies gaps in services around the state
relating to these issue areas along with making recommendation
about how best to address those gaps.
In Illinois, LSC and non-LSC legal services programs are
collaborating with Chicago Kent College of Law to establish the
Illinois Center for Law and Technology (Tech Center). The Tech
Center will offer training, information, and other support to legal
services attorneys, paralegals, pro bono attorneys and clients. The
Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois and the Chicago Bar Foundation
funded the first year of operation. LSC/TIG funds will support the
second year of operation, allowing the Tech Center to develop and
expand resources to include video streaming training, legal
research, community legal education materials and other supportive
services. The Tech Center is governed by a board of directors
composed of representatives of the collaborative partners, and is
currently housed at Chicago Kent College of Law.
In 2001, California held its largest meeting of legal services
staff and stakeholders since 1982. During this year also,
California's Access to Justice Commission, Legal Aid Association
and the LSC-funded program directors agreed to focus on delivery of
legal services in rural areas, including the reallocation of
resources.
Adoption of Uniform "Core Priorities"
In 2001, California followed the lead of other states (New
Jersey, North Carolina, Florida, and Washington state) and adopted
uniform "core priorities" for all programs to assure consistency of
service throughout the state. In California, there are 102 legal
services programs funded by the state's Legal Services Trust Fund
Program (IOLTA), including 78 field programs and 24 support
programs serving an eligible population of almost five million poor
people, speaking 224 languages. Of the field programs, eleven are
LSC-funded. California's planning and collaborative efforts in the
last year have been numerous and complex, reflecting the state's
many programs, languages, clients and needs. The Legal Aid
Association of California (LAAC) is a membership organization of
legal services programs staffed by the Public Interest
Clearinghouse. It is the entity in California responsible for state
planning, and has already adopted core principles for a
comprehensive integrated system for the provision of legal services
in the following topical areas:
■
Meaningful Access to Justice
■
Client-centered planning
■
Stable and adequate resources
■
Continuum of services
■
Innovative and responsive delivery system
■
Program Evaluation
■
Coordination of regional and state planning
■
Special needs communities
■
Expansive partnerships to increase resources
■
Cultivating leaders of tomorrow
Collaboration of Legal Services Programs and the Courts
In many states, legal services programs and the courts are
working closely together to expand access to the judicial
system.
North Carolina and Arkansas held their first Equal Justice
Conferences. Members of the judiciary were critical in the design
of the curriculum and as panelists.
In March, Massachusetts held an extremely well attended
statewide pro se conference. The state justice community and the
courts are now developing the goals and strategies that resulted
from that event.
Nevada Legal Services has led the development of pro se clinics
in the state. In conjunction with Legal Services of Clark County, a
non-LSC program, and the Clark County judicial system, NLS has
established a Family Law Self-Help Center, located in the Clark
County Courthouse across from the clerk's office. NLS employees
staff the center, supervised by a county employee, who is a lawyer.
In the near future, the center wants its forms on line so that
clients can provide the information and forms will be generated
automatically. The center also offers educational seminars to
potential self-help clients. A similar center has been established
in Washoe County (Reno). A housing self-help center has been
established in Las Vegas. It is staffed by NLS employees as well.
More recently, NLS staff has joined with the Nevada Supreme Court
and others to draft a uniform set of pleadings that can be used in
family court throughout Nevada. Currently Nevada has no uniform set
of forms, and local variations often pose barriers for pro se
clients.
The Supreme Court of Washington created a new Task Force
on Civil Equal Justice Funding.
To enhance our programs' work in these areas, LSC Vice President
Randi Youells spoke before the Conference of Chief
Judges/Conference of State Court Administrators Taskforce on Pro Se
Litigation. In her remarks she urged the judges and court
administrators to (1) initiate efforts with local and state bar
associations to overcome resistance to pro se activities and
self-represented litigants; (2) study selfrepresented litigants to
determine how many of them would have hired (and could have
afforded) a private attorney at the time that they were denied
services by a legal services program; and (3) promote acceptance of
the practice of "unbundling" legal services.
