About Legal Aid in Arizona

1. Established by Congress in 1974, LSC promotes equal access to justice by funding high-quality civil legal assistance for low-income Americans. LSC is the single largest funder of civil legal aid for the poor in the country.  LSC is a grant-making organization, distributing nearly 94% of its federal appropriation to eligible nonprofit organizations delivering civil legal aid. LSC awards grants through a competitive process and currently funds 133 independent legal aid organizations. With nearly 812 offices nationwide, these organizations serve thousands of low-income individuals, children, families, seniors, and veterans in every congressional district. About Legal Aid in Arizona

2. Established by Congress in 1974, LSC promotes equal access to justice by funding high-quality civil legal assistance for low-income Americans. LSC is the single largest funder of civil legal aid for the poor in the country. You can find a listing for every legal aid organization in the U.S. @ LSC.gov.

3. Community Legal Services LaPaz County Maricopa County Mohave County Yavapai County Yuma County DNA People’s Legal Services DNA People’s Legal Services Coconino County Navajo Nation Community Legal Services Southern Arizona Legal Aid Apache County (non-Tribal) Cochise County Gila County Graham County Greenlee County Navajo County (non-Tribal) Pima County Pinal County Santa Cruz County Southern Arizona Legal Aid

4. Community Legal Services www.clsaz.org Phoenix (Administrative Office) 305 S 2nd Ave (602) 258-3434 Mesa 1220 S Alma School Rd #206 (480) 833-1442 Mohave County 2701 E Andy Devine, Suite 400 Kingman, AZ 86401 (928) 681-1177 Yavapai County 148 N Summit Ave Prescott, AZ 86301 (928) 445-9240 Yuma County 204 S 1st Ave Yuma, AZ 85364 (928) 782-7511 Community Legal Services

5. DNA People’s Legal Services www.dnalegalservices.org Flagstaff2323 E Greenlaw Ln, Suite 1(928) 774-0653 Chinle Chinle Chapter Complex (928) 674-5242 Tuba City 220 S Main St (928) 283-5265 Window Rock Jct Hwy 12 & 264 (928) 871-4151 Kayenta (Tohdenasshai Shelter) Confidential Location (928) 697-3635 DNA People’s Legal Services

6. Southern Arizona Legal Aid www.sazlegalaid.org Tucson (Administrative Office) 2343 E Broadway Blvd, Suite 200 (520) 623-9465 Lakeside 5658 Hwy 260, Suite 15 (928) 537-8383 Casa Grande 766 N Park Ave (520) 316-8076 Bisbee 400 Arizona St (520) 432-1639 Sacaton 403 Seed Farm Rd (520) 562-3369 Community Based offices in Nogales, South Tucson, and Whiteriver Southern Arizona Legal Aid

7. About Legal Aid in Arizona Equal Access to Justice FAMILY LAW HOUSING CONSUMER LAW Foreclosure Prevention, Mortgage Fraud, Landlord/Tenant, Unsafe Housing Identity Theft, Predatory Lending, Consumer Fraud, Creditor Harassment Domestic Abuse, Divorce, Separation, Parenting Time, Guardianship, Child Support PROTECTIVE ORDERS INCOME MAINTENANCE OTHER CIVIL MATTERS Employment Law, Wages Owed, Unemployment Insurance, Disability, Social Security Healthcare, Education, Individual Rights, Veteran’s Issues, Elder Law

8. About Legal Aid in Arizona Equal Access to Justice 13,500 128 cases closed by AZ legal aid each year AZ legal aid attorneys and paralegals 38% 36,000 of AZ legal aid work is related to housing & consumer law, 37% family law AZ residents receive legal help each year 20,000 adults, 16,000 children

9. Increasing Access to Justice 2007 - 2019 • Since 2007, Arizona now has: • An 800-number statewide automated call center for legal aid, modest means, and full-pay lawyer referral. • Modest Means program for those not eligible for free legal aid. • Online pre-qualifier application, A2J interview, for legal services. • Librarians in some counties trained and equipped to assist with legal information for the public. • Court rules allowing an attorney to provide brief and/or unbundled services. • Court rules allowing lawyers to get CLE credit for pro bono work. • Court rules allowing retired Arizona attorneys to offer pro bono services without re-establishing their Arizona license. • An online court filing system. • Arizona Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice. • Maricopa Court Justice Corp Court Navigator program. • http://azcourthelp.org ; http://lawforseniors.org ; http://lawforveterans.org; AzLawHelp.org; • Arizona State Bar “Find A Lawyer” portal available for all the public.

10. Spotting Legal issues: • Knowledge of the law is the key to being able to spot legal issues. • The law is what make facts important and what trigger legal issues. • Legal Issue spotting is a challenging skill to master, but if you error on the side of caution and refer clients to legal aid or a lawyer when you’re uncertain that is best. • America is a complex society and the law impacts almost every aspect of life. • Example: 1. Americans have due process rights before the gov’t (local, state or federal) can deny or limit any public benefit. 2. Consumer protection laws govern our relationship with most corporations. 3. Only courts of law can enforce contracts. 3. Courts of law are where individuals go to resolve disputes.

11. Clear Legal Issues: • Family matters: Divorce, Child Custody, Parenting Time and support. • Landlord and Tenant Disputes. • Debt Collection and Credit Reports • Wage Garnishments • Consumer Contracts; e.g. auto purchase or warranty; home solicitation sales. • Denial of a government public benefit: UI, SSI, SSDI, TANF, SNAP, AHCCCS, ALTC.

12. Red Flags • Client will always tell why they are seeking your help. • However asking additional questions will sometimes reveal that the reason the client is seeking your help is rooted in a legal issue or there is a legal solution to the problem. • Example Seniors: • There are many statements that an older adult could make in the course of intake or a client interview, that are “red flags” that something else may be going on in their life that requires legal intervention. If a red flag is raised, ask more questions. Some red flags include: • Client is having difficulty paying basic utility bills or housing costs, but has adequate income— this could be an indicator of financial exploitation or other abuse. Additional screening should be done. • Client refers to a large medical bill they are paying on each month—additional screening for a health insurance issue or consumer issue should be considered. They could be paying a bill that should have been covered by insurance, or be eligible for Medicaid and not enrolled. • Legal Advice vs. Legal Information: • Handout

13. 100% Access Goals Recommended by Conference of Chief Justices • Resource Planning – The major perceived Access to Justice barrier is lack of resources. Developing a nuanced long term strategy for ensuring sufficient resources is key. Any Justice for All strategy will need to reflect state realities and embrace flexibility and innovation in resource planning. • Technology Capacity – Technology capacity exit within the organizations of the individual stakeholders, but there is often a need for more coordination and integration. There is universal agreement that without technology, there will be no cost effective system to work towards 100% access. Building technologies that are scalable and integrated with multiple stakeholders will be critical to this work. • Triage, Referral & Channel Integration - States must deploy a component that assess what services each individual and situation needs, and then makes the appropriate and verified referrals. Many states are talking about a “portal” concept for triage, referral and channel integration. The idea is to create “no wrong door” through which people with legal problems access the system. • Community Integration & Prevention – Access to Justice is not court-centric. Adopting a user’s point of view and addressing civil legal issues before they worsen can save time, money, and avoid what can be a burdensome court process. Research shows that most civil legal issues never make it to the court system. Facilitating relationships with community stakeholders and integrating them into the ATJ response can dramatically impact the scope of outreach for legal information and services.

14. Recommendations Continued…. 5. Broad Self-Help Informational Services – Demystifying the system and explaining it to self-represented litigants in plain language is critical to achieving ATJ. The better the job done on this, the more successful with be the self-represented litigant and the less strain it will put on resources to help them succeed in the process. 6. Plain Language Forms – Implementation of standardized plain language forms with protocols for assessing and updating forms and testing for comprehensibility and usability. 7. Language Services Integration – Language access services at all points of contact between LEP users and all legal system components (e.g., provision of qualified interpreters and translators, multilingual staff, written and audio-visual tools in languages other than English). 9. Alternative Dispute Resolution Integration – Provision of information about ADR modes and processes, substantive ADR law, and consequences as an integrated part of the triage system.

15. Recommendations Continued…. 10. Compliance Assistance – Providing both timely information and explanations of information through a variety of court stakeholders (e.g., judge, self-help center, clerks) and though various media including proactive court text or e-mail messages about next steps and upcoming events. 11. Courtroom Assistance Services- Can range from videos providing information about understanding the court process to hiring staff as court navigators. Wide range of options in this area. 12. Expansion & Efficiency Improvements of Full Service Representation – It is clearly important to support as much full service representation through legal aid and the private bar as resources will allow, especially when a legal issue is particularly complex, where the stakes are particularly high (e.g., safety or homelessness), or where mental health, age, or other capacity issues imped the person’s ability to fend for himself or herself. 13. Unbundled (Discrete Task) Legal Assistance – Need the court rules in place to allow unbundled legal services, combined with lawyers willing to provide the services and a way to match the willing lawyers with the triage system. 14. Simplification – The current system was designed by lawyers for lawyers. Courts need to review and simplify court rules and processes when possible to eliminate unnecessary appearances and filings. 15. Role Flexibility for other professionals – Services in addition to lawyers, including allowing legal practice by allied professionals (e.g., LLLT) or court navigators.