Using the Legal Hotline Service Delivery Model to Meet Changing Community Needs

1. Using the Legal Hotline Service Delivery Modelto Meet Changing Community Needs Paula Pierce, Texas Legal Services Center Keith Morris, Elder Law of Michigan David Mandel, former Managing Attorney of the California Senior Legal Hotline, Legal Services of Northern California

2. Learning Objectives • Locate resources and methodologies for identifying the unmet legal needs of diverse client communities; • Identify strengths in a hotline delivery system that make it adaptable to changing community needs; • Plan for expansion of an existing legal hotline to meet identified community needs in a cost-effective manner.

3. History of the senior legal hotlines

4. What is a hotline/helpline? • A hotline/helpline is a telephone service capable of providing legal advice and to which rules of professional responsibility apply. • The initial concept – providing advice in little more time than it takes to say no.

5. Every Hotline is Unique • Geography • Host organization: • Statewide • Local • LSC funded

6. Hotline Funding Through the Years • AARP Foundation; • Federal: Congressional appropriations, legal assistance, and Model Approaches projects; • State: state budgets, IOLTA and filing fees; • Grants: Government, foundation and other grants, especially for specific projects deemed sufficiently compatible with the core mission; • Contracts • Donations: client and private

7. How Hotlines Have Adapted • Diversifying funding • Expanding services to meet gaps • Creating partnerships to reach out to new communities

8. Examples: California • pension counseling, • housing counseling, • CalFresh, • kinship care support, • legal assistance to DV victims, • mediation, • community education projects.

9. Examples: Michigan • Benefits Enrollment Center, • Advanced Directives Unit, • Debtor Protection Unit, • Pension Rights Center, • Reverse Mortgage Counseling

10. Examples: Texas • disaster hotline, • facility victims project, • pension counseling project, • crime victim services, • Model Approaches, • veterans.

11. Meeting the Needs of the Community

12. Determining Community Needs • Look at what funders are funding • Use case management system to gather data • Look at the trends at the hotline • Use Internet research • Listen to stakeholders • Needs assessment studies

13. Locating Funding • Federal • State • Foundations/grants • Foundation Center Cooperating Collections - http://maps.foundationcenter.org/cc_state/CCUS.php • Know foundation priorities

14. Funding Sources • Non-traditional sources, e.g., corporations, local governments, etc. • Cy pres awards • Look at doing work on a contract basis • Find out where people doing similar work are being funded • Partner with another agency to get your foot in the door

15. Crafting a Program to Meet the Need • Know what you do well and play on that • Know the need – research, ask, etc. • Look at what the funder wants, if there is one • Do a formal planning process • Look at what others have done • Identify your target population • Identify the services needed by the target population • Identify methods for informing target population about your services • Craft a time-task plan

16. Examples • California: Foreclosure counseling • Michigan: Benefits enrollment counseling • Texas: Identity theft counseling

17. Advantages and Disadvantages of the Hotline Delivery System

18. Advantages • Flexible: can quickly adapt to changing situations such as new law or crisis • Can handle large volume: gets more people connected with legal services • Can assist homebound and people with disabilities • Can cover a large service area without need for satellite offices or funds for travel • Can reach rural areas and people lacking transportation

19. More Advantages • Many clients find self-help strategies to be empowering • Provides a framework for limited-scope and assisted pro se services • Flexible location – if not designed for walk-ins too, can be sited for convenience of staff and volunteers as opposed to clients • Well positioned to take advantage of developing technology: communication by e-mail, some self-help materials online, phone systems, document assembly

20. Yet More Advantages • Amenable to volunteer participation with more flexibility than traditional pro bono commitment • Can accommodate staff with flexible schedules, part-timers • Cost-effective

21. Disadvantages • Very difficult to sustain without a secure funding stream for core work • May not be full services available for people who need more than advice or limited action • Some clients are unable to follow on their own the advice given • There are limitations inherent in not meeting the client in person • Resistance from legal aid traditionalists: Is it real legal work? Competing for scarce funding.

22. Disadvantages Cont’d. • Large states present challenges coordinating with multiple service providers; can be hard to define role when different local agencies want different things. • Demand can escalate faster than ability to serve. • Unstable funding hurts morale, or worse. Staff cuts necessitate reduction in volunteer participation when it is needed even more. • Follow-up is difficult • Difficult to track recoveries cost-effectively

23. Questions?