2009 TIG Grant Cycle Now Open

The Legal Services Corporation’s Technology Initiative Grant cycle is now open, with approximately $2.1 million to grant for technology projects in 2009. Letters of Intent are due Friday, February 20, 2009. Funding is available only to LSC-funded programs. For more info, see the Request for Letters of Intent to Apply for 2009 Grant Funding (PDF).  If you have questions, email techgrants at lsc.gov. -M

The Madoff Scandal’s Impact on Public Interest Legal Organizations

The National Law Journal just published a great article on the impact of the Madoff scandal on public interest legal organizations. In response to the shortfalls facing several legal organizations, the Atlantic Philanthropies and Open Society Institute committed $300,000 in matching donations (the Brennan Center for Justice and the Center for Constitutional Rights are among the recipients). MoveOn.org coordinated the effort, which was reported here. Other work to support nonprofit victims of the scandal include efforts by a group of Jewish foundations and a website that provides links to the online donation pages of nonprofits that were hit financially. Please consider showing your support for the public interest legal organizations that were impacted by making a donation. -M

P.S. The American Lawyer reports that not every financial scheme has an unhappy ending … “the legal department at insurance conglomerate ACE Limited put together a novel program that leveraged contributions from in-house lawyers into a $200,000 donation for three public interest groups.”

Marketplace Asks You About the Financial Crisis

Marketplace, the public radio show on finances and the economy, wants to know how the financial crisis is affecting you. They’ve posted an online survey where you can respond.  Responses are confidential, but they are obviously looking for stories that they can air. Legal aid programs should consider responding to raise the media’s and public’s awareness of legal aid and how its funding is declining as the need for its services is climbing.  – K

A Belated NLADA Annual Conference Report (Part 1)

I sat in on several great sessions at the NLADA Annual Conference. While most weren’t technology sessions, technology was nicely woven in to all of the presentations.

LSC Updates – Helaine Barnett, Karen Sarjeant, John Constance
I missed the first few minutes of the session, but I did arrive in time to hear Helaine Barnett talk about the LSC technology survey and the resulting guidelines document, Technologies That Should Be in Place in a Legal Aid Office Today, which was recently released. LSC is working to support grantees as they implement the outlined technologies. In particular, they worked with LexisNexis to develop a HotDocs software donation program and have funded the national document assembly project (NPADO) to support programs implementing document assembly initiatives. Through TIG, LSC provided funding for an updated version of the case management system report as well as a rating system for hardware, software, and vendors. LSC is also looking at identifying additional training opportunities and, as a part of this, will be webcasting parts of the TIG conference. In order to ensure that programs are looking at using technology to improve their service delivery, a technology plan will become a required part of an LSC grant application as was previously mentioned on Techno.la.

Additional technology-related news that was mentioned: LSC will shortly be sending check notices electronically; 33 TIGs were awarded; and LSC has funded the development of a website that focuses on legal issues for active military and veterans.

Client Use of Technology: 2008 Updates – Gene Donney, Kathleen Brockel
Gene led a great session about Internet use. (His slides are available on the LSNTAP.org site.) It was one of the most interactive sessions that I’ve participated in for a while. And Kathleen was an amazing Vanna White!

My take aways:

• The digital divide still exists, but it is getting smaller.
• Our clients are using technology with us or without us, and we need to adapt, so that we can better serve them. For example, another attendee told the story of being asked to send a homeless client a text message rather than phone him because it cost less on a pre-paid cell phone. This is simple and can provide significant benefit to the client.
• Legal aid has to provide more than one way of accessing its services. I will be the first to acknowledge that technology is not the solution for everything. Some communities, like migrant workers, can be best reached through in-person intake; others can easily access legal aid through hotlines. In the same way, online intake can act as an important funnel for others–homeless families who don’t have access to a phone because public telephones are disappearing and people who turn to the Internet for resources first.

That’s all for today. Check back later this week for more. – K

Holiday Giving

This year at my house, we decided to make this holiday season more about giving than gifting. Neither Garrett nor I need any more things, and most of our family and friends are in the same place. Because so many others haven’t been as fortunate, we decided to make donations to non-profits on behalf of our family and friends rather than buying gifts. So instead of facing the post-Thanksgiving shopping crowds, Garrett and I spent time together picking out causes that matched with people’s interests: FirstBook for the sister-in-law that reads more than Matthew; Rolling Dog Ranch Animal Sanctuary for the brother who wants to bring every stray animal home; and health-related Gifts That Give More for my mother-in-law the nurse. Now, even if my family isn’t completely satisfied with their gifts, at least I know that they won’t be sitting in a closet unused.

If you are interested in doing something similar, there are plenty of sites to help you pick out the right cause. For example: Redefine Christmas, Network for Good, and JustGive.org. Or if you already know the organization you want to give to, you can head directly to their website for information on how to give.

For those of you who don’t want to or can’t give up giving gifts, there are still ways for you to make your gifts go farther.  When you shop at The Hunger Store or Epic Change Gift Shop, a portion of your purchase helps to feed a family or build a school. Also, through We-Care.com when you shop at merchants like Target, Amazon, or Barnes and Noble, a portion of your purchase is directed to the organization of your choice. (I’d recommend Pro Bono Net, but I am a little biased.)

And even if you don’t want to spend any money, there are still ways for you to give. Check out the Give List. Through del.icio.us, Twitter, and their blogs, people are contributing ideas for how to give back without spending anything more than time. – K

And Last Week in the News . . . Legal Aid Funding Crisis

As you may have guessed, my Internet access was spotty at the NLADA Annual Conference. Neither the hotel nor NLADA provided Internet access in the conference rooms, and I didn’t spend enough time awake in my hotel room to use the connection there. But I promise that I took lots of notes and will share them shortly.

However, before I get to those posts, I wanted to mention the news that filled my feed reader while I was gone: legal aid is facing a funding crisis, and lots of people still need help. The topic wasn’t a surprise–funding was a part of nearly every conversation and panel at the conference. What was a surprise was the number of articles. In addition to a national perspective from NPR’s All Things Considered, there was coverage from eight states:

• California (Beringer awards $25,000 to Legal Aid),
• Connecticut (Legal Assistance for the Poor Takes a Hit, Legal Aid Agency Reaches Our for Help, Legal Aid Faces Layoffs, Layoffs Loom at Legal Aid,  Layoffs and Legal Aid, Hard Time for Legal Aid Agencies, Recession Cutting Legal Aid Services for the Poor)
• Massachusetts (Free Legal Help for Low-Income Residents Drying Up, MLAC Reducing Grants to Massachusetts Legal Aid Programs by 40 Percent)
• Montana (Ensuring the Promise of our Constitution)
• New Hampshire (Legal Aid Suffers Layoffs)
• Tennessee (Tenn. Bar Say More Lawyers Needed to Give Free Services, Bar Group Seeks to Broaden Free Legal Help)
• Texas (Bank Partners Up with IOLTA: Program to Use Money for Grants to Legal Aid Service Providers, Residents at rundown complex seek shelter before holiday)
• Washington (Economic Woes Threaten Legal Aid Nationwide)

But in the midst of this bad news, I did find a bright story. On Twitter, I was able to follow the progress of UberChick, who was reaching out to legal aid for help. (Posts: 11/20(1), 11/20(2), 11/20(3), 11/21(1), 11/21(2), and 11/26.) Seems that she was able to find an attorney to help her. It reminded me of what it feels like to be searching for help while trying to keep your world from falling apart.  (And she’s not the only potential legal aid client on Twitter. Search on “legal aid” to see who else is out there.)- K

FDIC, heeding attorneys, heads off a potential IOLTA disaster

While not technology related, this National Law Journal article on the FDIC’s announcement that IOLTA funds are immediately eligible for insurance coverage under the Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program (TGLP) should be of interest to folks in our community.

“Abandoning IOLTA would have been catastrophic for IOLTA programs in all 50 states, which provide funding for legal aid for the poor,” said [ABA President H. Thomas] Wells. “Moving the accounts to larger banks would have defeated the FDIC’s purpose in creating the TLGP.” -M

Need Some Financial Advice?

Today’s headlines are scary, and nonprofits are feeling the financial crunch.  If you are looking for resources to help you plan for the upcoming year, go to the Nonprofits Assistance Fund’s website. This organization works with nonprofits to help them make sound financial decisions. In fact, check out their latest blog post, which talks about steps to take as you are budgeting for the upcoming year. – K