LACLJ Awarded Sargent Shriver Grant

LACLJ is proud to announce that it has been selected by the Judicial Council of California as one of seven legal services organizations statewide awarded a Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Act grant to lead pilot projects to provide legal representation and develop improved court procedures for eligible low-income litigants’ civil cases affecting basic human needs.

LACLJ’s pilot project, known as Legal Access to Education and Representation (“LA/ER” or “LAYER”), received $850,000 for the first year of a three year grant, the largest grant of any family law project in the state.  The Project is a partnership with the Family Law Departments of the Los Angeles Superior Court at Stanley Mosk Courthouse, Levitt and Quinn Family Law Center and Asian Pacific American Legal Center.

LACLJ designed this project because family law is severely under-resourced yet has the greatest in demand in legal services amongst the poor in California.  There are approximately 24,000 new family law filings at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles each year in which one or both parties are proceeding without representation.  This project will provide legal representation, specialized mediation and support services to litigants in high-conflict custody cases involving allegations of domestic violence at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse.  The project will also provide specialized training for judicial officers, mediators and parents, create specialized high-conflict custody calendars, provide greater access to legal services for litigants with limited English proficiency, and allow participating litigants to access social work case management services.

This funding comes through the Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Act (California AB590) and is scheduled to launch on October 1, 2011.   If you would like to be involved and support this project, please contact Hellen Hong at hellen@laclj.org.