公益中心反思一年的远程服务

2021年3月25日

作者:马特·斯蒂芬

The 公益性服务 Center quickly transformed last March when COVID-19 changed the fabric of legal services and life itself. March 16, 2021 marked one year of remote legal services for the D.C. 酒吧公益中心. The shift introduced some temporary changes and some changes that may become permanent, D.C. 在这之后的一年里，这里的居民只增加了. 中心一直在帮助有需要的人, but when inequalities were intensified by a global health crisis, it responded to help those in an even greater time of need.

中心的建议 & 转介诊所(A)&选项D为正确答案.C. residents in Anacostia and Shaw on the second Saturday of every month since 1997, 在公共卫生危机开始时暂停. Even before the pandemic, there was an access to justice crisis; one in six D.C. 居民生活贫困. Because free legal services are vital to our community, in-person services like A&R被电话线取代.  在大流行开始时, 公益中心的工作人员接听了电话, before figuring out how to connect callers with pro bono attorneys remotely as well. The change has required the Center’s staff to innovate as the year has gone on. Although the moratoriums on eviction and debt collection actions have meant that fewer D.C. residents sought legal services during the pandemic, 310 A&R clients still needed and received brief legal 建议 and information over the phone.

The Center’s 法院资源中心 also transitioned to remote service. The Consumer Law Resource Center has helped 373 clients with matters like debt collection and small claims, 人数比去年有所增加. The Landlord Tenant Resource Center (LTRC) also transitioned to remote service quickly. 根据美国最近的数据.S. 人口普查局，超过15%的D.C. 成年人拖欠房租，近17%的D.C. 成年人怀疑他们能否支付下个月的房租. Between the LTRC and the new Landlord Tenant Legal Assistance Network (LTLAN) partnership that provides a central intake for D.C. 寻求住房问题帮助的居民, 1,880 tenants and small landlords have received information, 建议, 并回答他们关于驱逐的问题, 住房条件, 或者与流行病相关的法律变化.

该中心维持了低收入者的服务.C. 居民依靠, 扩展程序, 建立了新的伙伴关系, 全部来自工作人员和志愿者的家庭办公室. Along with LTLAN, the Center launched the 家庭法援助网 (FLAN) with other D.C.动静分区组织. FLAN has handled the matters of pro se litigants in the D.C. 高等法院’s 家庭 Court—an area of urgent need—all without stepping foot in an office. The network has served an impressive 772 families with urgent custody, 孩子的抚养费, and divorce matters since it opened its virtual doors on March 27, 2020.

When it became clear that the pandemic would cause an economic downturn, the 非营利组织 & 小型企业法律援助 项目 (NPSB) adapted to the growing need for legal information and 建议 in employment law, 商业租赁契约, 联邦和地方财政援助, 如何安全地重新开放, 还有更多. 公益性服务 Center staff in partnership with law firms and attorney 志愿者 met the need by serving an unprecedented number of organizations that keep District neighborhoods vibrant and serve residents. Since March 16, 2020, NPSB has served more than 3,700 nonprofits and small, local businesses.

在去年, the Center trained 566 lawyers through new virtual formats and waived registration fees to prepare for the coming surge of requests for legal help when the federal and local moratoriums end. 在大流行之前，75%以上的D.C. 居民在没有靠谱的滚球平台的情况下出庭, and almost all of those unrepresented litigants were people of color. The 公益性服务 Center’s efforts to increase access to justice for D.C. 居民也促进了种族平等.

感谢中心的工作人员, 志愿者, 和捐助者, 多种疫苗, 经济复苏迹象, 联邦COVID-19救济, 和更多的, 我们有理由保持乐观. For 43 years, the Center has adapted and responded to D.C. 居民及他们的需要. Although the already great need for pro bono legal help continues to increase, the Center’s swift and innovative response to COVID-19 is evidence of its determination to meet the needs of D.C. 低收入居民.