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City of Everett Human Needs Grant
<br /> January 1 through December 31,2017
<br /> Snohomish County Legal Services
<br /> Civil Legal Aid to Low Income Everett Residents
<br /> EXHIBIT A: Program Summary
<br /> Snohomish County Legal Services will provide legal assessment and assistance to 300+low-income City of Everett residents,
<br /> who are disabled, elderly,youth,with limited English skills, or otherwise vulnerable and have legal needs that impact their
<br /> ability to meet their daily needs for shelter and food, by assisting them in legal actions involving consumer,debtor-creditor,
<br /> bankruptcy,or family law that will help them maintain a home and have adequate income to provide for themselves and
<br /> their families.
<br /> (1) Program Objective: The objective of this program, Civil Legal Assistance for Low-Income Everett Residents, is to assist
<br /> low-income, disabled, elderly, or youth residents of Everett whose vulnerability impacts their legal needs and their ability to
<br /> ensure that they have a safe home and adequate income to support themselves and their families by assisting them with
<br /> long term housing, consumer, debtor-creditor, bankruptcy,and family law cases. By this legal assistance, our goal is to
<br /> ensure that they have the following:financial assistance in the form of child support or spousal maintenance for themselves
<br /> and their families, domestic violence protection orders that keep them safely in their homes, resolution of housing
<br /> problems, assistance with bankruptcy,debtor-creditor problems or consumer issues. One unresolved legal issue,such as
<br /> consumer abuse, predatory lending, lack of well structures parenting plans and domestic violence creates a downward
<br /> spiral of costly social problems that impact the whole community. Our legal services meet Everett Human Needs priorities
<br /> for Youth, Elderly and Persons with Disabilities and/or Barriers.
<br /> (2) Program Components and Structure,: Snohomish County Legal Services(SCLS)is a volunteer attorney program with a
<br /> successful client-centered and resource-efficient approach using volunteer and staff attorneys and paralegals in legal advice
<br /> clinics,self-help classes, and for direct representation of clients. We provide the services described below to income-
<br /> eligible city and county residents,who are at or below 200%of the federal poverty line; in 2014,we served over 1,360
<br /> clients. Of those clients,40%+will be residents of the City of Everett. In addition, 24%of the clients who are referred to
<br /> our office are disabled. A large number have limited English skills. The types of services we provide them are described
<br /> below.
<br /> Full Legal Representation:
<br /> Our family law staff attorneys provides full legal representation to victims of domestic violence in protection order and
<br /> family law cases(dissolution, legal separation,and paternity). In determining cases chosen for full legal representation,
<br /> priority is given to cases where the client is a limited or non-English speaker, has physical or mental disabilities,where the
<br /> opposing party is represented by counsel, and/or where there is a safety risk to the children involved.We have seen a
<br /> significant increase in the number of non-English speaking clients in the last two years and anticipate that this trend will
<br /> continue. Because of the increased time involved in assisting these clients,our practice is to have staff represent them
<br /> rather than a volunteer attorney. However,some of our volunteers do accept non-English speaking clients, and we assist
<br /> with the cost of interpretation.
<br /> A second staff attorney deals with non-family law matters assisting clients in bankruptcy,contract disputes, housing
<br /> disputes other than eviction,guardianships, license revocations and consumer problems. She is responsible for recruiting
<br /> volunteer attorneys to assist with our bankruptcy clinic and to take non-family law cases for direct representation.
<br /> We will continue to refer cases to volunteer attorneys for full legal representation based on the areas of priority established
<br /> and annually reviewed by our board of directors. The representation is intended to meet the client's legal needs and to
<br /> help the client gain self-sufficiency and stability through assistance with family law actions to dissolve dysfunctional
<br /> marriages, establish child support and obtain spousal maintenance for education and training,through bankruptcy actions
<br /> to obtain debtor-creditor relief, and through assistance with landlord-tenant problems or other actions such as preparation
<br /> of wills and durable powers of attorney.
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