Creating New Pathways for DV Survivors to Access Legal Help

Episode Notes

Transcript

Hayley Cousin:

Most of our advocates, once they get into it, they actually come back to me and say, this actually made my job easier. It is easier to help survivors. It is easier to empower them on their journey, and it is easier to do my job now that I’m able to do this.

Announcer:

Equal access to Justice is a core American value. In each episode of Talk Justice an An LSC Podcast, we’ll explore ways to expand access to justice and illustrate why it is important to the legal community, business government, and the General Public Talk. Justice is sponsored by the Leaders Council of the Legal Services Corporation.

Lee Rawles:

Hello and welcome to Talk Justice. I’m Lee Rawles, longtime legal journalist and your host for this episode. Current unlicensed practice of law or UPL restrictions generally prohibit anyone but a licensed attorney from offering legal services. But some states have experimented with changing these rules to allow for innovative service models that address unmet needs. Today we’ll be discussing two programs that are leveraging UPL Reform to advance access to justice for survivors of domestic violence. Community Justice Advocates of Utah manages the certified Advocate partner program, which began at ANOS Legal Center in 2021. In the program, victim advocates at organizations throughout Utah are trained to provide limited scope legal help to domestic violence survivors as they pursue civil protective orders or civil stalking injunctions in Arizona, innovation for Justice partners with community-based organizations to train support and mentor domestic violence legal advocates. Since 2021, the Domestic Violence Legal Advocate program has trained trauma-informed legal advocates at Arizona DV service providers to deliver limited scope, legal help on protective orders and certain family law matters. Joining me today from these great programs we have Hayley cousin, executive Director of Community Justice Advocates of Utah, Gabriela Elizondo-Craig community Legal Education co-coordinator and professor of practice at Innovation for Justice. And finally, Maria Padilla, case coordinator at Emerge Center Against Domestic Violence and Arizona Certified Community Legal Advocate. Thank you three so much for joining us.

Hayley Cousin:

Thanks for having us. Thank you.

Lee Rawles:

So both of these programs exist in the relatively new space that was created by Arizona and Utah, opening up UPL restrictions to allow for innovation in the delivery of legal services. Could you briefly explain how your programs operate, contribute to the existing legal ecosystem in each state? Gabriela, let’s start with you.

Gabriela Elizondo-Craig:

Yes, so I’ll be focusing on our Arizona program. So in Arizona, certified community legal advocates who specialize in domestic violence, as you mentioned, can help with orders of protection and limited areas of family law. They do this by providing legal advice at intake and throughout the case, supporting with negotiations, completing court documents that are then filed by the survivors, providing in court advocacy during hearings. This looks like a quiet seat at the table. They sit at counsel’s table with the survivors and can provide quiet advice and guidance throughout the hearings and post court support as needed.

Lee Rawles:

So Gabriela are the advocates, do they stay with the victims throughout this sometimes very long procedure?

Gabriela Elizondo-Craig:

Yes, it’s the intention of these programs is that they can work with folks throughout the lifecycle of their case, really providing holistic case management services from their first encounter until they’re done with their legal services. And then this is layered on top of health, human and social services that they’re already providing to domestic violence survivors. So they receive additional services beyond the legal assistance that they receive.

Lee Rawles:

Great. Hayley, how about your Utah program?

Hayley Cousin:

Yeah, so in Utah, our domestic violence community justice advocates provide a very similar scope of services, but they are limited to those protective order and stalking injunction cases. Similarly, our community justice advocates are offering legal advice, drafting and reviewing documents, helping them file those with the court, preparing clients for hearings and maintaining that quiet seat at the table, giving quiet promptings throughout the hearing on how to interact with the court. They are independent legal service providers, so they’re managing their own caseloads, screening clients, assessing eligibility, delivering legal services directly, but they operate with that strong infrastructure and support for my organization.

Lee Rawles:

So one thing I found interesting is you’re recruiting and training people who are already working in places where they’re likely to encounter domestic violence survivors in need of civil legal services. Could you tell us a little bit about the recruitment and training processes and where survivors can encounter these providers? Hey, let’s start with you.

Hayley Cousin:

Yeah, of course. So we approach and build relationships with domestic violence service providers, our statewide domestic violence coalition, and kind of those related community and system-based organizations. So both kind of our shelter partners and also our law enforcement partners. We’re essentially going where survivors already have touchpoints of support. Our goal is to enable these existing service providers to offer more comprehensive trauma-informed services, which include legal help. So this model brings legal help directly into those trusted community settings where survivors already feel safe.

Lee Rawles:

Gabriela, anything to add there?

Gabriela Elizondo-Craig:

Yeah, I would say in Arizona, in addition to the strategies that Hayley has discussed, we have a lot of rolling presentations to task forces, case management teams, coalitions, elected officials, and one-on-one meetings with interested orgs who reach out to us

Lee Rawles:

Well before becoming advocates. I imagine that these same people spent a lot of time referring survivors out to other service providers, and I wonder how many survivors would get lost in this shuffle or become discouraged or confused and never make it from one resource to the next. It’s a long and scary process. Does that resonate with you as one of the major advantages of this model, Maria, we’re so lucky to have you one of the community legal advocates with us.

Maria Padilla:

Yeah, I think it makes a big difference where we can, in addition to the work we’re already doing and safety planning and connecting persons to resources, is also connecting them to the legal system and walking them through that process because a lot of people don’t know what that can look like or the safety concerns that may come up along with it for them, both their physical safety, emotional safety. So I think in that way too, it’s very beneficial to kind of encompass all of those things together, both the legal process and taking into account their experience with domestic violence. Because a lot of times when they are referred to other agencies, they may not get that full safety planning or time to process what is coming up for them.

Lee Rawles:

Can you tell us a little bit about your experience being an advocate? What drove you to join this and how it’s changed what you’re able to do for survivors?

Maria Padilla:

Yeah, it’s been a great experience. There’s things as we learn along the way of things that are working, not working and how to provide that support to survivors. I think a big part that there’s a gap that we noticed a gap in is that emotional support when also navigating the legal system where a lot of times they’ll want to talk further about how they’re processing through the whole their case or talking about how domestic abuse can just come up in the legal system and ways and preparing them that in some ways it can connect within other ways that it doesn’t under the law. So it’s also talking about those kinds of things and how they intersect or don’t. So that’s been my experience is really having honest conversations of what that could look like for someone. And we’ve learned a lot along the way. And I think a big part of that is not just being able to talk to them and for them to understand how the process may work, but also that emotional piece of it that a persons don’t always get when working with an attorney or another agency that is just focusing on the legal aspect of the case.

Lee Rawles:

Sure. Their time is so precious and limited that they’re not able to provide that. And I was heartened to hear from Hayley and Gabriela that often the same advocate is able to stay with that person through their whole case.

Maria Padilla:

Yes, we can. That’s definitely our goal. Sometimes it doesn’t happen. Things come up for the person, which we completely understand, but that is our goal, is to kind of see through the case fully, and then also for them to be able to connect to our other services through a merger domestic violence agency where they can also connect not just with the legal piece, but other parts of support that they may be looking for.

Lee Rawles:

Well, let’s get to the UPL reform piece of this. A common concern you’ll hear from people who are not in favor of unlicensed practice of law reform is that we don’t want to offer people second tier services. So Gabriela, I know Innovation for Justice has collected a lot of data on this program and the services it has provided. What can you tell us about the feedback from clients on the quality of services they received and how that compares to traditional legal services or self-help?

Gabriela Elizondo-Craig:

Yeah, that’s a great question. All of our programs are assessed through a multi-state data collection framework that monitors justice workers services and potential consumer complaints on a regular basis. And to date, we’re extremely proud to report zero consumer complaints since we were first authorized in 2020 and services launched in 2021. Our DVLA program in particular was evaluated through a randomized control trial for three years, during which our research team worked with Maria and our community partner emerged center against domestic abuse to assess the impact of justice worker services. And we found that community clients provided overwhelmingly positive feedback on the services that they received. And we’re excited to say that we have some preliminary findings recently published in the American Journal of Law and Medicine, and a lot of this we believe comes from our focus and approach to training, which is offered for free mixed synchronicity. So some parts are done asynchronously by the advocates at home or at work. They complete modules that teach them the substantive and procedural law. Then they also meet with our team on Zoom on a regular basis to get practice and real emphasis on learning legal skills. So not just the law, but what to do with it and how to work with folks and how that is really enhancing and expanding their services that they already provide.

Lee Rawles:

Well, it’s wonderful to have the data, but let’s also talk about the human face. Maria, is there an anonymous client story that you can share that illustrates the impact that domestic violence legal advocates are able to have?

Maria Padilla:

Yeah, I was thinking of one case. It was actually for a contested order of protection, and I worked in partnership with one of other legal advocates. She’s not a community legal advocate, but they can help in some way in helping prepare persons for hearings in their capacity. So in working with her, we were able to help the participant prepare for the hearing, talking about what the process will look like, how to prepare themselves for the hearing as far as evidence, things like that. So it’s a big part of our role is preparing persons for hearings that they’re going to attend, and then also helping prepare them both emotionally as well, just because it can be a lot for people entering that space. So we’re preparing in that way. So my colleague helped prepare the participant for the hearing, and then I attended the hearing with that participant was seated at the table with her and just kind of also talking about her emotional safety in the moment, safety coming into the Courtroom and leaving and all those things and how to prepare.

Being in the hearing itself. We have a lot of perpetrators who will say things in court or things like that. So it’s always preparing them for those kinds of things and safety planning and her, with all that collaboration that we did, she was able to maintain her order of protection as it was against the person. So that’s always huge for us, and I’m sure for the participant as well. And then she checked in with both of us after and just was really thankful for just even, I think a big thing is just us being present with them throughout the whole process, both in preparing and being at the hearing with someone

Lee Rawles:

Not feeling so alone.

Maria Padilla:

A lot of people do feel alone and nobody is wanting to support, or they can be limited on their resources to obtain an attorney financially as well. Some are resources, even if it’s free, can still be limited. So I think that’s a big part of that difference that it makes is just having someone there and walking them through the process and validating their feelings in that process too. So she was very thankful for that. And just a simple fact of just being there is a huge thing for our participants, and that case reminded me of that. And just presence is huge.

Lee Rawles:

So one challenge for domestic violence survivors is that often this is not just a one and done, you get an order of protection and never have to go to court again. In many jurisdictions, there are time limits you may have to return again and again perhaps every five years, and that would be so draining and potentially expensive. I’m just curious, in each of your states, what are those burdens for domestic violence survivors like Hayley?

Hayley Cousin:

So in Utah we have six civil orders and they’re all a little different. And so one big burden is just figuring out which one to request in the first place once a final protective order is entered. The majority of them last for three years, but some portions may only last a few months, especially related to custody and parent time, which is a pretty significant concern for many of our survivors. So the advocates are trained to help in court processes, not only during the initial request, but also after it is entered. So they’re able to advise on how to enforce the civil provisions. They’re able to help guide them on how to make a police report to do the criminal enforcement, but also to explore really importantly what the potential impacts and consequences of those choices are. If they have a protective order type that is able for extension after those three years, they can help with that as well. The survivor would just reach back out to them and they would walk them through that process. So they don’t have to really sift through all of the information out there, figure out, do I qualify? How do I do this? When do I do this? Our advocates, our network of advocates is able to just take that off their plate and say, we’re going to help you through this.

Lee Rawles:

And are there similar issues in Arizona, Maria?

Maria Padilla:

Yes. So in Arizona, the orders of protection are good for two years after a person obtains one, the opposing party does have the right to contest that order at any time during those two years. So sometimes that can be a lot for a person to have to come back if they do fight the order, but we also can help them and guide them through that process as well. So that’s connected to our role as well, is if an order of protection is contested at any point during those two years, if a participant wants an order after those two years are up, they do have to renew it. And sometimes we do see that this can be a lot for a person because if nothing happens during those two years, it can be more difficult to obtain a new order against that person. The other piece too is that there is a lifetime no contact order, but that’s more connected to criminal cases where that person is the listed victim. So there’s other requirements for that one specifically. But yeah, in Arizona it’s usually the two years that it’s good for, and then the contesting if that were to come up for someone,

Lee Rawles:

That’s an awful lot of time spent in court. Yeah. Hayley, your program is really focused on serving rural Utah. Can you talk about the approaches that help you reach rural communities and the impact the program has been able to have thus far?

Hayley Cousin:

Yeah, absolutely. So in Utah, about 80% of our population lives in our urban areas along the Wasatch Front, which is Salt Lake City area. And that’s also where the majority of legal aid and private attorneys are physically located as well. So when you live somewhere like Salt Lake City, it’s not too difficult to find access points for legal help, but outside of the Wasatch front, it becomes very difficult to find local legal help. As we’ve met with service providers over half a decade now throughout rural Utah, they’ve always been very appreciative of when those statewide resources reach out, they’re able to support their clients. But a common piece of feedback we were always getting was we would really like to have someone local, someone who’s in our community that we can trust. So we knew these communities had this desire to engage in this work, and I’m pleased to share that 75% of clients in this program do reside in rural Utah.

This is of course, the result of existing trusted organizations taking this step toward expanding their services. Developing these partnerships did take significant time. They can take significant time. We work with existing partners and community members to identify where are people going for help right now when they have this problem. And then those are the organizations we reach out to. We do a lot of education, we share, we try to learn really deeply about their services and their needs so we can develop this really meaningful two-way relationship. Always begin by listening. What problems are they facing? How do they want to solve it, and what support do they want? Then from there, we really work collaboratively with them to determine what would this program look like at your agency? Every agency gets to tailor it to what they have capacity, what their community needs, and putting that emphasis on local impact has been really important to all of our partners, but especially so much to our rural partners, and it is just my goal and my privilege to support the amazing work they’re already engaged in and help them add another tool to make that work even more successful.

Lee Rawles:

Well, we have been so lucky to have Maria here to talk about her own experience as one of these domestic violence legal advocates. But hearing about the way that you’re reaching out to these agencies, what has been the feedback that you’ve heard from other advocates? Gabriela, let’s start with you.

Gabriela Elizondo-Craig:

Yeah. I think across both of our certified community legal advocate programs, we’ve heard that they’re appreciative for the way that they can now share legal knowledge through the community legal empowerment that they’re receiving by being a part of these programs with their broader community. So we are seeing a lot of folks who are giving know your rights trainings, really forming new coalitions, bringing in community members to expand this movement beyond just themselves, and they’re finding that that’s really meaningful community impact that they’re able to deliver even beyond the legal services and the legal and social emotional benefits that clients are receiving from working with them directly. So it’s been really exciting to see the movement grow.

Lee Rawles:

And Hayley, you talked about how careful you are to address each potential advocate based on their needs. What has been the feedback that you’ve received throughout this program?

Hayley Cousin:

Overwhelmingly positive. We hear from many of our advocates. I’ve been engaged in this work for two years, five years, 20 years, and this is the training I needed. Like Gabriela was saying, a lot of them already have a lot of legal knowledge. They’re the ones who are helping with protective order after protective order, after protective order. They’re sitting in these courtrooms week after week. They know what information’s important. They know what the judges need to see to enter these protective orders, and they love that. Now they’re able to use that legal knowledge and the knowledge and training we’ve been able to provide to them to really better their communities and their clients. We also hear initially during recruitment, there’s a lot of concerns very understandably about workload and this being burdensome, and we have to be sensitive to that. We are working with professions who deal with high levels of turnover and burnout, and I emphasize that we are here to give you another tool not to contribute to that, but most of our advocates, once they get into it, they actually come back to me and say, this actually made my job easier. It is easier to help survivors. It is easier to empower them on their journey, and it is easier to do my job now that I’m able to do this. So they are just so grateful and also so capable and supporting them is just a privilege.

Lee Rawles:

Well, to round out our conversation, I just want to give each of you the floor for a minute to share a final thought about your work in these programs. What would you tell people in other states where this type of limited scope legal work isn’t possible yet? Let’s talk to our Arizona contingent Gabriella.

Gabriela Elizondo-Craig:

Yeah, so this started as one pilot at one organization for South Rice in 2020, and it took a lot of careful and continued partnership with our Arizona administrative office of the courts to administer these programs. So I would really encourage fostering those relationships, making sure that the folks who are involved in the administration are a part of the design, but also to really make room for meaningful inclusion of people who are experiencing the legal problems that you think that your program might help with in selecting service areas for community-based justice work. Make sure that you’re asking the people who are currently not receiving any legal help, what they need help with and who they want to receive it from. Often it’s lawyers and judges who are creating these rules and new programs, but really including community is how you’re going to make sure that these services are coming from folks who are best positioned to provide it and will be very effective in meeting the community needs that are unmet.

And just keep in mind, just because something works at one place does not mean it will work in another. And that’s why at Innovation for Justice, we really encourage the use of participatory action, community engaged research in order to develop these kinds of programs. And I think one of the biggest benefits we’ve seen is that the key to sustained growth is trust and long-term investment in people and community power. We’re not just throwing people at the problem, we’re ensuring that they have the resources that they need to succeed, that they’re the trusted advocates that people are already interfacing with, and that ultimately we’re enhancing the services they can provide and the services that the community is receiving.

Lee Rawles:

And Maria,

Maria Padilla:

Yeah, I’m super grateful for the program and being able to be a part of it, and just the knowledge that I’ve gained throughout this whole experience. And it’s continuing. Every time I learn something new, and I think someone said earlier, just passing that information to our participants and for them to have that information because a lot of, most of the time they don’t or they know things that maybe their perpetrator has lied to them about. And so I think it’s a great program to provide more support to our participants and close the gaps as much as we can when they’re working with a legal system. Supports for our participants are huge in trying to build back up after they’ve gone through abusive relationship. I think in that aspect it’s great. And then also just connecting them at the same time with our services. So it’s providing that support both in information around the legal system, and then also providing education around abuse and safety planning, kind of all encompassing.

And I think it does make our job easier and having all this information to provide to our participants. A big thing I think about is sometimes we have participants that are referred to one place and then another, and then they have to go to this other place. So I feel it also helps for them to just work with one person if that’s easier for them, and be able to get various things for support instead of going from one agency to another. So I think in that way it’s also great. So it’s been a great experience and I think a lot of our participants have had good experiences with it as well, and feel that support both from Emerge and then other agencies that we can connect them to along the way.

Lee Rawles:

And Hayley, what would you tell people in other states based on your experience in Utah?

Hayley Cousin:

I would echo a lot of what both Gabriela and Maria have said here, and I’d also like to add, we’ve seen that investing deeply in our individual advocates has led to incredible returns. I guess you could put it. We’ve seen them serve hundreds of people who report to us in feedback surveys that without their advocate, they wouldn’t have gotten this help. They wouldn’t have known that they were eligible for this protection and that it was a significant step forward. I’d also add that as we build the big table, as Gabriella was saying, to bring everyone in as we’re having regulatory conversations, consider not just what regulatory scheme you need, but also what long-term support to the actual advocates need to be successful. Ask them what do they need to be successful? Is it ongoing training, mentorship? We do round tables to facilitate statewide conversations, but also ask them and trust their answer. What can you handle? What are you up for handling? Because they are eager to engage in this work and we should support them in doing that.

Lee Rawles:

Well, thank you to Gabriella, Hayley and Maria for enlightening all of us about their incredible work to create new pathways to justice for domestic violence survivors. And thanks to the listeners for tuning in to this episode of Talk Justice. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode.

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