Legal Aid Advisory Committees Poverty Law November 5, 2009.

Legal Aid Advisory Committees Poverty Law

November 5, 2009

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Introduction

• Document discusses poverty, clinic law services and access to justice

• Outline of document:1. LAO’s mandate and responsibilities 2. Clinics’ role and services 3. Poverty in Ontario4. External environment5. Profile of LAO-funded clinics6. Ideas and thoughts on delivering more and

better services to clients

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Minister’s Announcement

MAG Announcement on Poverty Law Services:– The increased legal aid investment will mean that the

clinics can serve more people. They will also be a central part of coordinated legal supports that respond to the full range of issues - from landlord and housing issues to employment issues - that those in difficult situations are faced with every day. Initiatives include:

• More people served, and a broader range of information available with more upfront access to it

• Integration of inter-ministerial anti-poverty measures and social services/clinics

• Establishment of an advisory group

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1. LAO’s mandate and responsibilities

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LAO’s mandate and responsibilities

LAO’s mandate includes: • Administer a cost-effective and efficient system for providing

high quality legal aid services to low-income individuals in Ontario within the available financial resources

• Monitor and supervise legal aid services provided by clinics• Identify, assess and recognize the diverse legal needs of low-

income individuals and of disadvantaged communities in Ontario

• Encourage and facilitate flexibility and innovation• Operate independently from the Government but within a

framework of accountability for the expenditure of public funds

• Establish policies & priorities based on available financial resources

• Facilitate co-ordination among the different methods by which legal aid services are provided and co-ordinate services with other aspects of the justice system and with community services

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LAO’s mandate and responsibilities

LAO’s responsibilities include: • LAO’s may fund clinics to enable clinics to provide

legal aid services to low-income individuals or disadvantaged communities, s. 33(1)

• In deciding whether to fund a clinic, LAO shall consider (among other things) the legal needs of the individuals or communities, the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of providing legal aid services through the clinic, past performance, legal needs of other communities, LAO’s policies and priorities, s. 33(2) and (3)

• LAO may impose terms and conditions on the funding of a clinic, s. 33(5)

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2. Clinics' role and services

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Clinics’ role and services

Clinics’ role: • Clinics are the foundation for providing clinic law services,

s. 14(3)• Clinics must report to LAO in the form and at the times

requested by the Corporation, s. 37(2) • Clinic boards must ensure that the clinic complies with

LASA and the terms and conditions of funding, any direction issued by LAO’s board, and that the clinic meets the operational standards established by LAO, s. 39(1)

• Subject to the Act, clinic boards shall determine the legal needs of the individuals and communities served or to be served by the clinic and shall ensure that the clinic provides legal aid services in the area of clinic law in accordance with those needs, s. 39(2)

• Clinic boards shall advise LAO’s clinic committee on matters relevant to the provision of legal aid services by means of clinics, s. 39(3)

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Clinics’ role and services

Clinics’ services:• Clinics provide poverty law services to low-

income Ontarians in a variety of areas of law that particularly affect low-income individuals or disadvantaged communities, including: (a) housing and shelter, income maintenance, social

assistance and other similar government programs, (b) human rights, health, employment and education

• Clinics primarily assist clients who are in conflict with the state, but also with private landlords, employers, service providers and others

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Clinics’ role and services

Clinics’ services:• Clinics use a mix of staff (lawyers, CLWs,

paralegals, students, intake and support staff) to provide a variety of services, including:– Community development – Representation at tribunals and in court– Law reform– Brief services, summary advice, information

and assistance with self-help– Public legal education– Outreach

• Clinics work in tribunals more than in courts

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3. Poverty in Ontario

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Poverty in Ontario

• Lives of people with low-incomes are regulated in ways that are overarching, complex, intersecting, and intrusive (McCamus Review)

• People with low-incomes experience “cascading” problems:Without early intervention, one problem triggers others that put greater demands on other programs (Trebilcock)

• Poverty is connected to social location: women, racialized individuals and communities, Aboriginal peoples, newcomers, persons with disabilities, and seniors are more likely to experience poverty (Poverty Reduction Strategy)

• Some individuals and communities have unique needs, rights and barriers that require tailored solutions

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Poverty in Ontario

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Poverty in Ontario

RegionTotal

Population*Popn Below

LICO*% Below

LICONew Clients services++

Estimated % of LICO pop

served by clinics

Central & East 2,949,945 339,650 12% 42,276 12%GTA 4,571,900 886,725 19% 46,212 5%North 736,550 85,500 12% 13,403 16%South West 3,770,490 438,120 12% 33,379 8%Ontario 12,028,885 1,749,995 15% 156,412 9%

2006 Census 2008-09

* Statistics Canada Census 2006 estimates

++ Includes Cases, Advice, Brief Services and Outreach

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4. External Environment

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External Environment

• Accountability for Public Spending • Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy • Trebilcock Report (2008)

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External Environment

• Accountability for Public Spending– LAO spent $67.5 million on clinic funding in

2008/09• Clinic budgets range from approx. $330,000 to $1.8

million

– LAO is responsible for monitoring and supervising clinics (LASA)

– LAO must ensure compliance with Transfer Payment Accountability Directive

– LAO and clinics must provide value for taxpayers’ money

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External Environment

• Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy– Take a “person-centred approach” and break

down silos– Ensure programs interact to achieve goal of

reducing # of children living in poverty by 25 % over 5 yrs

– Monitor indicators: Depth of poverty, Low-income measure, School readiness, Educational progress, High school graduation rates, Birth weights, Ontario Housing Measure, Standard of living

– Recognize Ontario’s diversity and the unique needs, rights and barriers of certain communities and individuals

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External Environment

• Trebilcock Report (2008)– Holistic, integrated response to “cascading

problems”: Avoid endless referrals “tied to particular institutions (a silo approach) rather than particular individuals’ needs and leading to ‘referral fatigue’, which leaves many problems unresolved” (p. vi)

– Coherent structure for delivering poverty law services in Ontario: Determining where clinics fit in a broader strategic conception of the legal aid system; stronger focus on service integration (p. xi)

– Single entry point or “one-stop” approach to poverty services

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5. Profile of LAO-funded clinics

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Profile of LAO-funded clinics

• 79 clinics:– North: 10 clinics– Central East: 17 clinics– GTA: 22 clinics– South West:17 clinics– 13 clinics with a province-wide mandate

• Clinics differ in terms of:– # of staff (3 to 18) – # and type of services provided – size of catchment area / population density

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6. Ideas and thoughts about delivering more and better services to clients

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Delivering more and better services to clients

• What does serving more clients mean?– Focus on groups / individuals who have trouble

accessing justice (e.g. rural individuals / communities and linguistic minorities) ?

– Focus on providing more services to those who experience the greatest depth of poverty ?

– Focus on providing more services to groups currently served by the clinics ?

– Focus on providing services to new clients (e.g. legal information that can be made available to the middle class: Trebilcock) ?

• Consider:– Who needs more service? – Who needs a greater range of services?

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Delivering more and better services to clients

• How do we ensure we are providing more and better services to clients?– Innovation, Measurement, Prioritization,

Accountability and Coordination? • “…the first thing you do when you want to improve

something is to measure it.” (Poverty Reduction Strategy, p. 34)

– Integration?• Multi-disciplinary clinics that provide legal, social

and health services under one roof (recommendation to Trebilcock, p. 51)

• Determining where clinics fit in a broader strategic conception of the legal aid system; stronger focus on service integration

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Delivering more and better services to clients

– Technology?• Clinics have used technology to expand reach of services

– CLEO: More than 1 million downloads of public legal education materials from CLEO website in the last year. CLEO is exploring the possible form and shape of a comprehensive public legal information site for Ontario

– CRO: Website has tens of thousands of searchable documents relating to clinic legal practice, including decisions, case analyses, research memoranda, practice notes, factums, precedents and government policies – most of which are not available from any other source

– Knowledge Management and Transfer Committee: Joint clinic-LAO initiative will make recommendations for knowledge management within the clinic system