
November 25, 2009
Changes coming to legal aid offices, services, and staffing By now, you will have heard that LSS is making changes to its offices and civil advice services, effective April 1, 2010. Here is specific information about those changes. Changes to LSS office locations LSS will replace regional centres in Kamloops, Prince George, Kelowna, Surrey, and Victoria with local agents (lawyers in the community whose staff take legal aid applications and provide other legal aid services) and an expanded, province-wide call centre. The regional centres will remain open until the end of March 2010. Until then, please continue to refer your clients to these offices if they need legal aid. LSS is withdrawing services currently provided at the Nanaimo Justice Access Centre (a partnership with the Ministry of Attorney General), with the exception of one Aboriginal community legal worker. The Ministry of Attorney General will continue to provide its own services at the Nanaimo Justice Access Centre. A local agent will accept legal aid applications that were previously taken at the centre. The Terrace Regional Centre will remain open as part of an LSS program to improve services to Aboriginal British Columbians who have historically experienced additional barriers to accessing the justice system. The Aboriginal community legal workers in Nanaimo and Port Hardy are also part of this program. The Vancouver Regional Centre will remain open and continue to provide services. Twenty-two communities around the province are already served by local agents. Local agents are a proven and effective service delivery model. We will provide more information about new local agents as this information becomes available. The expanded call centre will continue to take legal aid applications by telephone from people throughout BC. The call centre is a toll-free service for anyone who does not wish to apply in person. Changes to legal aid services LSS will continue to provide core services in family, child protection, immigration, and criminal law. These services include free legal information publications and websites; family and criminal duty counsel services; and family advice lawyer services and legal representation services for those who qualify. At the end of March, LSS will discontinue the LawLINE and the Community Advocate Support Line (CASL). These civil advice programs are highly valued by LSS and community workers and their clients but have been operating on a year-to-year basis. LSS has not been able to secure ongoing funding for these services. Changes to staffing Changes such as these are not without their consequences, the most serious of which is the reduction of 58 positions at LSS. Regional centre staff have all provided excellent service to our clients with low incomes for many years. The loss of their knowledge, skills, and commitment cannot be underestimated. However, changes must be made to sustain and improve the broad range of information, advice, and representation services to individuals in BC. Why are these changes necessary? The reason for these changes is to reduce the society’s operating costs so LSS can balance its budget and put more money into core services in family, child protection, immigration, and criminal law. The changes are part of a long-term strategy to focus spending on services rather than infrastructure and to reshape LSS into an organization that is better able to respond to fluctuations in demands and revenues. This strategy began earlier in the year, when LSS announced other service and staffing reductions, and will continue through next year with a review of the Vancouver Regional Centre’s infrastructure and costs to determine whether additional savings can be achieved for the 2011/2012 budget. Regarding the society’s funding, in 2009/2010, the government allocated an additional $2 million for the Exceptional Case Fund (major criminal trials), but that allocation will not be available in 2010/2011. Nor will LSS have any future deficit authorization, which means we must have a balanced budget each year. LSS’ non-government revenues from the Notary Foundation and our own investments continue to decline because of low interest rates. Funding from the Law Foundation has been confirmed for the 2010/2011 fiscal year. These non-government revenues are insufficient to sustain the discontinued services. Updates During times of change, it is particularly important that you have access to accurate, reliable, and timely information about legal aid services. To find up-to-date information, please: visit the LSS website (click on “Media,” then “News releases”); subscribe to the Electronic Legal Aid Newsletter (ELAN); and follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/legalaidbc. Clicklaw update In the May issue of ELAN, we told you about Clicklaw, a new website for legal information in BC. The Clicklaw team has been working behind the scenes to make the website even more effective at helping the public and service providers find public legal education and information materials in BC. Over the summer, we conducted usability testing, which told us many things about how well the website is working. We received positive feedback from our testers on the look and feel of the site, and the site navigation. We also learned that we need to make some changes, such as improving the relevance of search results and drawing users’ attention to the different ways of refining a search. We’ve been working to address these issues, and you’ll see the improvements in 2010. Also coming soon: the Clicklaw team has been developing the Clicklaw HelpMap, which will be available on the website by the end of this year. Integrated with Google Maps, the Clicklaw HelpMap will help the public find in-person services that can help them with legal problems in their community. It will also help service providers who are making referrals for clients with legal issues. The HelpMap will include information about legal services provided by groups in BC, including: pro bono clinics, community legal clinics, and legal aid offices court registries courthouse libraries self-help and justice access centres Native courtworkers and organizations with community legal advocates key government agencies dozens of other law-related helping services We’re excited about the potential of this phase of the project and hope that the HelpMap will provide you and your clients with a valuable resource to help you resolve legal issues. If you have any questions or feedback about Clicklaw, please contact Clicklaw Project Coordinator Brenda Rose by e-mail at brose@courthouselibrary.ca or by phone at 604-660-3496, or e-mail the Clicklaw editor at editor@clicklaw.bc.ca. LSS reaches out to more remote communities As part of our ongoing commitment to reach out to advocates in the more remote communities, LSS has planned six regional one-day workshops between now and March 2010. These provide advocates and community workers with information about child protection, family law, and legal services, while giving LSS staff the opportunity to meet with the community and discuss their issues and concerns. The first workshop has already been held. LSS Fieldworker Fran Auckland partnered with the Fort St. John’s Women’s Resource Centre to organize this workshop in Fort St. John at the end of September. We were pleased to welcome 22 community workers from different community groups to this session. Participants came from Fort St. John, Dawson Creek, Chetwynd, Buick Creek, Rose Prairie, and Hudson Hope. Fran Auckland, Wayne Plenert, Pamela Shields, Randolph Smyth, Debbie O’Leary, and Tracy Knight were the speakers, and all participants benefited from their knowledge. Sessions held included “First Nations Court,” “Understanding Gladue (Aboriginal case) reports and submissions for Aboriginal people,” “Family mediation,” “Separation agreements,” and “Legal process for child apprehension for parents and grandparents.” With both new and seasoned advocates at the workshop, the feedback was positive and participants indicated that the training was valuable and useful in the work they do. While in Fort St. John, Fran and LSS Aboriginal Services Program Manager Pamela Shields had the opportunity to meet with representatives of the Halfway River First Nations in Wonowon and the Blueberry River First Nations in Buick Creek. Pamela and Fran came back with recommendations and ways to address some of their concerns. One of these recommendations was to pilot a training workshop using online conferencing on the reserves. Pamela was also invited by the bands to do a presentation on First Nations Court at a Treaty 8 Tribal Council meeting. Most of the chiefs in this region would be at that presentation. Another recommendation was to have family law workshops on circuit court where there are no resources. Our next regional workshop is scheduled for Friday, November 27 in Nelson. This workshop will cover child protection and family law issues as well as other resources and services we provide. If you are interested to attend, please send us an e-mail. Hot off the press from LSS The Poverty Law Primer is a short practical introduction to basic poverty law or social justice issues such as welfare, employment insurance, debt, housing, bankruptcy, and foreclosure. Although the primer was designed for lawyers who do not normally practice poverty law, it will also be useful to advocates who need to understand the law so they can guide their clients to appropriate services and resources that can help to resolve their legal problems. Each of the six chapters provides information on a specific issue, including relevant governing statutes, regulations, and rules; common client problems; checklists; issues applying to First Nations clients; frequently asked questions, resources; and limitation and statutory notice periods. The primer explains the law in general and is not intended to provide legal advice on a particular problem. Because each person's case is different, your client may need to seek legal advice. We have a small supply of print copies available, but when they run out, the online version will be the only one available. To order a print copy, please send us an e-mail. Living Together or Living Apart (in French): Our most popular family law booklet is now available online in French. Vivre ensemble ou séparément : Union de fait, mariage, séparation et divorce explains the basics of family law in BC, including information about living common-law or being married, the process for separation and divorce, how to work out custody, support, and access issues if there are children involved, and how to sort out money matters. This booklet also describes legal options and where to get help. You can find it on both the LSS and Family Law websites. Your Guide to the Refugee Claim Process (in simplified Chinese): In the May issue of ELAN, we announced that this publication would soon be available in simplified Chinese. You can now get this version online or in print. This booklet explains the process of seeking refugee protection in Canada and where to get legal and other help. There is also a companion piece: a translation of the Immigration and Refugee Board’s Personal Information Form (PIF). This translated form is designed to help refugee claimants fill out their official English PIF document. Enhancements coming to the Family Law in BC website! (www.familylaw.lss.bc.ca) The family law website team has begun modifying the navigation on the Family Law website and will change the way pages are organized to make it easier and faster to find useful information. Stage 1 (already done): move the navigation links from the left side of the page to a top row of tabs. Stage 2 (to come mid-December): introduce new subcategories below the tabs (The basics, Do it yourself, FAQ, Who can help, Links, Legislation/Court rules) and organize all information under those subcategories. The picture above shows what that will look like. Moving to a top navigation and tabs will improve usability for everyone. It opens up more white space and gives our pages a simpler, cleaner look. Users are more likely to find the information they need if they’re not overwhelmed by volume. Top navigation and/or tabs is quickly becoming the standard across the Web, and will be familiar for most users. Tabs provide context, give an overview of the information or types of information available on the site, and allow users to develop a sense of where they want to go next. Currently, our resources are categorized by format: when you select a legal issue, you see a list of the types (or formats) of resources available on that subject (fact sheets, self-help guides, publications, etc.). The data we have gathered shows that most people come to our site to find information and/or download forms. With this in mind, we felt that we could better serve them by re-categorizing and presenting our resources according to the types of information they provide, rather than by format. So when you select your legal issue or community after December, you will see a landing page for that particular issue or community with new subcategories as follows: The basics: resources that provide an overview, like fact sheets, publications, and multimedia materials Do it yourself: self-help guides and court forms FAQ: frequently asked questions about that particular legal issue or community Who can help: in-person resources that can help with that particular legal issue Links: all links related to that particular legal issue Legislation/Court rules: links to legislation and court rules about that particular legal issue We’re looking for volunteers to do some user testing on the site. If you are interested in participating in user testing or have any comments or feedback, please send us an e-mail at FamilyLawWebsiteProject@lss.bc.ca. Stay tuned for stage 2!

November 25, 2009

Changes coming to legal aid offices, services, and staffing

By now, you will have heard that LSS is making changes to its offices and civil advice services, effective April 1, 2010. Here is specific information about those changes.

Changes to LSS office locations

LSS will replace regional centres in Kamloops, Prince George, Kelowna, Surrey, and Victoria with local agents (lawyers in the community whose staff take legal aid applications and provide other legal aid services) and an expanded, province-wide call centre. The regional centres will remain open until the end of March 2010. Until then, please continue to refer your clients to these offices if they need legal aid.

LSS is withdrawing services currently provided at the Nanaimo Justice Access Centre (a partnership with the Ministry of Attorney General), with the exception of one Aboriginal community legal worker. The Ministry of Attorney General will continue to provide its own services at the Nanaimo Justice Access Centre. A local agent will accept legal aid applications that were previously taken at the centre.

The Terrace Regional Centre will remain open as part of an LSS program to improve services to Aboriginal British Columbians who have historically experienced additional barriers to accessing the justice system. The Aboriginal community legal workers in Nanaimo and Port Hardy are also part of this program.

The Vancouver Regional Centre will remain open and continue to provide services.

Twenty-two communities around the province are already served by local agents. Local agents are a proven and effective service delivery model. We will provide more information about new local agents as this information becomes available.

The expanded call centre will continue to take legal aid applications by telephone from people throughout BC. The call centre is a toll-free service for anyone who does not wish to apply in person.

Changes to legal aid services

LSS will continue to provide core services in family, child protection, immigration, and criminal law. These services include free legal information publications and websites; family and criminal duty counsel services; and family advice lawyer services and legal representation services for those who qualify.

At the end of March, LSS will discontinue the LawLINE and the Community Advocate Support Line (CASL). These civil advice programs are highly valued by LSS and community workers and their clients but have been operating on a year-to-year basis. LSS has not been able to secure ongoing funding for these services.

Changes to staffing

Changes such as these are not without their consequences, the most serious of which is the reduction of 58 positions at LSS. Regional centre staff have all provided excellent service to our clients with low incomes for many years. The loss of their knowledge, skills, and commitment cannot be underestimated. However, changes must be made to sustain and improve the broad range of information, advice, and representation services to individuals in BC.

Why are these changes necessary?

The reason for these changes is to reduce the society’s operating costs so LSS can balance its budget and put more money into core services in family, child protection, immigration, and criminal law. The changes are part of a long-term strategy to focus spending on services rather than infrastructure and to reshape LSS into an organization that is better able to respond to fluctuations in demands and revenues.

This strategy began earlier in the year, when LSS announced other service and staffing reductions, and will continue through next year with a review of the Vancouver Regional Centre’s infrastructure and costs to determine whether additional savings can be achieved for the 2011/2012 budget.

Regarding the society’s funding, in 2009/2010, the government allocated an additional $2 million for the Exceptional Case Fund (major criminal trials), but that allocation will not be available in 2010/2011. Nor will LSS have any future deficit authorization, which means we must have a balanced budget each year.

LSS’ non-government revenues from the Notary Foundation and our own investments continue to decline because of low interest rates. Funding from the Law Foundation has been confirmed for the 2010/2011 fiscal year. These non-government revenues are insufficient to sustain the discontinued services.

Updates

During times of change, it is particularly important that you have access to accurate, reliable, and timely information about legal aid services. To find up-to-date information, please:

visit the LSS website (click on “Media,” then “News releases”);
subscribe to the Electronic Legal Aid Newsletter (ELAN); and
follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/legalaidbc.

Clicklaw update

In the May issue of ELAN, we told you about Clicklaw, a new website for legal information in BC. The Clicklaw team has been working behind the scenes to make the website even more effective at helping the public and service providers find public legal education and information materials in BC.

Over the summer, we conducted usability testing, which told us many things about how well the website is working. We received positive feedback from our testers on the look and feel of the site, and the site navigation. We also learned that we need to make some changes, such as improving the relevance of search results and drawing users’ attention to the different ways of refining a search. We’ve been working to address these issues, and you’ll see the improvements in 2010.

Also coming soon: the Clicklaw team has been developing the Clicklaw HelpMap, which will be available on the website by the end of this year. Integrated with Google Maps, the Clicklaw HelpMap will help the public find in-person services that can help them with legal problems in their community. It will also help service providers who are making referrals for clients with legal issues.

The HelpMap will include information about legal services provided by groups in BC, including:

pro bono clinics, community legal clinics, and legal aid offices
court registries
courthouse libraries
self-help and justice access centres
Native courtworkers and organizations with community legal advocates
key government agencies
dozens of other law-related helping services

We’re excited about the potential of this phase of the project and hope that the HelpMap will provide you and your clients with a valuable resource to help you resolve legal issues.

If you have any questions or feedback about Clicklaw, please contact Clicklaw Project Coordinator Brenda Rose by e-mail at brose@courthouselibrary.ca or by phone at 604-660-3496, or e-mail the Clicklaw editor at editor@clicklaw.bc.ca.

LSS reaches out to more remote communities

As part of our ongoing commitment to reach out to advocates in the more remote communities, LSS has planned six regional one-day workshops between now and March 2010. These provide advocates and community workers with information about child protection, family law, and legal services, while giving LSS staff the opportunity to meet with the community and discuss their issues and concerns.

The first workshop has already been held. LSS Fieldworker Fran Auckland partnered with the Fort St. John’s Women’s Resource Centre to organize this workshop in Fort St. John at the end of September.

We were pleased to welcome 22 community workers from different community groups to this session. Participants came from Fort St. John, Dawson Creek, Chetwynd, Buick Creek, Rose Prairie, and Hudson Hope. Fran Auckland, Wayne Plenert, Pamela Shields, Randolph Smyth, Debbie O’Leary, and Tracy Knight were the speakers, and all participants benefited from their knowledge. Sessions held included “First Nations Court,” “Understanding Gladue (Aboriginal case) reports and submissions for Aboriginal people,” “Family mediation,” “Separation agreements,” and “Legal process for child apprehension for parents and grandparents.” With both new and seasoned advocates at the workshop, the feedback was positive and participants indicated that the training was valuable and useful in the work they do.

While in Fort St. John, Fran and LSS Aboriginal Services Program Manager Pamela Shields had the opportunity to meet with representatives of the Halfway River First Nations in Wonowon and the Blueberry River First Nations in Buick Creek. Pamela and Fran came back with recommendations and ways to address some of their concerns. One of these recommendations was to pilot a training workshop using online conferencing on the reserves. Pamela was also invited by the bands to do a presentation on First Nations Court at a Treaty 8 Tribal Council meeting. Most of the chiefs in this region would be at that presentation. Another recommendation was to have family law workshops on circuit court where there are no resources.

Our next regional workshop is scheduled for Friday, November 27 in Nelson. This workshop will cover child protection and family law issues as well as other resources and services we provide. If you are interested to attend, please send us an e-mail.

Hot off the press from LSS

The Poverty Law Primer is a short practical introduction to basic poverty law or social justice issues such as welfare, employment insurance, debt, housing, bankruptcy, and foreclosure. Although the primer was designed for lawyers who do not normally practice poverty law, it will also be useful to advocates who need to understand the law so they can guide their clients to appropriate services and resources that can help to resolve their legal problems.

Each of the six chapters provides information on a specific issue, including relevant governing statutes, regulations, and rules; common client problems; checklists; issues applying to First Nations clients; frequently asked questions, resources; and limitation and statutory notice periods.

The primer explains the law in general and is not intended to provide legal advice on a particular problem. Because each person's case is different, your client may need to seek legal advice.

We have a small supply of print copies available, but when they run out, the online version will be the only one available. To order a print copy, please send us an e-mail.

Living Together or Living Apart (in French): Our most popular family law booklet is now available online in French. Vivre ensemble ou séparément : Union de fait, mariage, séparation et divorce explains the basics of family law in BC, including information about living common-law or being married, the process for separation and divorce, how to work out custody, support, and access issues if there are children involved, and how to sort out money matters.

This booklet also describes legal options and where to get help. You can find it on both the LSS and Family Law websites.

Your Guide to the Refugee Claim Process (in simplified Chinese): In the May issue of ELAN, we announced that this publication would soon be available in simplified Chinese. You can now get this version online or in print. This booklet explains the process of seeking refugee protection in Canada and where to get legal and other help. There is also a companion piece: a translation of the Immigration and Refugee Board’s Personal Information Form (PIF). This translated form is designed to help refugee claimants fill out their official English PIF document.

Enhancements coming to the Family Law in BC website!

(www.familylaw.lss.bc.ca)

The family law website team has begun modifying the navigation on the Family Law website and will change the way pages are organized to make it easier and faster to find useful information.

Stage 1 (already done): move the navigation links from the left side of the page to a top row of tabs.

Stage 2 (to come mid-December): introduce new subcategories below the tabs (The basics, Do it yourself, FAQ, Who can help, Links, Legislation/Court rules) and organize all information under those subcategories. The picture above shows what that will look like.

Moving to a top navigation and tabs will improve usability for everyone. It opens up more white space and gives our pages a simpler, cleaner look. Users are more likely to find the information they need if they’re not overwhelmed by volume. Top navigation and/or tabs is quickly becoming the standard across the Web, and will be familiar for most users. Tabs provide context, give an overview of the information or types of information available on the site, and allow users to develop a sense of where they want to go next.

Currently, our resources are categorized by format: when you select a legal issue, you see a list of the types (or formats) of resources available on that subject (fact sheets, self-help guides, publications, etc.). The data we have gathered shows that most people come to our site to find information and/or download forms. With this in mind, we felt that we could better serve them by re-categorizing and presenting our resources according to the types of information they provide, rather than by format. So when you select your legal issue or community after December, you will see a landing page for that particular issue or community with new subcategories as follows:

The basics: resources that provide an overview, like fact sheets, publications, and multimedia materials
Do it yourself: self-help guides and court forms
FAQ: frequently asked questions about that particular legal issue or community
Who can help: in-person resources that can help with that particular legal issue
Links: all links related to that particular legal issue
Legislation/Court rules: links to legislation and court rules about that particular legal issue

We’re looking for volunteers to do some user testing on the site. If you are interested in participating in user testing or have any comments or feedback, please send us an e-mail at FamilyLawWebsiteProject@lss.bc.ca.

Stay tuned for stage 2!