Economic Impacts of Civil Legal Aid Organizations Funded in Part by the Florida Bar Foundation

By NLADA on February 6, 2020 • ( 0 )

By: The Resource for Great Programs. Published by: Florida Bar Foundation. Published on: November 4, 2016

The Florida Bar Foundation estimates that civil legal aid organizations generated $600 million in 2015 with $83 million in funding from sources such as the Legal Services Corporation. Such immense returns demonstrate that funding civil legal aid is an economically valuable policy with the potential for $100,000 of funding to create impact valued at upwards of $700,000. The report also addresses how civil legal aid efforts lower court costs and contribute to the critical campaign of narrowing the justice gap through service to low-income clients. Populations served include victims of domestic violence, veterans, immigrants, and disabled individuals, among others.

Highlights include:

$264.3 generated in direct dollar benefits to clients and others through outcomes involving access to public benefits, health care reimbursements, child/spousal support, & increased wages
$60.4 million in cost savings through avoided costs associated with emergency shelter (5%), foreclosure (84%), and domestic violence (11%).
Multiplier effects calculate that legal aid services generated an additional $274.8 million through stimulation of numerous areas of Florida’s economy