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Effects of an Interdisciplinary Approach to Parental Representation in Child Welfare

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Researchers analyzed the impact of interdisciplinary representation (i.e., having a legal team which incorporates other professionals for parents in child welfare proceedings. They found that when parents received interdisciplinary representation, children spent an average of 118 fewer days in foster care during the four years following the abuse or neglect case filing. Children whose parents received interdisciplinary representation achieved overall permanency, reunification, and guardianship more quickly.

Aging, Women and Poverty in California: We Must Do More

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In 2016, the CA Commission on Aging joined with the California Women’s Law Center and the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls to host the first statewide convening focused on older women in poverty through the lenses of retirement options, elder justice, food insecurity, and health access. This article provides evidence that the relationship between legal services and Adult Protective Services (APS) and the Long Term Care Ombudsman should be strengthened in order to expand and improve elder justice resources.

Battered Women’s Multitude of Needs: Evidence Supporting the Need for Comprehensive Advocacy

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Researchers interviewed participants within the first week of leaving a shelter program. After the first interview, some of those involved were randomly selected to work with an advocate. They compared the effect of the advocacy intervention between those who received the service and those who did not. In their cluster analysis and found that DV victims present three groups of needs: those related to housing, education and employment, and legal issues. They found that of those leaving a domestic violence shelter, 59 percent reported unmet legal needs.

How Can Legal Services Better Meet the Needs of Low-Income LGBT Seniors?

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Justice in Aging published this special report to help raise awareness of the additional legal needs LGBT seniors may face that are layered on top of the more common needs of older adults. The organization proposes that because low-income LGBT older adults have lived with decades of discrimination that have led to higher rates of poverty, this group of older Americans has an even greater need for legal services to defend their rights and ensure they have access to the income supports, health care, and housing they need.

Legal Representation in the Juvenile Dependency System: Travis County, Texas’ Parent Representation Pilot Project

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This study examines outcomes related to a parent representation pilot program in Travis County, Texas. Researchers collected data from 172 parents involved in the juvenile dependency system. Their independent variable was attorney representation and the dependent variables were (1) return to the parent or dismissal of the juvenile dependency petition, (2) permanent management conservatorship, (3) relative or guardianship care, and (4) aging out of the system. There were 52 pilot cases and 61 control cases.

Legal Needs Assessment of Older Adults in Maine

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Legal Services for the Elderly (LSE) is a nonprofit organization in Maine that provides free legal assistance. The University of Maine Center on Aging conducted a legal needs assessment of older Americans in the state. They find that between 45 and 86 percent of those surveyed experienced legal problems within the last three years.