White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable: Civil Legal Aid Research Workshop Report

• NCJ Number: 249776
• Author(s): Maha Jweied; Allie Yang-Green
• Date Published: February 2016
• Length: 62 pages
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Technical Assistance; Report (Study/Research); Program/Project Description; Legislation/Policy Analysis; Conference Material

Annotation

This report summarizes the discussions of a group of experts who assembled for a 2-day workshop in May 2015 to discuss a research agenda and Federal priorities for civil legal aid.

Abstract

The workshop was the result of a collaboration among the U.S. Department of Justice's Office for Access to Justice, the U.S. Department of Justice's National Institute of Justice (NIJ), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The stated purpose of the workshop was to "engage in and encourage research and development to improve and strengthen the criminal justice system and related aspects of the civil justice system." The workshop achieved three objectives. First, it assisted NIJ in identifying a civil legal and research agenda in anticipation of dedicated funding for this work. NIJ is mandated to "engage in and encourage research and development to improve and strengthen the criminal justice system and related aspects of the civil justice system." Second, the workshop enabled agencies represented in the White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable (WH-LAIR) to hear from civil legal-aid experts on the effectiveness of civil legal aid at the intersection with public safety, criminal justice, and the need for research and evaluation in this domain. Third, the workshop assisted in stimulating domestic activities in implementing the United Nations call for indicators on access to justice as a development and anti-poverty goal. The workshop participants discussed the following topics: 1) measuring access to justice n the civil context; 2) civil legal aid as a necessary service for the reentry population; 3) human trafficking and civil legal aid; 4) consumer protection and civil legal aid; 5) elder abuse and civil legal aid; and 6) domestic violence and civil legal aid. Appended workshop agenda, list of participants, existing Federal research and capacity, and other supplementary information