How Legal Aid Can Support Communities and Expand Access to ... Secondary... · lems and legal need. Legal problems are integral parts of ordinary, everyday problems that people experience

How Legal Aid Can Support Communities and Expand Access to Justice

Ab Currie, Ph.D.Senior Research FellowCanadian Forum on Civil Justice

Legal Secondary Consultation:

March 2018

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Executive Summary

Legalsecondaryconsultation(LSC)isaninnovativemodeoflegalaiddeliveryinwhichalawyer,licensedparalegalorexperi-encedlegalworkerinalegalaidclinicprovidesone-on-oneadvicetoaserviceproviderinasocialservicesagencyoracommunityorganization,assistingtheprovidertoresolveproblemsforclientsseekinghelp.TheindividualsexperiencingproblemsdonotbecomedirectlegalaidclientsunlesstheLSCadvisordecidesonareferraltothe76communitylegalclinics. Legalsecondaryconsultationisapromisingadditiontolegalaiddeliveryfortwofundamentalreasons. Thefirstiswhatwenowknowaboutthenatureoflegalprob-lemsandlegalneed.Legalproblemsareintegralpartsofordinary,everyday problems that people experience. Legal problems are,therefore,farmoreprevalentthanlookingthroughthelensoftheformaljusticesystemwouldindicate.Alargesegmentoflegalneedhidesinplainsightinthenormaladversityofpeople’sdailylives.Thisispartlybecauselegalproblemsareaspectsofthenormalprob-lemsofeverydayliving.Also,theyareoftenpartsofinter-relatedclustersoflegalandnon-legalproblems.Inaddition,peoplegener-allydonotrecognizelegalproblemsorthelegalaspectsofotherproblemsand,therefore,donottakeappropriateaction. Althoughtheymaynotrecognizethelegalaspectsofeverydayproblems,peopleknowwhentheyhaveaproblem.Disadvantagedpeoplegotoavarietyofgovernmentserviceagenciesandnon-gov-ernmentalorganizationswithinthecommunityforhelpwithprob-lemstheyareexperiencing.Theseareplaceswherelegalneedcanbefound. Second,thereisawidegapbetweentheresourcesavailableforlegalaidtodealwiththelegalproblemsofthepoorandtheextent

oftheirlegalneed.Asourunderstandingofthenatureandextentoflegalneedandthecomplexityofmeetingthatneedhaschangedoverthepasttwodecades,itisgenerallyacceptedthattheaccess-to-justicegap ismuchgreaterandmoredifficult toaddress thanpreviouslyrealized.ThisunderstandinghascomeaboutlargelyasaresultoflegalproblemsresearchinCanadaandelsewherethattookwhatisoftencalledthejusticiableproblemsortheeverydaylegalproblemsapproach,whichhasreframedtheaccessproblem.Findingnewandcost-effectivewaystoprovidepeoplewiththelegalhelptheyneedismoreurgentthanever.Partneringwithcommunityorganizationsandengagingcommunityresourcesisonebasicstrat-egytonarrowtheaccess-to-justicegap;legalsecondaryconsultationispartofthatoverallstrategy. Community development strategies such as legal secondaryconsultationshouldbethoughtofassimilaratabroadleveltodigitaldeliveryapproaches.However,inafundamentalwaythetwoarequitedifferent.Digitaltechnologiescandeliverservicetoextremelylargepopulations,butmayneedinitiallarge-scaleandoftenexpen-siveinvestmentsintechnologicalinfrastructure.However,theydonotrequirethebricks-and-mortarinfrastructureofmoretraditionalapproaches.Digitaltechnologiesareexternaltolegalaidandcanbeappliedtomanyareasofmodernlife.Applyingdigitaltechnologiestolegalaidmaybringconsiderablebenefitsbut,beinganexternalforce,theydonotnaturallyconnectwiththefundamentalobjectivesorelementsofaccesstojustice. On theotherhand, the“helpingcommunity” isat thecoreof community legal service. The everyday-problems approach tounderstandinglegalneedsdrawslegalaidclosetosocialservices

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How Legal Aid Can Support Communities and Expand Access to JusticeLEGAL SECONDARY CONSULTATION

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agencies and community associations that help people with ev-erydayproblems.Partnershipswithcommunityorganizationsthatarebeingdevelopedwithservicedeliveryapproachessuchaslegalsecondaryconsultationareatthecoreofcommunitylegalservice.Legalclinic–communitypartnershipsreflectthebroadobjectivesoftherapeuticjustice,expressedintermsofoutreachtoidentifypeoplewithlegalproblemsandholisticandintegratedservicestodealwiththem.Legalsecondaryconsultationisintrinsictocommunitylegalserviceandapartofitsevolution. The Legal Secondary Consultation (LSC) Project reviewedinthisreportwascarriedoutinthreecommunitylegalclinicsintheSouthwesternOntario:HaltonCommunityLegalServices;theCommunityLegalClinicofBrant,HaldimandandNorfolk;andtheLegalClinicofGuelphandWel-lingtonCounty.TheevaluationcoversaperiodfromearlySep-tember2016tomid-April2017.ThedatasupportingthereportincludeinterviewswithLSCad-visorsinthethreeclinics,inter-viewswithasampleofserviceproviders in the communityorganizations that requestedlegal secondary consultations,and case notes compiled bythe LSC advisors. In addition,aquestionnairetogatherinfor-mation about similar activitieswascompletedbyexecutivedirectorsof15communitylegalclinicsin the Southwestern Region of Ontario’s community legal clinicsystem. During the seven-monthperiod, the three clinics received atotalof235separaterequestsforlegalsecondaryconsultationfromserviceprovidersin103communityorganizations.Thus,approxi-mately235communityagencyclients1werehelpedbymeansofsecondaryconsultationswithagencyserviceproviders. However,legalsecondaryconsultationlikelyhasamultipliereffect.OneofthemainobjectivesoftheLSCapproachistoimprovethe legal capability of service providers in community agencies.Interviewswithseveralserviceprovidersindicatedthattheylearnfromlegalsecondaryconsultations,becomingmoreabletodealontheirownwithclientshavingsimilarproblems.Theextentofthemultipliereffectisnotknownatthispoint.However,itcanbeex-pectedtoincreaseasLSCexpandsandtotheextentthatserviceproviders’ legalabilityandcommunityorganizations’capacity toassisttheirclientsincrease.Themultipliereffectisapartofbuilding

communitycapacity. Theinterviewswithserviceprovidersindicatethatcommunitypartners universally value the program extremely highly. ServiceprovidersvirtuallyallindicatedthatLSChasenabledthemtoserveclientsbetter. LSCiscost-effectiveandsustainable.Theexecutivedirectorsofallthreeclinicsindicatedthatimplementinglegalsecondarycon-sultationdidnotrequiresubstantialadditionalfundsorincuraddi-tionalongoingcosts.Secondaryconsultationsinvolvemainlytele-phoneore-mailcommunicationbetweentheLSCadvisorandtheserviceprovider.Thereisnolegalaidintakeprocessandnodirectservice. Interviews with the external service providers indicatedthattheconsultationstakebetween10and30minutes.LSCisa

verysmallinvestmentbytheclinicin resolving legal problems andbuilding community capacity. Forthecommunityagencies, theLSCservicecontributessubstantiallytothequalityoftheirworkbutcoststhemnothingabovenormaloper-atingexpenses.Onthesurface,thisappearstobeapromisingformulaforthesustainabilityandgrowthoflegalsecondaryconsultation. LSC provides legal help topeople who probably would nototherwise seek assistance from alegal aid clinic. Service providers

feltthattheclientstheyhelpedwouldnotlikelyseeklegalhelpontheirown.Further,theyfeltthatmanyoftheirclientswouldbeun-likelytofollowupontheirownwithanyactionrecommendedtodealwiththeirproblem. Legalsecondaryconsultationisapartofanoverallcommunitydevelopmentstrategytoextendthereachoflegalaid.LSCextendstheboundariesbyinvolvingcommunityagenciesinfunctionsthathavetraditionallybeenexclusivetolegalserviceorganizations.Therequestsfromcommunityorganizationsforlegalsecondaryconsul-tationsareawaytoidentifyunmetlegalneed.LSCinvolvescom-munityagenciesandorganizations indirectproblem-solvingthatdoesnotdivide the legalandnon-legalaspectsofproblems intoseparatesilos. Building relationships with community organizations for avarietyofpurposeshasalwaysbeenatthecoreofthecommunitylegalservicemovement.However,LSCisadistinctiveandimpor-tantstepinitsevolution,byinvolvingcommunityagenciesmoredirectlyintraditionallegalaidfunctions.Itaimstoincreasetheca-

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pacityofcommunityorganizationstoresolveproblemshavinglegalaspectswithadvicefromalegalaidclinic.Itisnowwellknownthatmanylegalproblemsliehiddenintheeverydayproblemsforwhichpeopleseekhelpfromavarietyofsocialserviceagenciesandcommunityorganizations.LSCispartofacommunitydevelopmentstrategyinlegalaidthatmakesaccesstojusticeadimensionofcom-munitytoanextentandinaconcretewaythatuntilnowhasnotcommonlyexisted. Theremaybea risk inproviding legal secondaryadvice toserviceprovidersactingasintermediaries:thatintermediariesmaynotfullyunderstandtheadviceandnotincorporateitwithcomplete

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accuracyinhelpingtheirclients.ThelawyersprovidingLSCtakethispossibilityintoaccountandmakeriskmanagementanintegralaspectofprovidingadvice.Theydothisbymonitoringdiscussionswith service providers and where necessary recommending thatsomeclientsshouldbereferredtothelegalclinictoreceivedirectservice. Serviceprovidersbringsomethingfundamentallyimportanttothepartnershipwiththelegalclinics.Theyaretrustedintermediar-ies:theyhavetheconfidenceoftheirclients,whoareoftenpeoplewithmentaldisabilitiesandothermarkersofsocialdisadvantagethatarebarrierstoaccessingjustice.Theagencyserviceprovidershave substantial knowledge of their clients’ situations, enablingthem,inpartnershipwithlegalaid,toprovideaholisticandinte-gratedservicethatmightbedifficulttoachievebylegalaidalone.Alongwitheffectiveoutreach,holisticandintegratedservicesarenow widely accepted as fundamental elements of effective legalservice. The community service providers are essential partners

The community service providers are essential partners with the legal aid clinics in building pathways to justice for disadvantaged people.

withthelegalaidclinicsinbuildingpathwaystojusticefordisad-vantagedpeople. A promising, innovative project should be supported byongoingresearch,addressingempiricalquestionsthatemergeastheprojectevolves.BetterevidenceshouldbedevelopedonthedegreetowhichLSCcontributestoresolvingproblemsandimprovingthelives of disadvantagedpeople. LSC appears to increase the legalabilityofserviceproviders,increasingtheircapacitytoservetheirclients. AskedwhetherLSCresultedinimprovingtheirclients’lives,many serviceproviderswereunsure.Thismaybebecause con-tactswithclientsdonotinvolvefollow-up,orbecausetheongoingcontacttheyhavemaynotprovidesufficientlyin-depthinformationforserviceproviderstoknowofimprovementswithcertainty.Theprimarypurposeoflegalsecondaryconsultationistosupportandimprovethecapacityofserviceproviders.However,ifthisdoesnotresultinbeneficialchangesinthelivesofthedisadvantagedpeopletheyserve,therewouldberoomforimprovementinhowLSCisapplied.ThepartnershipformedintheLSCprocessbetweenthelegalclinicandtheserviceagenciesandcommunityorganizationsisoneindivisiblepathtojustice.Theadviceandinformationprovidedbythelegalclinictoserviceproviderscannotignoretheendresult.

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Acknowledgements

IwouldliketothankBrandonStewart,agraduatestudentatYaleLawSchool,whoassembledthecasenotedataandassistedwithdevel-opingthequestionnairesusedforvariousaspectsofdatacollection.IwouldalsoliketothanktheexecutivedirectorsofthethreecommunitylegalclinicsinvolvedintheLegalSecondaryConsultationProject–ColleenSymofHaltonCommunityLegalServices;IanAitkinoftheCom-munityLegalClinicofBrant,HaldimandandNorfolk;andAntheaMillikinoftheLegalClinicofGuelphandWellingtonCounty–fortheirhelpandpatienceansweringmymanyquestionsabouthowlegalsecondaryconsultationoperatesintheirclinics. Onbehalfofeveryoneinvolved,IwouldalsoliketothankLegalAidOntarioforthefundingtocarryoutthisresearch.ThefundingwasadministeredbyHaltonCommunityLegalServices.

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Project team

ProjectLead:ColleenSym,ExecutiveDirector/Lawyer,HaltonCommunityLegalServicesProjectConsultant:MikeBalkwill,BalkwillandAssociatesResearcherandEvaluator:Dr.AbCurrie,CanadianForumonCivilJusticeResearchFellow:BrandonStewart,HaltonCommunityLegalServicesTeamMembers:HaltonCommunityLegalServicesstaffCopyEditor:EricMillsEditing&Design,[email protected]/Layout:TonyBiddle,www.perfectworlddesign.ca

Introduction

ThisreportisanevaluationofaLegalSecondaryConsultationProjectbeingcarriedoutinthreecommunitylegalclinicsinSouth-western Ontario, Canada: the Community Legal Clinic of Brant,HaldimandandNorfolk(Brant), inBrantford; theLegalClinicofGuelphandWellingtonCounty(Guelph), inGuelph;andHaltonCommunityLegalServices(Halton),inOakville.Thethreeclinics,allwithin100kilometerstothesouthwestofToronto,areindepen-dentcommunityclinicsinanetworkof76communitylegalclinicsthroughoutOntariofundedmainlybyLegalAidOntario.TheLegalSecondaryConsultationProjectoriginatedwith theHaltonclinic;BrantandGuelphjoinedwithHaltonearlyintheplanningstagestocarryoutsimilarprojectsasajointthree-clinicinitiative. Legalsecondaryconsultation(LSC)isanapproachtoidenti-fyinglegalneedandresolvinglegalproblemsbyprovidingadvicetoserviceprovidersincommunityagenciesandnon-governmentalorganizations.LSCadvisorsrespondtorequestsfromservicepro-vidersincommunityorganizations,helpingthembetterservetheirownclients.LSCisintendedtoidentifythelegalaspectsoftheseproblemsand toprovide legaladviceand information.However,giventheinterconnectionsbetweenlegalandnon-legalissuesinev-erydayproblems,moregeneraladviceisoftenprovidedalongwithlegaladvice.Thishasthebenefitofprovidingatrulyintegratedandholisticservice.TheservicecharterforlegalsecondaryconsultationpostedontheHaltonCommunityLegalServicewebsitedescribesthepurposesoftheprogram:2

providelegalinformationandadvicetonon-legalprofes-sionalsworkingforcommunitysocialserviceagenciesandorganizationsinHaltontosupportthemtoassisttheirclientswithlegalissues

supportcommunity-basedintermediariesusingtheLegalHealthCheck-Up3

buildthecapacityandknowledgeofcommunitypartnerstorecognizewhentheirclientshavelegalproblems

expandlegalservicestothecommunitythatwilldirectlybenefitmoreclientsandanswerunmetclientneed

BrantandGuelphhavenotissuedsimilarcharters,butbothsub-scribetotheHaltondocument. TheprojectsinthethreeclinicsbeganduringSeptember2016.TheevaluationperiodwasSeptember2016toApril2017.At thetimethisreportwaspreparedtheywerestilloperating.

Background

Legal secondary consultation addresses some long-standingproblemsinlegalaid.Addressingtheperennialproblemofdoingmorewithlessor,atleast,doingmorewithless-than-adequatere-sources, serviceprovidershaveoftenusedametaphor involvingmedicalcare.Thiscomesfromthefrequentlyinvokedpropositionthatnoteveryhealthproblemrequirestheattentionofaphysician.In legal care, theparallel is thatnot every legalproblemshouldneedtheservicesofalawyer.Inthemedicalworld,thesolutiontostretchingresources involvesnursepractitionersandotherhealthcareprofessionalswhodonotrequiretheleveloftrainingorcomeatthecostofphysicians.Inlegalservices,themedical-legalmeta-phorimpliesemployingparalegalsandcommunitylegalworkers,workingunderthesupervisionoflawyers,toservepeoplewithlessseriouslegalproblems—wherevertheelusivedividinglinebetweenseriousandlessseriousmightbe. LSCasitisbeingdevelopedinthreecommunitylegalclinicsinSouthwesternOntarioisanotherapproachtoextendingthereachoflegalaidbeyonditstraditionalhumanresourcesandfinanciallimits.Theprojectdoesthisbyadvisingserviceagenciesinthecommu-nity,assistingthemtoservetheirownclients.Significantly,beyondassistanceprovidedbylegalworkerssupervisedbylawyerswithinlegalaid,thisextendstoassistingserviceprovidersinexternalor-ganizations.Thisrepresentsastrategytoexpandtheboundariesoflegalaid,andbypartneringwiththecommunity,toengageexistingresourceswithincommunitygroupsthathavepovertyreductionob-jectivesbroadlysimilartothoseoflegalaid. The“doingmorewithless”problemhasbecomeincreasinglyacuteinrecentdecades.Thisisbecauseourunderstandingofthedi-mensionsofaccesstolegalserviceshasbeenredefinedandexpand-ed, influencedby the resultsofcontemporary legalproblemsre-search.Thishasoccurredbyshiftingawayfromanexclusivefocusonlegalproblemsthatareresolvedintheformaljusticesystemtothemuchlargerlandscapeofthelegalproblemsexperiencedbythepublic.Thefocusthusshiftstolegalaspectsofproblemsthatareelementsofmanyofthenormaltransactionsandtransitionsofev-erydaylife. Oneofthemainfindingscomingoutofthisbodyofresearchisthatpeopleoftendonotrecognizetheirlegalproblemsandthere-foredonottakeappropriateactiontodealwiththem.4Thiswide-spreadlackoflegalcapabilityamongthepopulationhasbeendocu-mentedinCanadianresearch.The2014CanadianForumonCivilJusticeSurveyofEverydayLegalProblemsandtheCostofJusticeinCanadashowed thatabout40%ofadult respondentsdidnotrecognizetheseriousnessofthelegalproblemtheyhadexperienced

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whenitfirstoccurred,and65%werecompletelyunawareofthelegalimplicationsoftheproblem.5 Thereisreasontobelievethatprovidersincommunityserviceagenciesandotherorganizationswhoarenot legally trainedareequallylackinginlegalcapability.Volunteeredresponsesfromre-spondentsinthesurveyofserviceproviderscarriedoutaspartofthisstudyprovidesomeconfirmationoftheirlackoflegalcapabil-ity.AskedwhethertheLSCallowedserviceproviderstoservetheirclientsbetter,onerespondentreplied,

Yes, definitely. There are so many situations where I don’t know the answer because it is legal.

— Care navigator, North Halton Health Link

Anotherserviceproviderrespondedsimilarly:

Yes. I don’t know everything about the law and legal ins and outs, and I think it gives me reassurance and validates the client knowing what is right and wrong whatever the situation is. There is legitimacy in the clinic talking about the legal problems.

— Community navigator, Links2Care

Legalsecondaryconsultationmayhaveanimportantroleindealingwithproblemsthat, foravarietyofreasons,areunlikelycometotheattentionoftheformaljusticesystemorberesolvedbyitand,importantly,forwhichthefront-lineserviceprovidersincommunityagencieswherepeoplegoforhelpmaylackthelegalcapabilitytodealwiththemeffectively.Also,serviceprovidersmayplaytheroleof trusted intermediarieswiththeirclients.Becausesomeclientsofcommunityserviceprovidersexperiencebarriersofmistrust,mentaldisordersoremotionaldisturbance,theymightnotaccesslegalhelpwithoutbeingguidedthroughaprocessinvolvingthetrustedintermediary. Fromanotherperspective,becausethelandscapeoflegalprob-lemsandthecomplexityofmeetingthepublic’slegalneedshavechangedwith theshift in focus towardeveryday legalproblems,theaccess-to-justicegapbetweenservicesandresourceshasbeenredefinedandsubstantiallyexpanded.Newapproachestomeetingthelegalneedsofthepoormustconfronttheexpandinggapcreatedbytheabsenceofasubstantialincreaseinresourcesandthegreaterscaleofthetaskofmeetinglegalneeds.Legalsecondaryconsulta-tionisoneresponsetothegrowingaccess-to-justicegap.

Origins of Legal Secondary Consultation Thereisapaucityofliteratureonlegalsecondaryconsultation,largelyduetoitsbeingarelativelynewconceptandonlyrecentlyidentifiedwithaspecificname.ProjectevaluationsinAustraliaandCanadahavenotedthevalueofmedical-legalcollaborationbetweenlawyersandhealthcareproviders.6Inearlyreportsonaco-locatedmedical-legalpartnershipinBendigointhestateofVictoria,Aus-tralia,Currandescribesapatternthatemergedofmedicalstaffin-formallyconsulting the legaldirectoraboutvarious issues in theprovisionofmedicalservice.Thisdevelopedintoaregularprocesswithintheclinicthatshetermedsecondarylegalconsultation.7IncontinuingresearchontheBendigoproject,Curranobservedanddocumentedthebenefitsofsecondarylegalconsultations.8 The three Ontario clinics’ approach to legal secondary con-sultation9 representsasignificantexpansionofLSC inco-locatedmedical-legal clinics. Compared with medical-legal partnerships,thepresentconceptextendsLSCtoavarietyofcommunityservicesandotherorganizations,withlegalstaffattheclinicsassistingbothprofessionallytrainedandnon-professionalserviceproviders,some-timesvolunteers,inarangeoforganizationswherepeoplegoforhelpwiththeireverydayproblems. Expansion toamuchgreater rangeofcommunityorganiza-tionsandserviceagenciesmakessense.Peoplegotoavarietyofcommunityservicesforhelpwithproblems,andthere isagoodchance that theseproblemshave legalaspects.However, insteadofonlyidentifyingtheproblemsaswiththelegalhealthcheck-up(LHC)conceptdevelopedearlier,10legalsecondaryconsultationpro-videsassistancetoserviceprovidersdealingwiththeproblemsatthatpointofcontactwithoutthepersonbeingassistedbecomingadirectlegalaidclient.Inthismodel,adviceorinformationispro-videdtotheorganization,whilethepersonremainstheclientofthecommunityagencyororganization.Duringthecourseofadvisingtheserviceproviderintheexternalorganization,situationsinwhichtheexternalclientrequiresdirectlegalassistanceareidentifiedandreferredtotheclinic.

Similar Projects in Ontario

Buildingrelationswiththecommunitiestheyserveliesatthecoreofcommunitylegalservices,andcommunitylegalclinicsinOntariohavebeenbuildingrelationshipswithcommunitygroupsfordecades.Itwouldbesurprisingif,outofthatlongandvaried

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experience, some activities resembling legal secondary consulta-tionhadnotoccurred.Assumingthatinnovationsarerarelyentirelyoriginalandcompletelywithoutprecedent,itwouldbeevenmoreunlikelythatthesameservicedeliveryenvironmentwouldnothavedevelopedactivitieswithsimilaritiestoLSC. Toexplorethepossibilityofantecedentsandsimilarprojectsinordertobetterunderstandlegalsecondaryconsultationasthethree-clinicprojectisdevelopingit,14communitylegalclinicsinLegalAidOntario’sSouthwesternRegionthatareparticipatinginanevolvingLegalHealthCheck-up(LHC)Projectwereaskediftheycurrentlyorinthepasthadsimilaractivities.AfterbeingintroducedtotheLSCconceptatalearninglabpresentationinwhichcontinu-ingdevelopments inLHCwerebeingdiscussed, theclinicswereaskedinafollow-upquestionnairewhethertheywerecurrentlyorhadbeenengagedinasimilaractivity.Discussionatthelearninglabfollowingthepresentationsuggestedthatmostofifnotalltheclinicspresenthadbeencarryingoutwhatcouldbecalledsecondarylegalconsultation.Theywelcomedthetermtocharacterizetheirworkwithcommunitypartners. Inthequestionnairee-mailedtoeachexecutivedirector,clinicswereaskedtoidentifypreviousorcurrentactivitiesconsistentwiththefollowingdefinition:aprograminwhichalawyerorotherstaffmemberattheclinicprovidesadviceorinformationtoanexternalorganizationinordertoassistthatorganizationtomoreeffective-lyassisttheirclients.Thirteenof14clinicsresponded.Generally,the activities they reporteddidnot distinguishbroader consulta-tionfromthemorenarrowmeaningofconsultationasusedinthepresentproject.AllthecommunitylegalclinicsreportedactivitiesthathadevolvedovertimewithsomesimilaritytoLSCbeingdevel-opedintheHalton,BrantandGuelphclinicsthat,inretrospect,theywoulddescribeaslegalsecondaryconsultation.Alldescribedtheactivitiesashavingfirstemergedyears,evendecades,agoaspartofeffortstoestablishrelationshipswithcommunitypartners.Someofthewaysinwhichclinicsdescribedthecharacteroftheseactivitiesdevelopedattheirclinicswere:

Arose from events designed to introduce the clinic to the community.

— Huron-Perth

General contacts between clinic staff and community organizations [aimed at] fostering community rela-tions.

— Justice Niagara

Secondary legalconsultationwas frequentlydescribedasanexpressionofthecommitmentbyclinicstoprovidepubliclegaledu-

cation(PLE)tothecommunity

An expression of the clinic’s PLE commitment.— Chatham-Kent

Work closely with a number of organizations; devel-oped close relationships to provide PLE to their staff and to advise them on specific issues; part of the clinic’s PLE–law reform initiative.

— Sarnia

Thenumberoforganizationswithwhichclinicsmaintainrela-tionshipsvarieswidely.Oneclinicmaintainsarelationshipwithonecommunityorganization:

Work with a local community health care centre to improve services to clients who should be receiving ODSP [Ontario Disability Support Program] payments.

— North Peel Dufferin

Othersmayhaveconnectionswithlargernumbersofcommu-nitygroups,forexample,about20inChatham-Kentandmorethan40inLondon-Middlesex. Thefrequencywithwhichassistanceisprovidedtoorganiza-tionsvariesfromdailyintheHamiltonclinictoseveraltimesayearinElgin-Oxford. Someclinicspursuetheirownobjectivessimilartothoseofthethree-clinicproject,butdonotassistindividualclients.Forexample:

Ensure that organizations recognize legal problems and know where to refer clients.

—University of Western Ontario

Insomeclinics,approachesandobjectivesareclosertothoseofthepilotprojectinHalton,BrantandGuelph.Clearly,thebasicideasdescribinglegalsecondaryconsultationwerepresentamongcom-munitylegalclinicsinOntarioforsometimeasdescribedbyCurraninAustralia.

It may be easier/better for the client to remain with the first line worker as opposed to having to make a trip to the clinic and an appointment.

— Waterloo

To assist organizations to more effectively assist their clients.

— Chatham-Kent

By providing this knowledge to agencies, they might resolve clients’ legal issues without clinic involvement;

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to empower agency staff to provide basic legal advice to clients and resolve legal issues where possible, freeing up clinic time for other representation.

— London-Middlesex

TheSouthwesternOntarioclinicsexpressedvaryingdegreesofcautionandtookdifferentapproachesregardingprovidingsecond-aryadviceultimatelyintendedfortheclientsofnon-legallytrainedserviceproviders.

If someone calls from an external organization, a case-worker is usually available to speak to the person and provide advice. If the client is with the support worker, we often have the support worker and client on confer-ence call so we can talk to the client directly. If follow-up is needed, an appointment is usually scheduled.

— Grey Bruce

As part of our Indigenous Justice Project outreach, we have a dedicated lawyer who answers calls from Indig-enous organizations (such as Metis Nations, SOHAC) and in emergencies (and on availability) can attend at the organization to meet with a client and support worker immediately. This is part of our objective to provide more holistic services to our Indigenous clients.

— Grey Bruce

We provide both information and advice. It can be provided on a ‘hypothetical’ basis where the facts are complicated and it would be better to deal directly with the client. We require written client consent for complex situations where we want to ensure we are not putting clients at risk, or where it is impossible to deal in hypotheticals.

— Hamilton

The link becomes too diffuse to control the conduct of a case when you have given someone a modicum of information; it takes quite a bit of specialized edu-cation followed by mentored experience to produce competent legal help and take that message to the end user. While we see great potential to having basic and accurate information – it is not a substitute for legal services when they are required. The more that the communication approaches “advice” the closer it comes to creating a greater responsibility to ensure accuracy of understanding and application.

— Huron-Perth

Buildingstrongrelationshipswithcommunitypartnersisade-finingfeatureofcommunitylegalclinics.Whatisrecognizedaslegalsecondaryconsultationhasbeencarriedoutbyclinicsinanumberofways, insomecases fordecades,andhasusuallyevolved. InsomeclinicsLSCisnotconsideredaseparateprogrambutpartoftheoverallcommunityfocusoftheclinic.However,someaspectsoftheactivitiesorprogramsinotherclinicsresemblethemainel-ementsoftheHaltonservicecharter.Thethree-clinicLSCprojectexpressessimilarideasdevelopedindependently,atdifferenttimesandindifferentplaces. However, theLSCProjectunderreviewheredifferssubstan-tiallyfromthesimilarandantecedentprojects.Inthethree-clinicproject,LSCwasdevelopeddeliberatelyandspecificallytoaddressunmet legalneeds.Buildingcommunitycapacity isa strategy tomakelegaladviceavailabletolargernumbersofpeopleinneed.Relationshipswithcommunitypartnersarethebuildingblocksofaformoflegalaiddeliverythatextendsservicebeyondwhatwouldotherwisebepossiblewithtraditionallyavailableresources.Inpre-vious activities, building relationships with community partnerswasasanendinitself,withactivitieshavingsomesimilaritiestoLSCemerging.

Methodology and Data Sources

Thisstudyisbasedonfoursourcesofdata.Foreachclinic,alistoforganizationsrequestingadvice,thetypeoforganizationandthenumberof requestsbetweenSeptember2016andApril2017wascompiled. Six interviewswereconductedwithstaff in the threeclinicsprovidingLSCadvice: three respondents fromGuelph, two fromBrantandonefromHalton.TheinterviewswithstafffromBrantandGuelphwereconductedbytelephone;theHaltoninterviewwasconductedinperson. Thirty-twoserviceproviderswhohadrequestedadvicefromtheLSCadvisorsinthethreeclinicswereinterviewed.Teninter-viewswereconductedwithserviceprovidersconnectedwithBrant,11withGuelphand11withHalton.TheHaltoninterviewwascon-ductedinperson,theothersbytelephone. Twohundredandsixty-sevencasenotesfromthethreeclinics(109fromGuelph,69fromBrantand89fromHalton)werereviewedandenteredinadatabase.Followingeachrequestforadvice,theLSCadvisors recorded thecasenotesdescribing theservicepro-vided.Morethanonecasenotewascreatedforsomerequestsin-volvingmultipleproblems,althoughthiswasnotaconsistentprac-tice.Thecasenotesincludeinformationsuchasthesubjectofthe

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request,therequestingserviceproviderandorganization,numberofproblems,actiontakenandnumberofcontacts. Finally,asmentionedabove,ane-mailquestionnaireintendedtoidentifysimilarprojectsandactivitieswassentto14communitylegalclinicsintheSouthwesternOntarioregion.Theseclinicsareparticipantsinanongoingdialogueaboutthecontinueddevelop-mentoftheLegalHealthCheck-UpProject.Thirteenquestionnaireswerereturned.

How LSC Works in the Three Clinics

Halton Community Legal Services

InHalton,onelawyerandoneparalegalprovidelegalsecond-aryconsultation.11Thelawyerrespondstomostoftherequests.TheprogramwaslaunchedonapreliminarybasisinMay2016andfor-mally launched in the fallof thatyear.Communitygroupswereinformedaboutthenewservicebydistributionofaposterannounc-ingtheprogram(AppendixOne)andthroughannouncementsatpubliclegaleducationsessionsandothermeetingswithcommunitygroups. ThesubjectmatterofLSCrequestsisnotrestricted.Commu-nityorganizationsareinvitedtorequestadviceaboutanyproblemstheyareexperiencingservingtheirownclients.Theemphasisintheposterwasthatclients’everydayproblemsmighthavelegalaspects,whichthelegalclinicwouldidentifyandadvisetheserviceprovid-eronhowtoproceed.Theprimaryfocusisonsupportingserviceprovidersincommunityagenciesandotherorganizationsthathelppeopleinneed.However,serviceprovidersmayaskaboutissuesthatpertaintotheirorganization. LSCatHaltonisnotalimited-timeexperiment,butanintegralpartof theclinic’sevolvingdeliverymodel.Like the legalhealthcheck-up,itispartofacommunitydevelopmentapproachtolegalaidthatcollaborateswithcommunityorganizations,increasingtheircapacitytoworkwithHCLStoaddresslegalneed.

The Legal Clinic of Guelph and Wellington County The LSC service in Guelph is provided by three people: alawyer,aparalegalandatrainedlegalworkerwithafocusonhealthissues.Theservicebeganinthefallof2016withe-mailsannouncingthenewservicetocommunitygroups. ThereareseparateoutreachstrategieswithintheLSCProject.Oneentrypoint is thehealth leads legalworker,whoassists the

mostvulnerableclientsinnavigatingthesystemandsolvingprob-lems.SheusesLSCtoensurethatagenciessupportingclientsmaketimelyandpracticalresponsestolegalissuesrelatedtoproblemssuchassuddenhomelessness,evictionforrentarrears,andbehav-iourorincomechallenges.Second,allagenciessupportingclientshavepriorityaccess(immediatelyorthesamedayinmostcases)toalawyerortoaparalegalorlegalworkertoobtainadviceregard-ingclientsexperiencingeveryday legal issues.Third, theOntarioTelemedicineNetworkallowsaccesstoaparalegalonededicatedafternoonperweektoanswerquestionsfromruralhealthteamstosupporttheirclients.Fourth,thelegalhealthcheck-upworkerintheclinicactivelyconnectswithsupportagenciesinWellingtonCounty,andimmediatelycoordinatesresponsesbyphoneore-mailorthroughoutreachclinicstogivesupportworkersaccesstolegalinformationandassistance.TheLHCworkeralsoproactivelycon-tactsagencies that supportyouth inbothurbanandruralareas.ThereisalsowidespreadawarenessoftheLSCserviceamongcom-munityorganizations,whichresultsinrequestsforLSCconsulta-tions. ThemodelthattheGuelphandWellingtonclinichasadoptedfor legal secondary consultation emphasizes 1) integration withclientsupportsthroughhealthcentresand2)ruralclients,particu-larlyyouth.Whentheprogramwaslaunched,agenciesweremadeawareofthelegalsecondaryconsultationservicebyaconcentratede-mailcampaignandthroughexistingcontactswithcommunityor-ganizations.

Community Legal Clinic of Brant, Haldimand and Norfolk TheLSCProjectinBrant,whichcommencedinthefallof2016,isformallycalledtheAgencyConsultationProgram.12LSCserviceisprovidedbytwolawyers,whosecontactinformationisprovidedinallinformationabouttheservice.Adviceisavailabletocommunityagenciesrelatingtoproblemsinallareasoflawaswellasnon-legalproblems. TolaunchandadvertisethenewLSCservice,BrantdistributedapostersimilartoHalton’s(AppendixOne).TheLSCprogramwasannouncedatgroupmeetingswithcommunity-widereach,suchas the Brantford Executive Director Council and the HaldimandNorfolkPovertyActionPartnership.ThecommunitydevelopmentworkerattheclinicdistributedthepostertoallhercontactsinBrant,HaldimandandNorfolk,metwithsomeagenciesthattheyworkdirectly with, and explained the LSC. Initially Brant focused onagencieswithwhichtheclinicregularlynetworked,althoughthenumberoforganizationsusingtheserviceexpandedastheprogrambecamemorewidelyknown.

Theservicecharterreferredtoabove(endnote2)indicatesthattheLSCserviceisintendedtosupportthelegalhealthcheck-up.ThisemphasizesthatboththeLSCandLHCservicesaremutuallyreinforcingprogramstobuildacollaborative,community-basedap-proachtolegalaidinwhichthecommunitypartnersareengagedwiththelegalclinicindeliveringlegalaid.Itisdifficultwiththeavailabledatatogaugetheextentofthemutualreinforcement.TheLHChasexpandedwellbeyondtheoriginalsevenpartnerinterme-diaryorganizations.Fourof thesevenoriginalLHC intermediarypartnersareamongthe36organizationsrequestingLSCservices.ThisisastrongindicationofthedegreetowhichtheLSChasdif-fusedthroughoutserviceprovidersinthecommunity.

Brant BetweenSeptember6,2016,andApril13,2017,BrantprovidedLSCadviceto28separateorganizations.Therewere48separatere-questsfromthe28communityagencies,anaverageof1.7requestsperorganizationand6.9permonthaveragedovertheentireperiod.Similar toHalton,requests toBrant forLSCadvicecamefromawide variety of community organizations. Ontario Works BrantandtheCMHAeachmadesixrequestsforconsultations,whileSt.Leonard’ssheltermadefiverequests.BrantfordWelcomeInmadethree requests. Haldimand Norfolk Social Services, the LabourCentre,SimcoeCaringCupboardandtheFamilyCounsellingCentremadetworequestseach.Twentyorganizationsmadeonerequesteach.ThisdemonstratesahighlevelofcommunityacceptanceandajudgementthattheBrantLSCserviceisavaluablecommunityasset.

Guelph BetweenSeptember6,2016andApril20,2017,theGuelphLSCservicereceived98requestsforadvicefrom39organizations,anaverageof2.5requestsperorganizationand14requestspermonthaveragedovertheentiresevenmonths.Threeorganizationsaccountfor39%ofallrequestsforconsultations:theCMHA(13requests),theGuelphCommunityHealthCentre/CHC(13)andtheRuralWel-lingtonCommunityTeam(12).Includingthetwohealthcarepro-vidersthatprovidedthelargestnumberofLSCrequests–theCMHAandtheGuelphCHC–ninehealthcareprovidersmadeatotalof37requestsforLSCadvice,38%ofthe98requests. SimilartoBrantandHalton,Guelph’sLSCservicehasattractedrequestsforadvicefromawidevarietyoforganizationsincludingthepolice,afoodbankandseveralorganizationsservingdisadvan-taged people. Five intermediary partners from the Guelph LegalHealth Check-up Program were among the 39 organizations re-

10


Community Organizations Requesting LSC Advice FromthetimethethreeclinicsbeganprovidingtheLSCservice,requestsforadvicehavebeenreceivedfrom103communityorga-nizations.Serviceprovidersfromsomeoftheorganizationsmademultiplerequestsforadvice.Together,serviceprovidersmade235requestsforadvicetohelpthemservetheirclients.

HaltonBrantGuelphTotal

362839

103

894898

235

8969

109267

OrganizationsRequests forconsultations

Case notes created

Table I: Requests for Service

InBrantandGuelph,casenotesweresometimescreatedforseparateproblemswhentherequestinvolvedmultipleproblems. Thedatacoverslightlydifferentperiodsforthethreeclinics:150 business days for Halton, 153 days for Guelph and 159 forBrant.Forsimplicity,theaveragenumberofrequestsforconsulta-tionspermonthandfortheentireperiodarecalculatedonthebasisofsevenmonths.

Halton DuringapproximatelysevenmonthsbetweenSeptember20,2016,andApril24,2017,theLSCserviceatHaltonreceived89re-questsforadvicefrom36differentorganizations.Thisrepresentsanaverageof12.7requestspermonthand2.5requestsperorganiza-tionovertheentireperiod. Healthcareproviderssubmittedthelargestnumberofrequests.Overall20requestsforadvicecamefromfivehealthcareagencies,including10fromoneagency,theNorthHaltonHealthLink,andsixrequestsfromtheCanadianMentalHealthAssociation(CMHA). Thesecondlargestareaofrequestswasfromagenciesdealingwithhousingproblems.Fivecommunityorganizationsthatassistpeoplewithhousingmadeatotalof15requestsforadvice,thema-joritybytwoorganizations.TheHousingHelpCentremadesixre-questsandSummitHousingfiverequests. Apartfromthemajorusers,requeststotheHaltonLSCservicecamefroma largevarietyoforganizations, includingawomen’ssupportorganization,Haltonpolice,amulticulturalservicesagency,church-basedcharitableorganizationsandanorganizationassistingSyrianrefugees.

11


questingLSCadvice.SimilartotheothertwolegalclinicswithLSCpilotprojects,theLSCservicehasattractedwidespreadusefromthecommunity.AdetailedlistoforganizationsrequestingLSCispro-videdinAppendixTwoforthethreeclinics.

Problems, Problem Types and Service ProvidedTypes of Problems Withonlyslightvariationsamong the threeclinics,housingandaccesstogovernmentservicesandbenefitsmadeupalmosttwo-thirds13ofallproblemsforwhichserviceprovidersininterme-diaryorganizationsrequestedadvice(67.5%atHalton,66.6%atGuelphand59.0%atBrant)(seeTableII).

Number of Problems

Thevastmajorityofrequestsinvolvedonlyoneproblem14(seeTableIII).Thenumberofcaseswithtwoormoreproblemswaslowerthanmightbeexpectedbasedonlegalproblemssurveydatareportedbyindividualswithoneormoreproblems.Itappearslikelythatserviceproviderstendtodealwithoneproblematatime,eventhoughclientsmayexperiencemultipleproblems. Thedatainthisstudydonotincludeinformationabouttheextent towhichorganizationsmightbeexpected touse theLSCservice.Themajorityoforganizationsincludedinthedatamadeonerequesteach.Itisnotknownifthatrequestrepresentedanor-ganization’stotalneedorwhetherorganizationsmakingonlyonerequestdidnotcontinuetorequestLSCwhentheycouldhavemadegoodcontinuinguseofit. LSCisaformofoutreach,anditisthereforeimportanttoun-derstandmoreaboutthedemandside.Tothisend,thenumberoforganizationsmakingmultiplerequestswascalculated.Thiswasdoneintwoways.First,thenumberoforganizationsmakingtwoormorerequestswasdetermined.Second,thenumberoforganiza-tionsmakingatleastonerequestforadvicebetweenSeptemberandtheendofDecember2016(thefirstperiod)thatmadeatleastoneadditionalrequestfromJanuarytoApril2017(thesecondperiod)wasdetermined.Because thenumbersof requestsperorganiza-tionweremostlysmall,amoredetailedbreakdownwouldnothavebeenuseful. InHalton,23organizations(63.9%ofthe36intotalthatmaderequests)madeonlyonerequestforLSCservice,while13(36.1%)weremultipleusers.All13madeatleastonerequestinthefirstperiod;10ofthem(76.9%)madeatleastoneadditionalrequestinthesecondperiod.These10areadiversegroup,includingNorthHaltonHealthLink(ninerequests),Links2Care(sevenrequests),theCMHA(sixrequests),theThomasMertonCentre,MaryMotherofGod–SaintVincentdePaulSocietyandtheHousingHelpCentre(fourrequestseach),andSummitHousingandtheHaltonMulticul-turalCouncil(tworequestseach). InBrant,21organizations(72.4%ofthe29intotalthatmaderequests) made only one request for LSC service, while eight(27.6%)weremultipleusers.Alleightorganizationsmadeatleastonerequest in thefirstperiod;sixof them(75%)madeat leastoneadditionalrequestinthesecondperiod.ThesesixwereOntarioWorks Brant (nine requests), St. Leonard’s Community Services(five requests), Brant General Hospital and the CMHA (four re-questseach),HaldimandNorfolkSocialServices(threerequests)andFamilyCounsellingService(tworequests).ThecompositionoftheconsistentusersgroupisquitedifferentthanforHalton. InGuelph,16(41.0%)ofthe39organizationsthatrequested

HousingGovernment servicesImmigrationWills and Powers ofAttorneyFamily lawCriminalMedical treatmentNotary and StatutoryDeclarationCivil recoveryLegal aid eligibilityEmploymentBankruptcyConsumer and DebtOther and UnknownTotal

3638 10

8 5 3 2

2 2 1 1 1

109

Table II: Types of Problems

Halton GuelphBrant Total

2719

6 671

2172

78

4830

2

4 118

1

13

54

117

11187 12

18 2218

3

3

2262

126

304

(33.0%)

(34.5%)

(9.2%)

(7.3%)

(4.6%)

(2.7%)

(1.9%)

(1.9%)

(1.9%)

(1.0%)

(1.0%)

(1.0%)

(100%)

(34.6%)

(24.4%)

(7.7%)

(7.7%)

(9.0%)

(1.3%)

(2.5%)

(1.3%)

(9.0%)

(2.5%)

(100%)

(41.0%)

(25.6%)

(1.7%)

(3.4%)

(9.4%)

(6.8%)

(0.9%)

(0.9%)

(2.6%)

(4.3%)

(3.4%)

(100%)

(36.5%)

(28.6%)

(3.9%)

(5.9%)

(7.2%)

(5.9%)

(1.0%)

(1.0%)

(0.7%)

(0.7%)

(2.0%)

(0.7%)

(3.9%)

(2.0%)

(100%)

OneTwoThreeFourTotal

73114 1

89

Table III: Number of Problems

Halton GuelphBrant Total

626

169

10153

109

23622

72

267

(82.0%)

(12.4%)

(9.2%)

(1.1%)

(100%)

(90.0%)

(8.7%)

(1.1%)

(100%)

(41.0%)

(25.6%)

(1.7%)

(100%)

(36.5%)

(28.6%)

(3.9%)

(9.2%)

(100%)

Number of problems

12


LSCservicemademultiplerequests.Twelveof these16(75.0%)madeatleastonerequestduringtheearlyperiod,and10ofthem(83.3%)madeatleastoneadditionalrequestforLSCadviceinthesecondperiod.UsersinbothperiodsincludedtheCanadianMentalHealthAssociation (13),GuelphCommunityHealthCentre (13),RuralWellingtonCommunityTeam(12),OntarioWorks(5),and4eachfromwomeninCrisis,WyndhamHouse,ImmigrationServicesandCommunityResourceCentre.TheprevalenceofhealthservicesinthislistisnodoubtrelatedtothefactthattheGuelphcliniccon-centratesonbuildingrelationshipswiththehealthcaresectorandhasahealthleadscommunitylegalworker,whowasoneoftheLSCadvisors. It cannotbedeterminedwith thedata athandwhetheror-ganizationsmakingonlyonerequestwerefullyutilizingtheLSC

serviceoriftheneedwasactuallyinfrequent.However,becausethenumberofone-timeorganizationsexceedsorisequaltothenumberoforganizationsmakingmultiplerequests,itisworthlookingmorecloselyatwhyorganizationsmakeonlyonerequest.Thisisimpor-tantifLSC’sfullpotentialistobereached. ThethreefiguresbelowallowaverypreliminarylookatthesamequestionaboutthedistributionofLSCrequests.FiguresI,IIandIIIshowthetotalnumberofrequestsforserviceseparatelyforthethreeclinics. ThegraphsforHaltonandBrantshowalargespikeinnumberofrequestsduringNovember.Thesetwoclinicsdistributedposters(AppendixOne)inNovembertoadvertisetheLSCservice,althoughannouncements at PLE sessions and other meetings were madeoverawidertimeperiod.Guelphusedane-mailcampaignalongwithannouncementsatotheroutreachsessions,butdidnotissueaposter. Thepatternsaredifferentforeachclinic.InHalton,thenumbersofrequestspermonthinJanuarytoAprilaregreaterthaninSep-tembertoDecember.ItisassumedthatDecemberrequestswouldbelowbecauseoftheholidayseason.Thissuggestsanincreaseincommunityuptakeovertheperiodoftheproject(seeFigure1).Incontrast,thepatternforBrantshowsadeclineinthefourmonthsin2017(seeFigure2).TheNovemberspikedidnotoccuratGuelph,possiblyrelatedtothefactthatGuelphdidnotreleaseapostertoadvertisetheservice(seeFigure3). Thedataalsoshowamonth-by-monthdeclineinthenumberofrequestsforconsultationsfromJanuarytoApril.Butthedecliningnumbersshouldnotbegiventoomuchsignificanceatthispoint:theprojectsarestillintheirearlystagesandmoretimewilllikelybenecessaryforstablepatternstoemerge. ClearlytheLSCprojectsinallthreeclinicshaveattractedre-questsforconsultationsfromasubstantialnumberandvarietyofcommunityorganizations.ThisisagoodindicationoftheextenttowhichLSCisviewedasausefulandvaluedservice.Forheuris-ticpurposesinthisreport,thecommunitygroupsareunderstoodaspartners.However,afullerunderstandingofthewaysinwhichserviceagenciesandcommunityorganizationsarepartners,andthewaysinwhichtheyareLSCconsumers,wouldenhanceourunder-standingoflegalsecondaryconsultation.Theneedsofthecommu-nityorganizations,whethertheyaremaximizingthevalueoftheservice,whytheymightnotbe,andthespecialdemandsofhigher-volumeusersshouldbeexamined toenable theclinics to refinetheirLSCprograms.

Figure I: Requests per Month, September 2016 to April 2017 - Halton

Sep

252015105

58

21

5

12 1116

10

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr2016 2017

HALTON

Figure II: Requests per Month, September 2016 to April 2017 - Brant

Sep

252015105 6

11

20

611

7 6 2Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr

2016 2017

BRANT

Figure III: Requests per Month, September 2016 to April 2017 - Guelph

Sep

252015105

15 17 16

9

15 14 139

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr2016 2017

GUELPH

ersinotheragenciesinvolvedlegalissuesspecifictoclientproblems.Onesaidalwaysandfoursaidalmostalways;onedidn’trespond(seeTableIV). Someoftheadvicewascharacterizedasnotstrictlylegal.Onere-spondentsaidnon-legalproblemsaredealtwithveryfrequently,twosaidfrequently,andonesaidsomewhatfrequently.Tworespondentssaidadvicerelatedtonon-legalproblemswasnotveryfrequentlyre-quested.Onerespondentsaidquestionsabouttheappropriatenessoftheserviceproviderassistingwiththeproblemwereaskedfrequently.Onesaidthissortofadvicewasnotrequestedfrequentlyatall.Theotherfourrespondentssaidtheydidnotknow.Theseresultsarecon-sistentwithdatafromthecasenotes.InBrant,about27%ofthecasesdidnotappeartodealwithlegalissues,andinGuelphabout32%ofrequestsforadvicedidnotseemtoberelatedtolegalproblem(seeTableV). It isnot surprising thatLSCadvisorswouldprovidenon-legaladviceinthecourseofrespondingtorequests.Serviceprovidersre-questingadvicewouldnotnecessarilybeabletofiltertheirquestions

13


Characterizing LSC Advice

LSC lawyersor community legalworkers in the threeclinics15

wereaskedinasurveytocharacterizethetypesofproblemsaboutwhichtheyreceivedrequestsforadviceandthekindsofservicestheyprovided.Theywerealsoaskedtocharacterizegenerallythekindofadviceprovided;theresponsesarenotlinkedtoparticularproblems.Data from the casenotespresentedafter the surveydataprovidedsimilardatadirectlylinkedtoproblems.

LSC Advisor Perceptions of the Types of ProblemsPresented by Service Providers The clearestperceptionbyLSCadvisorsof thekindsofprob-lemsaskedaboutbyexternalserviceproviderswas that theywerelegalproblemsrelatingtoindividualclientsofthesecommunityorga-nizations.Allsixrespondentssaidtherequestsfromserviceprovid-

Legal issues related to an individual’s problemGeneral legal issuesHelp with hearings or appealsAppropriateness of service provider involvementHelp with formsEthical issuesNon-legal problemsGeneral information

Table IV: Types of Problems Presented by External Service Providers

Don’t knowNot at allNot very

frequentlySomewhat frequentlyFrequently

Very frequently

Frequency with which types of problems occurred

Legal advice related to an individual problemGeneral legal advicePublic legal informationNon-legal adviceStrategic adviceLetterMeet with service provider/clientLegal researchAccess legal network to find informationCase management meetingReview documentsReferral to other agency

Table V: Frequency of Advice Provided

Don’t know / no answerNot at all

Not very frequently

Somewhat frequentlyFrequently

Very frequently

Frequency with which types of service were provided

14


toincludeonlylegalissues.Therefore,alegalsecondaryconsultationprogramcanbeexpectedtoprovideadviceaboutavarietyofprob-lems,bothlegalandnon-legal.Thisfollowsthelogicoftheeveryday-legal-problemsapproachthatviewslegalandnon-legalproblemsasfrequentlyinextricablyintertwinedinbundlesoflegalandnon-legalissues.Thisisacounterparttoholisticservicetoindividuals.LSCad-visorsassistingorganizationsreportthattheyneversayI cannot help with that because it is not a legal problem.

Types of Service Provided The six LSC advisors were asked to characterize the types ofadviceprovidedinresponsetorequestsfromexternalserviceprovid-ers.Asonemight expect from the typesofproblems, legal advicerelatedtotheproblemsofparticularindividualswasthemostfrequentkindofadvicereported.Fourrespondentssaidthisoccurredveryfre-quentlyandtwosaidfrequently.Tworespondentssaidtheyprovidedgenerallegaladvicenotspecifictoaclientveryfrequently.TwoLSCadvisorssaidthiskindofadvicewasprovidedsometimes,whiletwosaiditwasprovidedveryinfrequently. ResponsesfromthesixLSCadvisorswereequallydividedontheextenttowhichbasicpubliclegaleducation(PLE)wasprovidedinre-sponsetorequestsfromserviceproviders.TwosaidPLEwasprovidedveryfrequently,twosaidsometimes,andtwosaidnotveryfrequently.TheremainingresponsesdescribingadviceprovidedaresummarizedinTableV. Consistentwiththedataontypesofproblems,respondentssaidthey frequently provided non-legal advice and strategic advice onstepsthatshouldbetakenindealingwithaproblem.Threerespon-dentssaidtheydidnotprovidenon-legaladvicefrequently.Notably,referralstootheragencieswerereportedasveryfrequentorfrequentbyonlytworespondents.

Case Note Data on Actions Taken The case notes were analyzed to provide another perspectiveon the actionsLSCadvisors took in response to serviceproviders’requests foradvice.Thisproduced11differentactions,16 frequentlyinvolvingmultipleactions.The11possibleactionsproduced27com-binationsofactionsat theBrantclinic,37combinationsatGuelphand33combinationsatHalton.Onetothreeactionsweretakeninmostcasesatallthreeclinics:88.5%atHalton,92.7%atGuelphand97.0%atBrant.TableVIshowsthemostfrequentactionsorcombina-tionsofactionsatthethreeclinicsthatadduptoatleasthalfofactionstakeninallcases. Theprofileofadvicefromthecasenotedatavariesamongthethreeclinics.Overall,providinglegaladviceisarelativelyinfrequent

action.ThiscontrastswiththequalitativedatapresentedinTableVin-dicatingthatLSCadvisorsperceivetheyprovidelegaladviceveryfre-quentlyorfrequently.ThismightbeexplainedbythefactthattheLSCadvisorsalwaysassess theeverydayproblemspresentedbyserviceprovidersforlegalissuesand,therefore,aremorelikelytoperceivetheiradviceaslegal. Thisapparentcontradictionmaybepartofamorefundamentalchangeoccurringinlegalservicesandaccesstojustice.Thisprojectisonthecuttingedgeofthatchange.Thedefinitionofalegalproblemhas changed with the impact of contemporary legal problems re-searchandtheemergenceof theeveryday-legal-problemsapproachto legal problems and access to justice. The farther that access tojusticemovesfromthefrontdoorofthemainstreetlawyer’soffice,thegreatertheextenttowhichlegalproblemsbroadentomeanevery-dayproblemswithlegalaspects.Thislatterconcept,whileproviding

Total = 63 (57% of 111 cases)

1813116555


HALTON

Legal information + referralLegal Information + strategic adviceLegal InformationStrategic adviceReview documents + strategic adviceLegal advice + strategic adviceLegal advice + referral

Table VI: Most Frequent Actions

1210

96644


BRANT

Strategic adviceReferralLegal informationStrategic advice + legal informationLegal advice + strategic adviceGeneral information and adviceMeet with client

7666433

GUELPH

ReferralLegal informationStrategic advice + legal informationLegal information + referralLegal information + strategic advice + referralStrategic adviceGeneral information and advice

15


abetterperspectiveonlegalproblems,increasesambiguityandwillrequiremorecarefulefforttodefineoperationaltermsforresearchaswemovefromlarge-scalelegalproblemssurveystothesmallerfieldsofproject-basedresearch. TableVIshowsthatmostoftheactionstakentoresolveproblemsforwhichserviceprovidersrequesthelpdonotinvolve,inthetradi-tionalsense,legaladvice.However,theproblemsarejusticiableinthattheyhavealegalaspectandapossiblelegalsolution.However,solu-tionsotherthanlegalactionmaybemoreeffective,practicalorevensensible.17Inthelegalsecondaryconsultationmodelbeingpilotedbythethreecommunityclinics,adviceisprovidedbylawyersorspecial-istswithsomelegaltrainingtohelpserviceprovidersinotheragen-ciesresolvejusticiableproblems.ThisplacestheLSCprojectinthevanguardofevolvingconceptsoflegalproblemsandaccesstojustice,andofevolvingdeliverymodelsdesignedtoincreasethenumberofpeoplereceivinglegaladvice.

Objectives and Benefits of Legal Secondary Consultation

Objectives ThelawyersandthelegalworkersprovidingLSCwereaskedtodescribetheprogramobjectivesfromtheirownperspective,basedontheirexperience.Summarizingtheirresponses,theysaidtheservice

builds stronger relationships with the community. provides a better and broader range of clinic services. builds stronger relationships with the community. provides a better and broader range of clinic services. increases the efficiency of service—a 10-minute phone

call compared with a 45-minute intake. makes story-telling more efficient, with less repeat trau-

matization for vulnerable people.— Lawyer 1, Brant

helps service providers at the initial stage of a client’s problem.

— Paralegal, Guelph

breaks down service silos. — Lawyer, Guelph

builds relationships with community partners. expands outreach and extends service.

— Lawyer 2, Brant

builds relationships with the community and familiar-

izes people in the community with what the clinic does.— Heath leads legal worker, Guelph

solves the client’s problem. makes the service provider’s work easier. improves access to justice. promotes holistic service.

— Lawyer, Halton

Onecommentwasinsightfulaboutcommunitydevelopmentandca-pacitybuilding:

The greater community capacity becomes a resource available to the clinic. LSC leverages a network of access-to-justice services. It opens the possibility of reciprocal referrals; access [by the legal clinic] to their [the community organizations’] networks and leverag-ing their networks.

— Lawyer, Halton

Benefits of Legal Consultation ThesixrespondentsintheLSCadvisorssurveywereaskedasep-aratequestionaboutthebenefitsofLSC.Becausetheinterviewstookanopen-responseapproach,theresponsesonobjectivesandbenefitsaresimilar.Benefitswerelistedas

a better service quicker outcomes; no lag time dealing with the problem

as when the individual comes into the clinic— Lawyer 1, Brant

builds on the ongoing relationship between external service providers and their clients; the service is more holistic

greater timeliness; service providers can obtain advice related to clients’ problems within a day

— Lawyer, Guelph

more accessible legal advice more efficient and timely advice builds ongoing trust and strengthens relationships

between the clinic and community partners communicates a new perception of lawyers; breaks down

the traditional view that lawyers only do appeals18

— Lawyer 2, Brant

more accessible legal advice more efficient and timely advice builds ongoing trust and strengthens relationships

16


between the clinic and community partners communicates a new perception of lawyers; breaks down

the traditional view that lawyers only do appeals18— Lawyer 2, Brant

quicker service than having client call in for intake; treat immediately so quicker

provides early intervention because service providers know where to get immediate assistance

— Heath leads legal worker, Guelph

helps resolve multifaceted problems without going to a number of separate sources

a more efficient way of resolving problems saves money because there is no intake

— Lawyer, Halton

builds relations with community organizations— Community legal worker, Guelph

Several themes emerge from the LSC advisors’ comments onobjectives.LSCreflectsthetraditionalbroadobjectiveofcommunitylegalclinicstobuildrelationshipswiththecommunitiestheyserve.ThesignificantadvancewithLSCisthattherelationshipiscollabora-tive,apartnershipinwhichcommunityorganizationsbecomepart-nersinprovidingservice.However,asnotedabove,itisnotwellun-derstoodinthisresearchhowtherolesofpartnerprovidingserviceversususerofaserviceblendortakeonspecialmeaningwithregardto theserviceprovidersworking incommunityagenciesandotherorganizations. Accordingtotheserespondents,thebenefitsofLSCareconsis-tentwithseverallong-standinglegalaidobjectives.LSCexpandsthenumberofpeopleservedandthetypesofproblemsaddressed.Itrep-resentsamoreefficientservicethanthetraditionalclinicintakeandsubsequentserviceappointment.LSCbreaksdownservicedeliverysilos,involvingcollaborationbetweenlegalaidandavarietyofcom-munityagencies.Intheviewofonerespondent,itenablesearlyinter-ventionattheinitialstagesofaclient’sproblem.Itsavesmoneyeitherbecausepeoplewhowouldbecomelegalaidclientsthroughintakehaveproblemssolvedatthecommunityagencylevel,orbecauseofLSC’slowerunitcostofdealingwithproblems.

Problems and Risks with LSCProblems

LSCadvisorsnotedonlyafewproblemswiththeLSCservice.

When I am out of the office doing other work, there is a delay of a few hours in responding to requests for advice.

Communicating information about the availability of the service is sometimes difficult, especially with larger, multi-site agencies. It would be much harder if the clinic did not have a community development worker.

— Lawyer 1, Brant

Only problem is when a secondary consultation [client] comes in and I am busy and away, it can be difficult to deal with it quickly.


Balancing other work with the LSC can be difficult.— Lawyer, Guelph

Balancing other clinic work with the LSC service.— Lawyer 2, Brant

Systemic problems related to referrals. My ability to navigate depends on there being a system to navigate. However, this respondent added, We don’t have many problems.

— Lawyer, Halton

Themainapparentproblem,balancingLSCwithotherwork,wasnotmentionedbytherespondentfromaclinicwithadedicatedprimaryLSClawyer.

Risks There is a concern that providing LSC advice to non-legallytrainedserviceproviderswhothenuseittoassistclientsposestheriskthattheadvicewillnotbecompletelyunderstood,resultinginpooradvicetotheclient.19Inthereviewofsimilaractivitiesorpro-gramsinotherclinicspresentedabove,twoclinicsexplicitlyreferredtothisissue.Oneclinicprovidesadvicetoassistanindividualclientofanexternalagencyonlyiftheorganizationsignsawaiverreleasingthelegalclinicfromresponsibilityforanyresultingharmtotheclient.Anotherclinicconsidersitinappropriatetoprovideadvicetoanexter-nalserviceproviderwhothenusesittoassistaclient. ThesixLSCadvisorsinterviewedforthisstudywereaskediftheaccuracyofsecondaryadvicepassedalongtoathird-partyindividualwasaconcern.Thefourlawyersallrespondedthatthereisaninher-entriskthatadviceorinformationpassedfromalawyertoexternalserviceprovidersmaybemisunderstood.However,all four felt theproblemcanbemanagedincommunicationwiththeexternalserviceprovider.TheLSC lawyeratHaltonsaidsheassesses the languageusedbytheserviceproviderindescribingtheproblem.Ifshesuspectsapotentiallegalproblem,I take the service provider along a journey,

17


spendingtimetoinstructtheindividual.Shenever wants to take over the service provider’s job; I don’t want to make the client my own. Similarly,oneofBrant’sLSClawyerssaidthatheinformallyas-sessesthelevelofunderstandingoftheserviceprovider.Hesaidthatheusuallydoesnothavetoaddresslackofcomprehensiononthepartofserviceproviders.Onrareoccasions,however,alanguagebarrierraisesdoubtsaboutaserviceprovider’slevelofunderstanding.Inthiscaseheaskstoseetheclientinperson. TheLSClawyerinGuelphsharestheotherlawyers’caution,buttakesasomewhatdifferentapproach.Sheasksserviceprovidersdi-rectlyif they are comfortable doing this or if they wish to have someone from the clinic meet with the client directly.Thisrespondentadded:I am always concerned that I am missing some facts. TheparalegalattheGuelphclinicalsosaidsheassessestheca-pacityofserviceproviders.However,sheaddedthatshebecomes fa-miliar with most of the service providers contacting her and with their capacity. ThehealthleadslegalworkerintheGuelphclinicworksexclu-sively with health care professionals and therefore has a differentview.ThisLSCadvisordoesnotattempttoassessserviceproviderca-pacity,assumingthehealthcareprofessionalshavesufficientgeneralcompetencetocomprehendtheLSCadvice.Thisperspectiveraisesaninterestingpoint:theremaybesystematicdifferencesamongdiffer-enttypesofadvisors,possiblyparallelingthedistinctionbetweenpro-fessionallytrainedandvolunteerserviceproviders,thatLSCadvisorscouldflagattheoutset.However,basedontheinformationathand,itisnotclearifthiswouldmeaningfullyenhancethecase-by-caseas-sessmentthatLSClawyersalreadypractise.

Internal Referrals to the Clinic Analysisof thecasenotesrevealed that8.1%ofLSCcontactsinGuelph20and10.1%ofcontactsinBrant21resultedinreferralstothelegalclinic.Incontrast,noLSCcaseswerereferredtotheHaltonclinic.22TheBrantandGuelphnumbersmayindicateahighdegreeofcautionaboutprovidingadvicetonon-professionalserviceprovid-ers.Ontheotherhand,twoimportantobjectivesoflegalsecondaryconsultationaretoincreasethelegalcapabilityofexternalservicepro-vidersandtoresolveasmanyproblemsaspossibleatthecommunityagencylevel. Itisdifficulttoknowhowtointerpretthesenumbers.Theap-parenthighlevelofcautionbyLSCadvisorsinBrantandGuelphmayhavetheeffectofmakingtheLSCprogramaconduitforintake.InGuelph,oneLSCadvisorisalawyer,oneisaparalegal,andoneacommunitylegalworker.TheserviceprovidersmakingrequestsforconsultationfromtheGuelphclinicremarkedthattheLSCadvisorsappearedtohavespecificspheresofcompetenceandquestionscould

bepassedtothemostappropriateadvisor.23Thiscouldreflectahighdegreeofcaution,notdirectedoutwardtowardserviceprovidersbutanefforttoensurethequalityandaccuracyofadviceandinformation.However,boththeLSCadvisorsattheBrantclinicareexperiencedlawyers, and therefore their large proportion of referrals to intakeshouldnotrepresentalackofconfidenceaboutdealingwithavarietyoflegalproblems.LegalsecondaryconsultationinHaltonisprovidedprimarilybyanexperiencedlawyerbutalsobyalicensedparalegalwithconsiderableexperience.Atthisclinic,nocaseswerereferredtotheclinic’sintake. Therearenomajordifferencesatthethreeclinicsinthetypesofproblemsaboutwhichadviceisrequested.Thevariationsobservedin referrals to clinicsmay reflectdifferences inhow the threepro-gramsoperate,regardlessoftheirgeneralagreementontheprogramprinciplesdelineatedintheservicecharter.24Adiscussionamongtheclinicsaboutthedefinitionofsecondaryconsultationandacommonapproachtocountinglegalsecondaryconsultationswouldbeneces-sarytoassureconsistentdata.25

Value to the Legal Clinic and to the Delivery of Legal Aid

ThesixLSCadvisorsattheclinicswereaskedaboutthevalueofLSCfortheclinicandforthedeliveryoflegalaid.Summarizingtheirresponses:

Engaging community partners to provide the [LSC] service to their clients has a very high value for the clinic. The external service providers have a very strong grasp of their clients’ problems. LSC is a very efficient way of providing service.

— Lawyer 1, Brant

LSC is especially valuable in dealing with people having mental health problems. These situations require a high degree of trust that is usually present between the agency service provider and the client. LSC increases access to the legal clinic by building the legal capability of people in community organizations.

— Lawyer, Guelph

LSC changes the relationship between the clinic and community partners. The relationship is more interac-tive, a more continuous or fluid process. It also builds the legal capability of service providers in the com-munity. LSC has preventative aspects. It represents

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upstream intervention. LSC also is a holistic and inte-grated service. Problems are resolved before they reach the clinic, sparing legal aid resources.

— Lawyer 2, Brant

The LSC process represents a huge opportunity to create a network of resources that can be used to resolve clients’ problems. The process is minimally bureaucratic, involving a quick communication with the service provider and the creation of a case note. The fact that the agency service does the ‘leg work’ is a huge factor. LSC is a very effective use of the legal aid clinic’s resources.

— Lawyer, Halton

LSC builds the legal capability of community organiza-tions. “They can put out the fires” for clients.

— Heath leads legal worker, Guelph

Another valuable tool under umbrella. Working with community partners and enriching community; more than just client-based.


Theexperienceofthelawyersandlegalworkersprovidinglegalsecondaryconsultationsuggeststhatitsvalueasapartoftheclinics’deliveryof legalaid ishigh.LSC introducesholisticand integratedaspectstotheservice.Serviceprovidersaremorefamiliarwiththeirclients,andoftenhavebondsoftrustwiththem.Thewholepersonismorelikelytobeprovidedservice.Thismaybeespeciallyimportantforpeoplewithmentalhealthproblems,whenthetrustedintermedi-aryrelationshipiscritical. LSCintroducesadegreeofearlyinterventioninagencyservicede-livery,butthedatacollectedinthisresearcharenotinformativeabouthowearlytheserviceprovidersaretypicallypresentinthelifecycleoftheirclients’problems.However,itisalmostcertainlyearlierthaniftheclientswentdirectlytoalegalclinic.Intheopinionofmostserviceproviders,someclientsareunlikelytogototheclinic. Fromtheseresponses,itappearsthatLSCisaneffectivewaytoservemorepeopleatalowerunitcost.Itdoesthisbyengagingre-sourceswithinthecommunitytoaddressunmetneed.LSCisaveryefficientformoflegalaid.Workersincommunityagenciesdomuchoftheworktoresolveclients’legalproblems.Legalaidlawyersandlegalworkerscanleveragemoreproblem-solvingthroughLSC.

Outcomes

Thedataonoutcomesoflegalsecondaryconsultationwerederivedfrominterviewswithagencyserviceprovidersandthecommunityor-ganizationsinwhichtheywork.Improvingthecapacityofcommuni-tyserviceproviderstoserveclientsisanimportantobjectiveinitself,astheultimategoalistoproducebetteroutcomesfortheclients.Out-comesfocusedonserviceprovidersandcommunityagenciesshouldbereflectedinbetteroutcomesfortheirclients. The most robust measures of this would have been to direct-lymeasureoutcomes forcommunityagencyclients.However, thatwould have posed difficult methodological, resource and logisticalproblemswithintheavailable timeandresources.Theservicepro-viderinterviewsdonotindicatehowoftenserviceprovidersusedtheLSCservice;therefore,thedegreeofexperienceonwhichresponsesarebasedisuncertain.Datafromthecasenotesshowthatonerequestforservicewasrecordedforeachofthemajorityoforganizations.

The Value of LSC to Community Service Providers Serviceproviderswereoverwhelminglypositiveabout thevalueoftheLegalSecondaryConsultationProjectinenablingthemtoservetheirclientsandinincreasingorganizationalcapacity.All28serviceproviderrespondentswhohadobtainedLSCadvice fromthethreeparticipatingclinicssaidtheLSCwasusefulinservingclients.Twenty-sevenofthe28wereunequivocallypositiveansweringasecondques-tionaboutwhethertheLSCimprovedtheirorganization’scapacitytomeetclientneeds.Oneresponsewasuncertain,butwasnotnegative:thisrespondentindicatedinotherquestionsthatshefoundnothingwrongwiththeLSCservice,woulduseitinthefutureandwouldrec-ommendittocolleagues. The responses do not distinguish between the two questionsclearly.Four responses to thequestionaboutwhether theLSC im-provedserviceproviders’capacitytoassisttheirclientsillustratethehighvaluetheyplaceontheLSC:

Absolutely. They have a knowledge base I don’t. They have an ability to explain things on a client’s level in ways I can’t. Brant is so good with ODSP appeals and explained thing[s] well in process terms and was empathetic to client concerns. The clinic is great at communicating.

— Front-line worker, St. Leonard’s Community Services, a Brant clinic partner

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Yes. Definitely. There are so many situations where I don’t know the answer because it is legal. Whenever I call I get a response time within 30 min. from [LSC advisor]. She quickly tells me if there is a legal issue or she asks follow-up questions. If she wasn’t there to guide me in that way, I don’t know where else I would go, to be honest.


Yes, definitely. I know more about what I am talking about after talking with [LSC advisor]. If an issue doesn’t sound right, I call [advisor] and get an answer.

— Health guide, Guelph Community Health Centre

Absolutely. We can get answers so quickly, especially when there is a crisis.

— Resource coordinator, CMHA

Atendencyinthissortofanalysisistoselecttheresponsesofthemostarticulateserviceproviders.Whiletheymaybethemostcoher-entresponses,theyreflectthevalueplacedonthethreeLSCprogramsbyserviceprovidersinavarietyofcommunityagencies.

Increasing the Legal Capability of Service Providers Serviceproviderrespondentstendedtoconflateresponsestosomequestions.Thequestionaboutbuildingthecapacityofcommunityor-ganizationstodealwiththeirclientselicitedresponsesindicatingthattheLSCprocessbuildstheserviceproviders’legalcapability.

I can help clients without advice because of help in the past. For example: client on ODSP; [LSC advisor] walked through the ODSP process and developed a template; now I have a template to help with ODSP appeals, so now I can send it out to family doctors. I learned a lot from [advisor]; I don’t need to call her for the same things.


Yes. Gaining the knowledge, we can assist people more going forward. If there is an issue re eviction, I already have that knowledge from the LSC process with [LSC advisor]; [advisor] has made up letters for clients to give landlords, and I keep using those.

— Intensive case manager, Halton Housing Help

I don’t always have to call the clinic since I already know some of the answers because of previous contacts with LSC.

— Resource coordinator, CMHA

Absolutely, precedent-setting. Every time I deal with a situation, I am educated more about what to do next time. It does happen where one [secondary consulta-tion] helps future clients without needing to call [the] clinic again.


Problems Experienced by ServiceProviders Serviceproviderrespondentswereaskedto identifyanyaspectsoflegalsecondaryconsultationtheyespeciallylikedor,alternatively,withwhich theyhadproblems.Allbutoneof the28 respondentsatagenciesworkingwiththethreeclinicsvolunteeredpositivecom-mentsabouttheLSCprogram.Thepositivecommentsaresimilartothosemadeinresponsetootherquestions,addingtotheoverallposi-tiveassessmentofLSCbythecommunityserviceproviderswhouseit.Threeresponsesareillustrative:

It gives me confidence in performing my job in a pro-fessional manner.”


Somecommentsfocusedonthereceptive,personalnatureoftheLSCadvisors.Thebriefcommentbelowemphasizestheabsenceoflegal-ese:

Up-front, welcoming, plain language.— Community relations administrator, Brantford Native Housing

Anotherresponsecommentedonthecharacteroftheadvice:

I like the thoroughness of their responses and the thoughtfulness. The speed makes a difference. LSC provides information we need to best serve our clients.

— Response coordinator, CMHA

Three of the four responses identifying problems commented onadvicebytelephone.Thefollowingbriefcommentistypical:

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Too slow by phone.— Case manager, Family Counselling Centre

Inadditiontodifficultieswithtelephonecontactper se, thefollow-ingresponseindicatestheneedforcommunicationbetweenthelegalclinicandthecommunityorganizationinordertobetterunderstandeachorganization.Inthiscasetheserviceproviderordinarilydealswiththeclientinpersoninhisoffice,placinganobviousconstraintoncommunication.

Phone thing is an irritant. I always call with the client in the office and if no one picks up, the client leaves.

— Case manager, St. Leonard’s

ServiceprovidersmaybeabletomodifythewaytheyusetheLSCservice.Ifthiscannotbedone,theclinicandtheorganizationmaybeabletoarrangecontactsthataccommodatetheserviceproviders’op-erationalneeds. Perceivedproblemswith response timeswith telephonecontactwerenotuniversal,however.Oneofthepositivecommentsempha-sizedthevalueoftelephonecontact:

[It is] phenomenal that I can talk to someone right away. I am [an] outreach [worker] and never in the office, so phone tag is terrible. The fact that I can talk to someone right away is the best part of the process. Usually clients are transient and in crisis.

— Outreach support worker, CMHA Waterloo Wellington Drop-in Centre

Thecommentsabouttelephonecontactpointtothevalueofcom-municationbetweentheclinicandserviceproviderssobothsidesun-derstandtheother’soperationalconstraintsandcanadjusttheircom-municationpatterns. Regardingotherperceivedproblems,onecommentfocusedonthedesirabilityoftheLSCserviceaddressingquestionsaboutallaspectsoflaw,evenifaquickreferralistheresponse:

I would like family and criminal services.— Case manager, Family Counselling Centre

AnothercommentfocusedontheneedforLSCadvisorswithageneralandsufficientlegalexpertisetogiveadviceorsuggestactionimme-diately:

They all have different areas of legal expertise, and it is hard to get them available.

— Case manager, Guelph Family Counselling and Support Services

Animportantcaveattointerpretingthesecommentsisthatrespon-dentsmaybegivingimpressionsbasedonone,oronlyafew,contactswiththeLSCadvisors.Theadvicetheyrequiredmaybespecifictoparticularclients,problemsorsituations,makinggeneralizationunre-liable. Intwoindicatorsofsatisfaction,respondentswereaskedwhetherthey would use the service again or refer a colleague to the LSCservice. In both cases, service providers endorsed the LSC. Everyrespondent fromcommunityorganizations connectedwith eachofthethreeclinicsalsoindicatedtheywouldusetheserviceagainandwouldreferittocolleagues.

Impact of LSC on the Clients ofCommunity Agencies ThepositiveassessmentofLSCisrevealedagaininservicepro-viders’commentsaboutwhether, in theirview, theLSCassistancereceived resulted in better service to clients and improvements inclients’qualityoflife.TheprovidersunanimouslyagreedthattheLSCimprovedtheircapacitytoassistclients:

100%. Although I have a generalist’s knowledge of some of the legal issues that clients have, having im-mediate access to more in-depth legal information and advice is second to none. My hands would be tied helping transient patients without having access to secondary consultation. I often find with ODSP they are a barrier-filled organization; I copy [LSC advisor] on emails to ODSP and that will get me a response.

— Social worker, Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital

Aninterestingaspecttothisresponsesuggestsatacticalvalueinmakingthecontactwithalawyeravisiblepartofeffortstoresolvetheclient’sproblem.Therespondent’sexperienceisthatincludingalawyerintothee-mailchainaddsameasureofpowerdealingwitha“barrier-filled”organization. Inthatresponseandinthefollowingtothequestionaboutbenefitstoclients,serviceprovidersperceivedbenefitsintermsoftheprovid-

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ers’increasedcapacity:

Yes, absolutely. I’m not a legal person, and they explain things and give direction on what needs to be done with the person who is accessing the service. They are very respectful and patient with people.

— Case manager, CMHA

Yes. Definitely. There are so many situations where I don’t know the answer because it is legal. Whenever I call I get a response time within 30 min. from [LSC advisor]. She quickly tells me if there is a legal issue, or she asks follow-up questions. If she wasn’t there to guide me in that way, I don’t know where else I would go to be honest.

— Case navigator, North Halton Health Link

Somerespondentsdidnothavesufficientfollow-upcontactwithclients to have an opinion about improvements to clients’ qualityof life.Sixof the33respondentssaidtheydidnotknow;onesaidno.Twenty-sixserviceproviders,distributedevenlyamongthethreeclinics(eightatHalton,nineatBrantandnineatGuelph)reportedthatintheirexperiencetheadvicetheyobtainedthroughtheLSCre-sultedinanimprovementtoclients’qualityoflife. Thefollowingresponseconcerningahousingproblemdescribesthebenefitsofimprovedpeaceofmindfortheclient.Inthisrespon-dent’sview,thespeedwithwhichthematterwasaddressedbroughtrelieftotheclient:

Resolved in 30 minutes: immigrant family with poor English signed an illegal lease; had to come up with all this money; client was worried and in fear. I emailed doc[ument] to HCLS; they sent a letter back and within 10-15 minutes I sent it to the landlord. The landlord backed down; this provided peace of mind and relief to the client.

— Manager, Saint Vincent de Paul Society

Another respondent, answering from a health care perspective,generalizesabouthowstabilitybroughtaboutbyresolutionofdiffi-cultproblemsisonebasicelementinlife:

Yes. Any time the social determinants of health are stabilized or addressed, clients have better mental and medical health, and they are more stable. It has a ripple effect. If I know my income is stable I can buy

food, because I am a diabetic; otherwise, I have to go to the hospital.

— Outreach worker, Rural Wellington Community Team, Guelph

The Importance of Community ServiceProviders in Access to Justice Theclientsofserviceagenciesandcommunityorganizationsarenotlikelytoidentifytheirlegalneedsandseekhelpfromlegalaid;formanypeople,communityorganizationsareessentialincreatingpathstojustice.Mostoftheeverydayproblemsforwhichpeoplegotocommunityorganizationsforhelphavelegalaspects.Thishighlightstheimportanceofcollaborativepartnershipssuchaslegalsecondaryconsultationthatlegalaidclinicscreatetoadvisecommunityorgani-zationsonthelegalaspectsofassistingtheirclients. Service provider respondents were asked a series of questionsaboutwhethertheclientstheyservewouldlikelyrecognizelegalprob-lemsandontheirowndirectlyobtainhelpfromalegalclinic. Askedwhethertheythoughttheirclientswouldlikelyrecognizethattheyhadalegalproblemandneededlegalhelp,about66%(21of32)feltthiswasnotverylikelyornotlikelyatall(seeFigureIV).Graphsinthissectionsummarizeresponsesforserviceproviderscon-nectedwithallthreeclinics. Serviceproviderswerethenaskediftheirclientsexpressedanyre-luctanceforacontactwiththeclinictobemadeontheirbehalfwhen

Figure V: Clients’ Reluctance to Contact the Legal Clinic

Extremely

15

10

5 7

12

6

Very Somewhat Not very Not at all

6

Don’t know = 1

Figure IV: Clients Likely to Recognize legal Nature of the Problem

Extremely

15

10

53

86


15

22


itwassuggestedthattheproblemmighthavealegalsolutionoraspectandlegalhelpmightbeneeded.About61%ofserviceproviderssaidthatwhenitwassuggestedtoclientsthattheproblemmightbelegal,theclientswereveryorsomewhatreluctanttohavetheservicepro-vidercontactthecommunitylegalclinicontheirbehalf(seeFigureV).Theseresponsesprovidedinterestinginsightsaboutthereluctanceofclientstoacknowledgethelegalnatureoftheproblemandtotakeappropriateaction,strikingfamiliarthemesfromresearchliterature.

Clients don’t want to get involved in conflict and don’t have the motivation to seek out help; that’s why us helping them gets them moving along in the process.


Some are capable, some freeze at the thought of access-ing the clinic. The barriers are lack of transportation, physical illness and mental health problems, lack of understanding.

— Case manager, CMHA

Particularly with housing, our clients live precariously and experience a lot of abuse and don’t recognize that they have rights.

— Case manager, Guelph Community Health Centre

For the most part, service providers doubted that their clientswouldfollowupareferraltothelegalclinicontheirown(seeFigureVI).Almosthalfofrespondents,14,feltitwasonlysomewhatlikely

thataclientwouldfollowuponareferraltoalegalclinicifthatwasalltheserviceproviderdid.Takentogether,13respondentssaiditwasnotverylikelyornotatalllikelytheirclientswoulddoso.Intotal,almost84%ofserviceproviderssaidtheirclientswouldbeonlysome-whatlikelyornotlikelytofollowuponareferraltoaclinic. These data strongly suggest that the service organizations fromwhichpeopleseekhelpwiththeirproblemsaretrustedintermediar-ies.Manyclientsmightnotseekhelpfromthelegalcliniceveniftheywerereferredbytheprimaryserviceprovider.Theserviceproviders,andtheircollaborativepartnershipswithLSCadvisorsintheclinics,createimportantpathwaystojusticeformanyoftheclientswhoseektheirhelp.

They know they should have called the clinic, but [were] afraid of the answer or don’t have the number or [were] overwhelmed by the process; clients neglect stuff and are under a pile of issues.


Several comments fromserviceprovidershighlighted significantbarriersposedbymentalhealthproblemstoclientsaccessinglegalaidontheirown:

Most of the clients we do sit down with have trouble following through. Barriers: addictions, mental health, cognitive issues, people don’t like to explain their story multiple times.


A large proportion of clients are dealing with signifi-cant mental health concerns. They struggle following through with things; they would never just call the clinic. — Outreach worker, Rural Wellington Community Team

Exploring inmoredetail the issueof barrierspreventing clientsfromfollowingupadviceon theirown, theserviceproviderswereaskediftheybelievedtheirclientswouldfollowupontheirownthelegalclinic’sadvicewithouttheassistanceofthecommunityserviceprovider (see Figure VII). Three respondents, about 11%, thoughttheirclientswouldfollowthroughontheclinic’sadvicewithouttheirinvolvement.On theotherhand,10 serviceproviders,about36%,feltitwasnotverylikelyornotlikelyatallthatclientswouldinde-pendentlyfollowtheclinic’sadvice.Fifteenrespondents,about54%,saiditwassomewhatlikelythattheirclientswouldfollowupontheirownwithouttheserviceprovider’sassistance.Referringtoaparticularcase,oneserviceprovidervolunteeredthefollowing:

Figure VI: Likelihood of Clients’ Following a Direct Referral

Extremely

15

10

5 2

14

12


Don’t know = 2

1 1

Figure VII: Importance of Service Providers Acting on Behalf of Clients

Extremely

15

10

53

15

82


N = 28 Don’t know = 5

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Health and mental state [are important factors]; this client had lost all confidence to talk with anyone except [the clinic legal advisor] and his doctor. He gave consent and [the service provider] spoke with the [LSC advisor]. [Service provider] had to facilitate. He had unstable housing too and couldn’t be reached by phone.

— Mental health therapist, Upper Grand Family Health Team

Anotherserviceprovidersaidaboutclientsingeneral,

They are quite timid. Depending on what the clinic says, they may do it or not. They are withdrawn and afraid to approach agencies.— Family support worker, Norfolk Community Help Centre

The data representing service providers’ view of their clientssuggest that clients are unlikely to recognize legal problems and,therefore,tocontacttheclinicforlegalhelpontheirown.Theywouldbeunlikelytofollowupareferraltotheclinicifthereferralwastheonlyassistancetheserviceprovidergave.Finally,mostservicepro-vidersfeltitwasonlysomewhatlikelyornotlikelythattheirclientswouldfollowupontheirownwiththeclinic’sadvice.Overall,thesedatapointtotheimportanceoftheserviceprovidersincommunityagenciespartneringwiththelegalclinicthroughtheLSCarrangementtobuildpathstojusticeforthepeopletheyserve.

Sustainability, Cost and Cost-Effectiveness Inanenvironmentoffinancialconstraint,whatworksandatwhatcostisacentralquestiontoaskaboutanyinnovationtoexpandaccesstojustice.Inallthreeclinics,legalsecondaryconsultationwasimple-mentedalongwithbroader changes in the servicedeliverymodel.AlthoughnoimplementationcostsweredirectlyattributabletoLSCinanyofthethree,fundswerespentonrelateddevelopmentsthatcannotbe ignored. It isalso important toacknowledge thatLSC isbuiltontheclinics’existinginfrastructure,whichisacost.However,theadditionofLSCideallymakestheservicedeliveryapproachsup-portedbythatinfrastructuremoreeffectiveoverall.

Implementation Costs LSCwas implemented inHalton in thesecondyearofamulti-

yeartransformationprogrammadepossiblebyasubstantialincreaseinoverallfundingfromLegalAidOntario,whichaimedtoequalizefundingtoallclinicsbasedontheproportionofthepopulationwithintheircatchmentareas. In theHaltonclinic,noadditionalmoneywas spentdirectlyorindirectlyrelatedtoimplementinglegalsecondaryconsultation.Thelawyerandtheparalegalprovidingtheservicewereabletoincorpo-rateLSCconsultationswithoutsubstantialchangestotheirongoingwork.However, itcanbearguedthattheadditionaltransformationfundingallowedHaltontheflexibilitytoimplementLSC,whichmightnotbepossibleatclinicsundergreaterfinancialconstraints. InGuelph,additionalfundingwasusedtoestablishandstafftheHealthLeadsWorkerProgramandtostabilizetheLegalHealthCheck-up(LHC)positionatthesametimethatLSCwasbeingimplemented.ThesetwoinitiativesandotherelementsofoutreachsuchasPLEses-sionsareinter-relatedwithLSC.ThelegalworkerintheHealthLeadsprogramwasoneofthreepeoplerespondingtorequestsforconsulta-tions.PartoftheHealthLeadandLHCfundingwasusedtorespondtorequestsforlegalsecondaryconsultations.However,ongoingfundingisnotrequiredtosustainLSC.HealthLinksandLSCaremutuallysup-portingprograms;itwouldbedifficulttoallocatecoststoreflectthesynergycreatedbetweenthetwo. In Brant, additional funding was used to redesign the intakeprocessandstaffalawyerpositiontocarryoutenhancedintake.ThismadeavailablemoretimefromoneofthetwolawyersprovidingLSCconsultations.SimilartothesituationinGuelph,additionalfundingwasusedprimarilyonotherprogramelements,allowingoneofthetwolawyersprovidingLSCservicetodevotemoretimetoit. According to the executive directors of the Guelph and Brantclinics,LSCcouldhavebeenimplementedwithoutadditionalfunding,with theprobableconsequence that someLSCaspectsmighthaveevolveddifferently.AllthreeclinicsareabletocontinueLSCfollowingtheimplementationperiodwithoutadditionalfunding.

Cost-Effectiveness Cost-effectivenessreferstothevalueoftheserviceinrelationtoits cost. Some implementation costs cannot be specified uniquelyforLSC,whichlimitstheabilitytodetermineacost-benefitbalanceduringimplementation.ItwouldbepossibletoestimateoperationalcostsbycollectingtimelogdataforthestaffprovidingLSCandcalcu-latingtheproportionofthesalaryofeachadvisorthatcouldbeattrib-utedtoLSC.ButgiventheevolvingnatureofLSCinthethreeclinics,thiswasnotdoneduringtheimplementationphase. ThethreeLSCprogramsprovidedservicetomorethan100com-munity services, assisting them to resolve problems for about 235clients. Serviceproviderswerehighlypositive about theprograms’

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value.LSCprovidesimmediateassistancetoserviceproviders,andinthelongertermbuildscommunitycapacity.Althoughthecost-benefitcannotbequantified, itseemsclearthatLSCinthethreeclinicsiscost-effective.

Sustainability Sustainabilityispartlyamatterofcost.Movingpasttheimplemen-tationphase,thebestinformationisthatLSCcancontinuetooperatewithoutadditionalfunding.Itwouldbeusefultocalculateoperationalcostsoncetheprogramshavebeeninplacelongenoughtostabilize. ThesustainabilityofLSCdependsonthecontinuedparticipationof the community groups that request consultations.An importantlessonfromtheLegalHealthCheck-upProjectwasthatmanycommu-nityorganizationsfoundthecheck-upquestionnairelengthy,whichmayhavediscouragedfullparticipation.Someorganizationshadtheirownintakeprocesses,makingtheLHC,ifnotredundant,addedwork.SomeorganizationssaidtheyoftenbypassedtheLHCquestionnaire,makingdirectreferralstotheclinics.Incontrast,legalsecondarycon-sultation costs community agencies nothing. It is all benefit at noadditionalcost,anditishighlyvalued.ThisaspectofLSCwillfueldemandandthecontinuedsustainabilityofLSCasanimportantpartoftheservicedeliverymodelofthethreeclinics.

Conclusion

Legal secondary consultation is a way in which legal aid canexpandaccesstolegalassistancebysupportingserviceagenciesandotherorganizationsthatassistmainlydisadvantagedpeople.Bysup-portingotherorganizations,providingthemwithlegaladvicetobetterservetheirownclients,legalaidisstrengtheningthecommunity,as-sistingotherorganizations thathavecoremandates toassist lowerincomepeople.Byproviding legal secondary consultation to assistotherorganizations,legalaidisalsostrengtheningitsowncapacitytoassistlargernumbersofpeoplewhoitprobablycouldnotreachonitsown.Thisbindscommunityorganizationstogetherinanetworkofaccesstojusticeservices. Access to justice is thedimensionofcommunity thatbinds thelegalclinicsandothercommunityorganizationstogether.LSCisoneelementofalargerstrategybythelegalaidclinicstostrengthencom-munity,makingaccesstojusticenotonlytheworkoftheclinicbutalsoofthelargernetworkofcommunityorganizationsboundtotheclinicbyLSC.Thisisasignificantstepintheevolutionofcommunitylegalservice.

Thethree-clinicLegalSecondaryConsultationProjecthasbeenasuccessduringthesevenmonthscoveredbythisstudy,asindicatedbygrowthintheserviceandacceptancebythecommunity.Thequan-titativedatashowthatthethreeclinicsadvisedserviceprovidersfrom103differentcommunityagenciesandserviceorganizations.These103communityorganizationsrequested235separateconsultations,assistingapproximatelythatnumberofindividuals26with267prob-lemsforwhichcasenoteswereopened.QualitativedatashowthatLSCishighlyvaluedbyserviceproviders.Accordingtooneproviderwhoisconnectedwithcolleaguesinotherbranchesofalargeorga-nizationoperatingacrosstheprovince,other communities are quite jealous of the LSC service(resourcecoordinator,CMHA). LSCisreachingahard-to-reachpopulationthroughthepathwaysto legalhelpcreatedby theclinic–communityagencypartnerships.Serviceprovidersdescribemanyoftheirclientsasoftensufferingfrommentalhealthissues,invaryingdegreesunlikelytoaccesslegalservic-esontheirownandnotlikelytofollowtheadviceprovidedwithoutatrustedintermediaryhelpingthemnavigateordoingitforthem. ServiceproviderswerenearlyunanimousthatLSCenabledthemtoservetheirclientsbetter.Someserviceproviderssaidtheydon’thavetocalltheclinicasfrequentlyforadviceinvolvingsimilarproblems,havingobtainedadviceearlier.Severalserviceproviderssaidtheyre-tainedletters,formsortemplatesprovidedbytheLSCadvisorforusewithotherclients,thusincreasingtheircapacity.Finally,servicepro-viderssaidtheyfeltgreaterconfidencedealingwiththeirclientsbyhavingtheassistanceoftheLSCadvisors. Interviewswithbothserviceprovidersinthecommunityorganiza-tionsandLSCadvisorsindicatedthatLSCisefficient.Severalserviceproviders commentedabouthowquickly a request elicited advice.OneLSCadvisorsaid15 minutes on the phone was more efficient than the 45 minutes to complete an intake(lawyer2,Brant).Onecouldaddtothistheadditionalresourcesrequiredtoprovidedirectservicefol-lowingintake. LSCappearstobehighlysustainable.Thecosttoclinicsislow.AllthreeclinicsindicatedtheywereabletoimplementLSCwithexistingresources,changinginternalprioritiesandworkallocation,anddou-blingupwithfundingforotheraspectsofprogramdevelopment.Sus-tainabilityalsocomesfromthehighvalueplacedonLSCbyserviceproviders.LSCisasubstantialbenefittoserviceproviders,butplacesnoadditionaldemandsorcostsonthem. Aformalcost-benefitanalysiswasnotcarriedout,andthetimeLSCadvisors required and costs at different salary levelswerenotmeasured.However,thedatasuggestthatlegalsecondaryconsulta-tionisalow-cost,high-valueservice.Ithastheelementsofpartneror-ganizationspushingandpullinginthesamedirections.However,thelegalaidclinicsatthecentreofthisinitiative,andnewclinicsadoptingtheapproach,shouldnotbesanguineaboutearlysignsofsuccess.A

25


smallnumberofserviceproviderinterviewssuggestedthatcontinuingsystematiceffortstounderstandtheneedsofclientorganizationsintheirdualrolesaspartnersindeliveringandasintermediaryusersofsecondarylegaladviceshouldbeastrongfocusofLSCmanagement. TwoareasinwhichtheLSCprogramcouldbeimprovedweremen-tionedinserviceproviderinterviews.Onewasthelengthyresponsetimeinsomecases(thoughsomeserviceproviderscommentedthatadvice was provided quickly). When service providers are dealingwithclientsincrisis,aquickresponsefromtheLSCadvisorisimpor-tant.LSCadvisorscouldusemobilephonestobemoreimmediatelyandconsistentlyavailable. Second,delaysinprovidingadvicewerealsoattributedtodifferentLSCadvisorshavingdifferentareasofexpertise,requiringreferralofcallstootheradvisors.Inresponsetoarequest,LSCadvisorssome-times consult others within their professional network or conductquicklegalresearch.However,LSCadvisorsshouldhaveasufficientlyhighleveloflegaltrainingandgenerallegalcompetencesothatdelaysdonotoccurandfollow-updelaysareminimized. Ongoing monitoring should aim at better understanding thestrengthsand limitationsofdifferent intermediaryserviceprovidersinusingLSC to thebest advantageof their clients.TheLSCadvi-sorsinthethreelegalclinicsareawarethatserviceprovidersmaynotfullycomprehendtheadvicebeingprovided.Thelawyersallsaidtheymonitorconversationswithserviceproviderstocompensateforanylackofunderstanding.LSCadvisorsreportthattheymayrecommendthattheclientcometotheclinicifconcernaboutthecomplexityoftheproblemandthecapacityoftheserviceproviderishighenough.Theymayrecommendaconferencecallwiththeserviceproviderandtheclient.ThisstudysuggestsconfidencecanbeplacedintheeffortsofLSCadvisorstominimizetherisksofagencyserviceproviderspassingonpooradvice. TheagencyserviceproviderssaythatLSCadviceenablesthemtoservetheirclientsbetter.However,thisresearchprovidesnofurtherempiricalevidenceonhowwellserviceprovidersusetheLSCadvice.FurtherresearchonlegalsecondaryconsultationcouldexamineLSC’simpact on clients and the accuracy with which service providersconveyLSCadvicetotheirclients. Legalsecondaryconsultationisoneexampleofextendingthereachoflegalaid,notonlybringingtheresourcesofthecommunitytoservemorepeopletotheaccess-to-justicemovement27butmakingthelargercommunitypartofit.Thebroadercommunitydevelopmentstrategyofwhichlegalsecondaryconsultationisapartshouldbeviewedinthesamewayasdigitaldeliveryoflegalservices.Althoughitisnotdrivenbythesamepowerfulforcesofthebroaderdigitalrevolution,

inthebroadest termsLSCisaresponsetothesamewideninggapbetweendemandandresources,andithasthesameobjectives. Legal secondary consultation is located recognizablywithin themajor currentsof theaccess-to-justicemovement inCanada.Legalsecondary consultation being developed by the Halton, Brant andGuelphclinicsoccupiesarecognizableplaceinthecurrentsofchangesetinmotionbytheNationalActionCommitteeonAccesstoJusticeinCivilandMattersinCanada.LSCembodiestheneedtocreateaculturechangeinlegalservicesandanexpansionofeffortstoachieveaccesstojusticecalledforbytheActionCommittee’sreport:torefocuseffortsoneverydaylegalproblems,tomoveawayfromoldpatternsand approaches, and to create collaborative partnerships with thesocial services sector.28 Legal secondary consultation is implement-ingonthegroundthedirectionsforchangeencouragedbytheActionCommitteereport. Similarly,theessentialaspectsofLSCcanbelinkedtotheCana-dianBarAssociation’sNationalFrameworkforMeetingLegalNeeds.Legalsecondaryconsultationispartoftheprocessofbreathinglifeintothefourthbenchmarkofthenationalframework,whichcallsforlegalserviceproviderstoworkincollaborationwithnon-legalserviceproviders toofferabroadrangeofservices fromoutreachtoafter-care.29TheCBAreportacknowledgesthat

Legal aid has often been synonymous with legal assistance and representation by a lawyer. Today most (legal aid) plans provide a continuum of legal information, assistance, dispute resolution and representation services, either directly or through referrals to other agencies. A range of services can better respond to the range of people’s legal needs, but it can also reflect the reality of severe budget-ary constraints for most public legal assistance providers, as demand continually outstrips capacity. We see the more inclusive term ‘public legal assistance services’ to reflect these developments and the full spectrum of resources necessary, without diminishing the importance of actual legal representation in meeting the legal needs of the people of Canada.30

Legalsecondaryconsultationisaninnovativecommunitydevelop-mentstrategy,atoolintheservicedeliverykitwithwhichlegalaidsupportsandbuildscommunity,linkingaccesstojusticetocommuni-tyorganizationsinthepursuitofcommonobjectives.LSCrepresentsasteptowardachievingthesubstanceandspiritofrecommendationsfor expanding access to justice inCanada contemplated byActionCommittee’sRoadmap for ChangeorbytheCBA’sBenchmarksreport.Itismakingaccesstojusticeadimensionofcommunitystructure.

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Appendix 1: Halton and Brant posters


27

Appendix 2: Community Organizations and Service Agencies Requesting Legal Secondary Consultations

BrantOntario Works, Brant and Haldimand NorfolkLabour CentreCanadian Mental Health AssociationBrant Assertive Community Treatment TeamSalvation ArmyPregnancy CentreSimcoe Caring CupboardSt. Leonard’s SocietyOntario Disability Support ProgramBrantford Welcome InCommunity Living BrantBrockville General Hospital – Mental Health and

AddictionsSix Nations Long Term CareBrantford General HospitalHaldimand & Norfolk Social ServicesNorfolk Community Help CentreAnxiety Clinic at St. Joseph’s HospitalFamily Counseling CentreCommunity Living, HaldimandHousing Resource CentreAboriginal Health CentrePrivate lawyerLansdowne Children’s ServicesBrant HousingSalvation ArmyBrant County Health UnitBrant Family CounsellingBrant Native Housing

GuelphAcquired Brain Injury Program, GuelphBrant Avenue Neighbourhood GroupCBI Home Health GroupCanadian Mental Health AssociationFamily Counseling and Support ServicesFamily and Children’s Services GuelphShelldale Community Centre GuelphGuelph Police ServiceGuelph Probation ServiceGuelph Community Health CentreGuelph Family Health TeamHomewood Health CentreLakeside Hope HouseHousing Stability Program, Ontario WorksImmigrant ServicesLutherwood (Community Services)North Wellington Health Care CentreOntario WorksSecond Chance Employment CounsellingSanguen Health CentreSeniors Centre of ExcellencePrivate Social WorkerSt. Vincent De Paul SocietyUpper Grand Family HealthTeamWakepoint Mental Health ServicesWomen in CrisisWyndham House Homeless ServiceVictorian Order of NursesBrant Neighbourhood GroupStudent Help and Advocacy (University of Guelph)ADHD Asperger’s AssociationARCH Disability Law CentreCentre Wellington Food BankCommunity LivingGuelph Welcome In Drop in CentreSpecialized Outreach Services (SOS) GuelphGuelph Community Resource CentreRural Wellington Community TeamUpper Grand Family Health Team

HaltonOff the Wall Youth Centre of ActonAdvocacy Centre for the ElderlyAnglican Church of the Incarnation OakvilleBridging the GapCanadian Mental Health AssociationCommunity Care Access CentreHalton Aids NetworkHalton Catholic District School BoardHalton District School Board Milton HSHalton Hills Family Health TeamHalton HousingHalton Multicultural CentreHalton Region Children’s ServicesHalton Region Public HealthHalton Region Social ServicesHalton Regional Police ServiceHalton Women’s PlaceHousing FirstHousing Help CentreJoseph Brant Memorial HospitalKerr St. MissionPrivate LawyerLInks2CareMary Mother of God, Saint Vincent de Paul ParishNorth Halton Health LinkNorth Gabriel Parish SSVPPeel District School BoardPrivate Sponsor Syrian RefugeeRestore – St. Jude’sAnglican ChurchRestore HaltonSt. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton Summit HousingSupport and Housing HaltonCentre for Skills Development and TrainingThomas Merton ESL Training CentreTrillium Health CareNewcomer Information Centre


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Appendix 3: Questionnaires

1.Doyoupresently,orhaveyouatanytimeinthepast,providedadviceorlegalinformationonanadhocbasistoexternalorgani-zations?

Yes, or No

Ifyouhaveanswered“no”toquestionone,youhavefinishedthequestionnaire.Pleasesavethecompletedquestionnaireandreturnitasane-mailattachment.Thankyou.

2.Ifyes,pleasedescribethisservice.(Pleaseindicateiftheactivitywascarriedoutonanadhocbasisorwhetheritwas,orbecameovertime,anorganizedactivity).

3.Whendidthisservicebegin?

4.Howdidthisservicecomeabout?Wasitdeliberatelyplanned?

5.Wasthisserviceadvertisedinsomewaytoexternalorganizations?

6.Whatexternalorganizationsusedtheservice?

7.Whatclinicstaffprovidedtheservice?(Pleasespecifylawyers,paralegals,communitylegalworkers.)

8.Howoftendidyouprovidetheservice(daily,weekly,monthly,afewtimesayearetc.)?

9.Didyouhaveanyobjectivesaroundthisservice?Ifso,pleasede-scribe.

10.Didyoulimitthisservicetolegalinformationordidyoualsoprovidelegaladvice?Ifyoudidnotprovidelegaladvice,pleaseexplainwhy.

11.Iftheserviceisnolongerbeingprovided,whydiditend?

Thankyoufortakingthetimetocompletethequestionnaire.Pleasesaveitandreturnitasane-mailattachment.

1. Questionnaire for Executive Directors of Southwestern Region Clinics Concerning Legal Secondary Consultation Activities

2. Interview Guide for Legal Secondary Consultation Advisors in Clinics

1.Whatisyourroleattheclinic?[lawyer,non-lawyer,paralegal,communityworker,receptionistetc.]

2.Whatisyourclinic’sdefinitionofsecondaryconsultation?

3.Howdoserviceprovidersreachyouforasecondaryconsultation?

4.Haveyoumadeanyeffortstopromoteoradvertisethesecondaryconsultationprocess?ORHowdosecondaryconsultationusershearaboutthesecondaryconsultationprocess?

[Prompt: PLEs, calls, advertising, promo materials etc.]

5.Describethesecondaryconsultationprocessatyourcliniconceaserviceprovidercontactsyou[Prompt:howdoserviceprovidersreachyou;dotheygothroughintake;dedicatedemailorphonenumberetc.;whataboutfollow-ups]

6.Whatservicesdoyouprovide?

Legal advice specific to the client’s problem General legal advice (not client-specific) Provide basic legal information General non-legal advice, including ethical questions Strategic advice Provide a letter or other documentation Meet with the service provider or client in person Legal research Warm referrals to other agencies Access your network to answer a legal question or obtain a referral Case management (meeting with other service providers) Ask service provider to refer client to the clinic

7.Pleaseindicatehowfrequentlythefollowingkindsofproblemsarepresentedbyserviceproviders?

a.Legalissuesthatareclearattheoutset

very frequently frequently sometimes not very frequently very infrequently never don’t know

b.Helpwithorguidanceonapplications,appeals,hearings



29

c.Questionsbytheserviceproviderabouttheappropriatenessoftheirprovidingservice.


d.Helpwithdocumentation


e.Helpwithnon-legalproblems


f. Ethicalissuesregardingtheserviceprovider’sortheorganiza-tion’sinvolvementwiththeproblem


g.Generalquestionsorrequestsforlegalinformation?


h.Othertype(s)ofproblem(s)(specify)


8.Whatobjectivesareyoutryingtoachievebyprovidingsecondaryconsultation?(listallthatapply)

[Prompt: Halton’s objectives are to better serve clients; expand access to legal services; promote holistic service; provide advice to people who are unable or unwilling to come to clinic; community development and capacity building]

9. Assignpriorityforeachoftheseobjectivesifyoucan.

10.Foreachobjective,pleaseindicatehowwellareyouachievingitatthispoint.

completely very well partly not very well not well at all don’t know

11.Areyouencounteringanyproblemssofarinprovidingasecond-aryconsultationservice?

[Prompt: difficulty establishing rapport with first-time secondary consultation users; diffi-culty in establishing trust; difficulty contacting or finding secondary consultation users etc.]

12.Whendealingwithsecondaryconsultationusers,doyouassesstheircapacityto:(a)understandthelegaladvice/informationyouprovidetothem;and(b)supporttheirclientinfollowingthroughonthatadvice/information?

a.Ifso,whatareyourobservations?

b.Ifyoufindthattheylackcapacity,doesthisaffectwhatyoudo?

13.Haveyoueverencounteredasituationwherethesecondarycon-sultationuserdisagreedwithyouordidnotfollowyouradvice?Ifso,whatdidyoudo?

14.Aretherespecifictypesofsecondaryconsultationuserswithwhomitseemsdifficulttoestablishrapportortrust?

15.Doyouevercollaboratewithsomeserviceproviderstoresolverelatedlegalandnon-legalproblems?If“yes”,canyouprovideanexample?

16.Whatarethebenefitsofthesecondaryconsultationapproach?

17.Whatarethelimitationsofsecondaryconsultation?

18.Whatisthevalueofprovidingadvicetoserviceprovidersthroughsecondaryconsultationasopposedtohavingthemrefertheirclientstoaclinic?

19.Inyourviewwhatisthecontribution,orpotentialcontribution,ofsecondaryconsultationtothedeliveryoflegalaidin[clinic]?

3. Interview Guide for Service Providers in Community Service Agencies and Organizations

QuestionsforServiceProviders

Date:Nameofrespondent:Nameoforganization:

1.Whatisyourorganization’smandate?

2. Whatisyourroleintheorganization(orwhatisyourrolewhenyoudealwithclients)?


30

3. Brieflydescribethekindsofservicesyouprovidetoyourclients.

4. Howdidyoufirstlearnthatyoucouldcontacttheclinictogethelpforoneofyourclients?

[Prompt: saw a poster advertising legal secondary consultation, a colleague told me that I could call the legal clinic for help, learned about it from a presentation by or talking with a lawyer from the clinic, my manager told me about it, I had always assumed I could call the clinic to get help for my client]

5. Howlongdoesittakesomeonefromtheclinictocontactyouwhenyouaskforhelp?

they pick up right away within 2 hours same day 2-3 days

a week over a week

6. Whenyoucalltheclinic,whattypeofhelpareyoulookingfor?

7. Doclientseversuggesttheyhaveissuesthatmightrequirelegalhelp?

always very frequently frequently sometimes

very infrequently never

8. Ifyousuggesttoaclientthatyoushouldcontactthelegalclinicforhelp,towhatextentistheclientsurprisedatbeingtoldsheorhemayhavealegalproblem?

extremely very somewhat not very not at all don’t know

9. Ifyouweretosimplyreferyourclientstothelegalclinic,doyouthinktheywouldbeready,willingorabletofollowthroughonthereferralandcontacttheclinicontheirown?

completely very somewhat not very not at all

don’t know

10.Howlikelyisitthatyourclientswouldfollowthroughontheclinic’sadviceanddealwiththeirproblem(s),ifyoudidnotactforthemasanintermediarywiththeclinic?

completely very likely somewhat not very likely

not likely at all don’t know

11.Doesspeakingwithsomeoneattheclinichelpyoubetterserveorworkwithyourclient?

12.Doestheassistanceyoureceivefromconsultingtheclinichaveanimpactonyourclients’qualityoflife?

13.Hasspeakingwithsomeoneattheclinichelpedyouoryouror-ganizationtobetterhelpfutureclients?

14.Ingeneral,isthereanythingaboutyourcontactwiththeclinicortheprocessyouespeciallyliked?(recordallthatarementioned)

[Prompt: trustworthy, approachable, helpful, easy to talk to, understands problems, identify new problems, provides practical advice?]

15.Ingeneral,isthereanythingaboutyourcontactwiththeclinicortheprocessyoudidnotlike?

[Prompt: client uneasy about accessing a lawyer? Secondary consultation advisor doesn’t respect service provider or their relationship with client etc.]

16.Wouldyoucalltheclinictohelpwithoneofyourclient’sprob-lemsinthefuture?

17.Wouldyoureferacolleaguetotheclinictogethelpfortheirclients?

If the respondent has not mentioned legal secondary consultation in the response to any ques-tion, ask if they recognize the term.


31

1. SomeclientsgeneratedmorethanoneLSCrequest.

2. Accessedatwww.haltonlegal.ca/docs/service-charter-legal-sec-ondary-consultation-service.pdf

3. Engaging the Power of Community to Expand legal Services to Low-Income Ontarians,http://bit.ly/2zWITcj

4. RebeccaLSandefur,Accessing Justice in the Contemporary USA: Findings from the Legal Needs and Services Study,AmericanBarFoundationandtheUniversityofIllinoisatUrbana–Champagne,2014.

5. AbCurrie,Nudging the Paradigm Shift: Everyday Legal Problems in Canada,CanadianForumonCivilJustice,Toronto,2016.

6. T.RobertsandJ.Currie,PBLO at SickKids: A Phase II evaluation of the medical – legal partnership between Pro Bono Law Ontario and SickKids Hospital Toronto, Final Report,FocusConsultants,Victoria,Canada,2012.http://www.probono.net/va/search/item.451249;M.NooneandK.Digney,“It’shardtoopenuptostrangers–Improvingaccesstojustice;keyfeaturesofaninte-gratedlegalservicesdeliverymodel”,LaTrobeUniversityRightsandJusticeProgram,2010.http://www.papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1799648;L.Gyorki,Breaking down the silos, overcoming the practical and ethical barriers of integrating legal assistance into a healthcare setting,WinstonChurchillMe-morialTrust,2014.https://www.churchilltrust.com.au/media/fellows/Breaking_down_the_silos_L_Gyorki_2013.PDF.

7. L.Curran,“Theunderratedvalueoflawyersadvisingprofes-sionalnon-lawyersinreachinghardtoreachclientsandbuildingprofessionalcapacity–i.e.secondarylegalconsultations”,paperfortheNationalConferenceofCommunityLegalCentres,Pull-manonthePark,Melbourne,August2015.

8 L.Curran,“LawyerSecondaryConsultations:improvingaccesstojustice:reachingclientsotherwiseexcludedthroughprofes-sionalsupportinamultidisciplinarypractise”,Journal of Social Exclusion8(1),2017,pp.64–71.

9. ThetermusedintheOntarioprojecthasshiftedto“legalsecond-aryconsultation”ratherthan“secondarylegalconsultation”or“lawyersecondaryconsultation”usedinAustralia.

10.Notallcommunityorganizationsresolvespecificproblemsforpeople.Someorganizationsmaybecomeawareofaproblemexperiencedbyapersontowhomfoodisbeingprovided,butmaynothelpresolvetheproblem.Thelegalhealthcheck-up’sfocusonidentifyingproblemsisappropriatetotheseorganiza-tions.Legalsecondaryconsultationassistsserviceprovidersinagenciesandorganizationswhoattempttosolveparticularprob-lems.Legalhealthcheck-upandlegalsecondaryconsultationarecomplementaryaspectsofaproactive,community-focuseddeliverymodel.

11.InbothHaltonandBrant,theexecutivedirectorsoccasionally

respondtorequestsforLSC.Seefootnote15.

12.AlthoughformallytheAgencyConsultationProgram,thepro-gramisreferredtoaslegalsecondaryconsultation.Forcom-monreferencetoallthreeclinics,thisreportreferstoitaslegalsecondaryconsultation(LSC).

13.Basedon304individualproblemsin267casenotes.

14.Basedon267cases

15.Intervieweeswere:onelawyerfromHaltonwhoprovidesmostoftheLSCadvice,althoughsomeisprovidedbyalicensedparale-gal;twolawyersfromBrantwhoprovideLSCadvice;andastafflawyer,aparalegalandacommunitylegalworkerfromGuelph.TheexecutivedirectorsinboththeHaltonandGuelphclinicsoc-casionallyrespondtorequestsforLSC.However,theyarenotthemainLSCadvisorsandwerenotincludedintheinterviews.

16.1)Legaladvice,legalinformation,2)referral,researchonthetopic,3)accessprofessionalnetworkforassistance,4)strategicadvice,5)generalinformationandadvice,6)follow-upwiththeserviceprovider,8)meetwiththeserviceproviderandclient,9)reviewdocumentation,10)refertheindividualtointake,11)as-sistserviceproviderwithdocumentation.

17.Ananalysisofthecasenotessuggeststhatupto27%oftheproblemsatBrantand32%atGuelphforwhichserviceprovid-ersrequestedhelpdidnothaveanapparentlegalaspect.Thismaybeinfluencedbyhowthecasenoteswerewritten.Serviceprovidersdonotscreenforlegalproblems,butrequesthelpwithimmediateproblemsthattheythinkthelegalclinicmighthelpwith.LSCadvisorsdonotturnrequestsawaybecausetheydonotpassascreeningtestforlegalcontent.Finally,thesepercent-agesofproblemswithnoapparentlegalcontentbasedoncasenotesemphasizetheambiguityofevolvingconceptsoflegalproblemsandappropriateserviceprovidedbycommunityclinicsinaperiodofparadigmshift.

18.ThementionofappealslikelyreferstoappealsofdenialsofOntarioDisabilitySupportPayments,whichhasdominatedtheworkofmanycommunitylegalclinics.Oftenreferredtoasthe“ODSPtrap”,itissotime-consumingastolimittheclinics’abil-itytogobeyondtraditionallegalwork.TheexecutivedirectoroftheBrantclinicisoneoftheprimaryLSCadvisors.

19.SeethesectionaboveonLSC-relatedactivitiesinothercommu-nityclinicsintheSouthwesternRegion.

20.9of111cases.Afurther18cases(16.7%)werereferredtoexter-nalorganizations.217of69cases.Afurther5cases(7.4%)werereferredtoexternalorganizations.

22.19of97cases(19.6%)werereferredtoexternalorganizations.

23. They all have different areas of legal expertise and it’s hard to get them available.(casemanager,GuelphFamilyCounsellingandSupportServices)

Endnotes


32

24.Seefootnote2.

25.Theresearchreportedinthispaperdidnotemployacommonoperationaldefinitionofalegalsecondaryconsultationforthethreeclinics.Anex post factoreviewofsecondaryconsultationcasestodeterminewhichmightbeconsideredLSCandwhichwerenotwouldbesomewhatjudgemental.Anexerciselikethismightbeofvalueforadiscussionamongthethreeclinics,butisnotpresentedaspartofthisanalysis.

26.Fewconsultationsinvolvedmorethanoneperson.

27.Itisagainbecomingcommontorefertoaccesstojusticeasaso-cialmovementinthisdecade.Anarticletitled“HasA2Jbecomeasocialmovement?”NSRLP Newsletter,September,2017,Na-tionalSelf-RepresentedLitigantsProject,UniversityofWindsor,https://representingyourselfcanada.com/has-a2j-become-a-social-movement/declaresthat“ThesolutionstotheA2Jcrisiswillgobeyondanythingthelegalprofessioncanofferalone.”Richard Zorza’s Access to Justice Blogreferredtotheinfrastructureoftheaccess-to-justicemovementon,July31,2017.Iftheessenceofasocialmovementisindividualsororganizationscombiningeffortstoachieveacommonend,legalsecondaryconsultationisattheleadingedgeoftheaccess-to-justicemovement,asitisplayingoutonthegroundrevivedfrom50yearsago.

28.Access to Civil and Family Justice: A Roadmap for Change,ActionCommitteeonAccesstoJusticeinCivilandFamilyMatters,Ot-tawa,October2013.Seepp.7,11and14.

29.MelinaBuckley,A National Framework for Meeting Legal Needs: Proposed National Benchmarks for Public Legal Assistance Services,reportoftheCanadianBarAssociationAccesstoJusticeCommittee,Ottawa,August2016,p.10.

30.Ibid.,p.6

Documents

How Legal Aid Can Support Communities and Expand Access to ... Secondary... · lems and legal need. Legal problems are integral parts of ordinary, everyday problems that people experience