LEGAL ASSISTANCE PROJECT

Lutheran Ministries and Social Services of Waco
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PROJECT OVERVIEW

 

In 2004, at about the same time that the Legal Assistance Project was being conceptualized by members of First Lutheran Church in downtown Waco, Texas, as a means of expanding the church’s social ministries, the American Bar Association was conducting the Justice Gap in America study. The ABA study found that poor and low-income study participants identified a lack of capacity in getting help for civil legal issues such as: an inability to pay for an attorney; a lack of knowledge and resources to represent themselves; unawareness of any agency or service to help them; and an overpowering belief that nothing could be done.

 

The Legal Assistance Project of Lutheran Ministries and Social Services of Waco is designed to address those needs and remove personal barriers to accessing justice - including feelings of hopelessness and despair. Project participants who use the clinic’s services or attend a community outreach forum are: educated about options available to them; provided needed information as well as forms and technical support; and empowered to believe that they can have greater personal impact in resolving their legal problems. The Legal Assistance Project is structured to provide greater access in civil legal justice to Central Texans through a grass roots self-help pro se civil legal clinic and with legal educational community outreach forums conducted in collaboration with other social service agencies from throughout the Central Texas area. 

 

The pro se clinic provides clients with information, education, technical support and guidance for their civil court process on a one-on-one case basis, where clients meet with trained non-attorney legal and social work advocates. Most clients served have issues in the area of family law such as divorce or custody issues between parents, or grandparents and other relative caregivers. The community forums provide more general information and self-help legal documents to specific population groups on issues such as end-of-life planning or tenants’ rights.

 

In addition, the Project serves as a training organization for students enrolled in both the Paralegal Program at McLennan Community College, and social work students at both the undergraduate and graduate level from the School of Social Work at Baylor University.  

 

 

CURRENT PROJECT FOCUS

 

Since 2007, a major component of the Project’s focus in its community outreach educational forums has been towards the senior population group. Senior citizens are presented with legal documents such as Medical Power of Attorney and Health Directive forms which they can complete themselves without the aid of an attorney. Participants in these forums are also provided with a wealth of pertinent legal information about issues affecting seniors coming from the State Bar of Texas and the Texas Office of the Attorney General.

 

We conducted a series of six such events in Waco during 2007 in collaboration with the Area Agency on Aging, Friends For Life and a local probate attorney firm. These forums were expanded in 2008, as were our collaborative efforts with the presentation of eight additional forums held at rural senior centers in the McLennan, Bosque, Limestone, Falls and Hill counties in coordination with Senior Ministries. Over 200 people attended these forums. For the current listing of our scheduled 2009 forums, please see our Upcoming Events page.