LEGAL AID: QUIETLY GIVING A HAND-UP TO THOSE IN NEED

I recently had the opportunity to testify at the local town-hall meeting of the legislature. The purpose of my testimony was to encourage continued funding for Civil Legal Services to support the important work that is done to provide access to the Justice System. I am a private attorney, having lived and worked in the Albert Lea area for over 13 years. My practice focuses primarily on business related issues, together with work in agricultural law, real estate and family law. Since moving to Albert Lea, I have taken an active interest in finding ways to make our community prosper in a positive way.

One of the quiet ways that our community accomplishes this goal is to provide citizens access to a fair and equal forum to resolve their disputes. We are fortunate in Minnesota to have a first class Justice System.

For many years, I have served on the board of directors of Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (“SMRLS”) – one of the six regional Civil Legal Services providers in Minnesota. SMRLS provides affordable and understandable Civil Legal Services to all citizens, regardless of income.

During my tenure on the board, I have observed the inner workings of the SMRLS organization through the last budget crisis in 2002, the partial recovery budget of 2006 and now this terrible economic downturn. Let me share a few of my observations on how SMRLS has dealt with each of these challenges:

• SMRLS participates in an on-going process called “Future’s Planning.” This process is our constant attempt to find efficient ways to provide services to those in need. We strive to leverage our dollars during good times. This allows us to better respond during funding down turns.

• During the last budget deficit, SMRLS completely reorganized itself by centralizing its hot-line intake process and technology. We focused our resources on being one law-firm, rather than a series of offices around the state. This change helped to keep all rural offices open while absorbing staff reductions and has actually increased the number of persons who have been able to access SMRLS and enables SMRLS to provide more seamless services.

• During the last increased budget, we set-aside reserves and focused on preserving our best and brightest talent. A large majority of any Civil Legal Services provider’s budget consists of staff. Although legal aid attorneys are some of the lowest paid in the Justice System, we are able to attract a talented, compassionate and team oriented group of employees. They are the front-line in helping those in need navigate the legal process. This talent pool is especially important in hard times when we need to stretch our dollars further.

• SMRLS constantly searches for outside funds to leverage State and Federal Dollars. We accomplish this through aggressive grant writing and the successful Campaign for Legal Aid.

Those who know me know that I am a fiscally conservative Republican and that I believe in providing a hand-up, not a hand-out. I know of no other organization that epitomizes this motto better.

I am also now participating in the SMRLS Retrenchment Process (“Futures” planning during a downturn). As an organization, we recognize that an economic downturn of this magnitude results in more people that need help. Our challenge is to provide services to more people, while at the same time receiving less money.

In accomplishing this goal, our first priority is to keep our existing staff intact. SMRLS recently announced a salary and hiring freeze. We also recognize the need to utilize our reserves. Unfortunately, these steps only fill a few of the large holes in the budget. We continue to prioritize additional spending cuts to be ready to respond to the actions that legislators take in St. Paul.

I encouraged legislators to remember that the Justice System as a whole provides an important calming and public safety component. I refer to it as “Core Services, plus.” The plus being: preserving the rule of law, giving individuals a forum for their disputes and a mechanism to provide community stability in a positive way. As stated by our Board Chair, Kathy Bartz, we must “give our clients a sense of hope.”

Organizations like SMRLS are working hard to be part of the solution during these difficult times. The budget cannot be balanced through draconian cuts to the Justice System’s small budget pie. The Justice System is only 2% of the State’s budget, and Civil Legal Services is only 3% of that 2%.

I requested that legislators act quickly on Justice System funding. If cuts have to occur, minimize them to recognize the “Core Services, plus” component provided by the Justice System. Please watch this year’s legislative session closely and encourage legislator’s to support the quiet work being done by legal aid in our communities.