2017 NLADA Annual Conference

This program is specifically designed for new and experienced training directors and trainers responsible for developing and implementing training. There is something for everyone across all organizations, regardless of their size. The training will be conducted by a team of training professionals from a variety of perspectives and cultures. The training faculty is diverse, representing different regions of the country, and with experience in training within statewide, county, and nonprofit systems. The format of the program will include plenary sessions and breakout groups for participants to focus on individual goals for themselves and their organizations.

This program is specifically designed for new and experienced training directors and trainers responsible for developing and implementing training. There is something for everyone across all organizations, regardless of their size. The training will be conducted by a team of training professionals from a variety of perspectives and cultures. The training faculty is diverse, representing different regions of the country, and with experience in training within statewide, county, and nonprofit systems. The format of the program will include plenary sessions and breakout groups for participants to focus on individual goals for themselves and their organizations.

At the Administration for Community Living, the Office of Elder Justice supports Older Americans Act-funded legal assistance programs for older Americans with economic or social need through technical assistance, the National Center for Law and Elder Rights, and a grant program, Model Approaches to Statewide Legal Assistance. We invite you to meet with us informally to talk about your experiences with legal assistance for older Americans with economic and social need. Let’s share and discuss what’s on your mind about your successes, your challenges, and what keeps you up at night. For example, what are the top substantive issues you’re seeing right now and how do you manage your resources to respond? How do you target your outreach and intake in accordance with the Older Americans Act rules about means testing? How do you identify and empower clients to respond to experiences of elder abuse? What’s on your mind? Please come to visit and chat with us!

This workshop will evaluate the legal model of group representation, educate about how to organize and advocate for group clients from the perspective of community-based organizations (CBOs) and community-based lawyering, and discuss the strengths and risks in this approach to advocacy. An attorney and organizer will provide a framework of group representation as practiced at Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A (BKA) in the housing advocacy context. After a review of the harassment tactics landlords use to force out lower-income tenants, we will discuss how attorneys at BKA work with tenant organizers at CBOs to form a horizontal team to provide group representation. This workshop will illustrate how the team works with groups of tenants to identify issues and goals, gain commitment of tenants, and organize tenant associations (TAs). Participants will gain an understanding about power imbalances and how collective action shifts the power into the hands of the TA members. The workshop will discuss how group representation provides a grassroots movement among the tenants in each building and how the success of the litigation is directly tied to the commitment of each member to the TA. Presenters will share case examples of how group action in Housing Court and other forums have been a strong tool for TAs. Participants will learn about other ways the group can choose to advocate for its goals outside of court, including press actions, lobbying politicians, and working with community coalitions. All these tactics serve to empower the group by requiring them to work together. The workshop will also address other strengths and major risks that come along with group representation.

Far too often, our legal aid community focuses on the challenges faced by rural civil legal aid providers and how, if only the "rural" component were not an issue, they would fare much better. However, there are unique benefits to serving low-income clients in rural and more isolated areas. This session will highlight these benefits and show how perceived challenges are addressed for the advantage of the local community and the clients in which it serves. Big and small city session attendees alike will acquire takeaways for how their legal offices can replicate similar strategies to make a larger impact. Greater Bakersfield Legal Assistance (GBLA) has provided high quality legal services to Kern County's low-income and vulnerable populations since 1968. Kern County's primary production is agriculture and oil, and it is the third largest county geographically in California. GBLA employees face unique obstacles in providing services to the entire county with one centrally located office. Staff must often travel, sometimes for several hours, to reach their clients and outlying courts. Learn how GBLA addressed rural needs to maximize cohesive service to clients, irrespective of whether they live two minutes or two hours from the legal aid office, and how you can replicate this success to build strong and lasting relationships with the local bench and bar and community organizations to assistance its client community.

Working smoothly with coworkers is essential to providing significant legal aid over the long-term. It both increases efficiency and averts burnout. In this training, OneJustice’s Healthy Nonprofits Program will offer an overarching framework and practical strategies for managing “up” (to your supervisors), “down” (to those you supervise), and “sideways” (to your teammates) on projects and cases. OneJustice will describe the role clarity, oversight, and coaching everyone needs from their supervisors. Similarly, it will describe the need for supervisors to express clear expectations, create information flow, and hold staff accountable. Attendees will also learn how to apply non-positional (i.e., lateral) and participatory leadership to advance their teams’ work. Throughout the training, OneJustice will describe how to discuss workplace issues objectively and in a way that connects to the organization’s mission.

This session explores the intersection between youth homelessness and the juvenile and criminal justice systems. Presenters will discuss how certain laws, policies, and practices, such as quality of life ordinances, status offenses, and harsh school discipline practices, criminalize homeless youth. These laws, policies, and practices make it harder for homeless youth to access housing, create barriers to staying in school, prevent them from ending the vicious cycle of homelessness and poverty, and unnecessarily entangle those who are already helpless and vulnerable with the justice systems. Presenters will discuss efforts to address legal needs and to coordinate a community response that is trauma-informed, culturally appropriate, and developmentally and age-appropriate. This session will also provide legal tools, innovative legal aid models, strategies for a comprehensive provision of supportive services, and model policies for communities to work with different stakeholders that can aid in decriminalization efforts at the local, state, and national levels.

In 2015, as a response to the unrest in Baltimore City after the death of Freddie Gray, Maryland Legal Aid began the Community Lawyering Initiative. First introduced to the NLADA community at the 2016 conference in Indianapolis, the project has grown leaps and bounds. This session will detail the lessons learned in the last 12 months of tremendous project growth. After building more than 100 new community partnerships with social services providers, serving more than 7,000 clients, and developing training curriculum for pro bono attorneys, Maryland Legal Aid and its partners are ready to share successes, challenges, and best practices. Session attendees will hear from clients, communiity partners, and program director Amy Petkovsek. As Maryland Legal Aid's 2016 annual report suggests, the "Power of Partnerships" is tremendous--bringing new expertise, new grant opportunities, expanded client services, and a vision for serving clients that will last for years to come.

After President Trump signed an executive order to enact a Muslim travel ban, attorneys around the country mobilized to respond. They were faced with the challenge of responding to a national legal crisis while ensuring meaningful language access for limited English proficient (LEP) individuals. Though these attorneys are no longer in the airports, there continues to be an increased need to serve immigrant communities and providing LEP immigrants with proper language services. This training will be focused on the challenge of providing legal services to LEP individuals in their preferred languages in a crisis situation. The training will be broken into three parts. (1) Advocates will reflect on the weeks after the executie order and the lessons learned from their time in the airports, with a special focus on working with interpreters. (2) Presenters will discuss the current efforts to provide LEP immigrants with information regarding their rights in their preferred language. (3) The session will have a discussion between the presenters and attendees about ways advocates can create a language access network ready to respond to the next crisis.