2011-2013 Possible Fellowship Project Proposals

Health Access in Rural Santa Clara County Fellowship Proposal

(Santa Clara office)

The fellowship will focus on creating a unique program geared toward providing multi-generational health legal services to low-income communities in rural Santa Clara County. Santa Clara County is the largest and most diverse county in the Bay Area. Although home to some of the largest high-tech corporations in the country, Santa Clara County is also home to extensive rural areas, particularly in the southern part of the County. This part of Santa Clara County, which includes the cities of Gilroy, Morgan Hill, and San Martin, as well as unincorporated parts of the County, has a large Latino population. According to 2009 Census estimates, 10% of south Santa Clara County residents have incomes below the poverty line.

While south Santa Clara County is home to some 100,000 people, nearly all the legal service providers in the county are concentrated in the urban northern part of the county. Geographic barriers alone prevent many south County residents from seeking legal assistance. In addition, approximately 15,000 of these rural residents live in migrant or seasonal farm worker families. These families often have difficulty navigating both the legal system and the health system because of language and/or cultural barriers, such as lack of English proficiency or lack of familiarity with local resources.

The fellowship will focus on creating a unique program geared toward providing multi-generational health legal services to low-income communities in rural Santa Clara County. The fellow will focus on access to health-related benefits, such as SSI, Medi-Cal, and In-Home Supportive Services, as well as spearheading advocacy on the County's indigent care program, including access to healthcare at County hospitals. The fellow will:

• Assess the health care needs of the rural populations in Santa Clara County;
• Develop outreach activities including "know your rights" presentations in which staff from all of Bay Area Legal Aid's Santa Clara County practice areas can participate;
• Identify non-legal service agencies serving low-income residents and develop cross-training opportunities;
• Work with Bay Legal attorneys to provide direct legal services to clients in multiple practice areas, with an emphasis on health-related legal needs. After assessing the needs of the population group, the fellow will work to develop a way that this population can more effectively access legal services, possibly through an out-posted legal clinic or a medical-legal partnership.

Qualifications:

• Bilingual in Spanish.
• Familiarity or interest with public benefits, such as SSI, Medi-cal, and In-Home Support Services.
• Experience working with diverse populations, including senior citizens, youth, and individuals with physical and/or mental health needs.
• Experience working in rural communities.

Housing, Health, and Credit Fellowship Proposal

(Santa Clara office)

There is currently a bill pending in the California legislature that would take steps toward protecting tenants in foreclosed properties from having their credit ruined when they are evicted. This legislation recognizes that tenants in foreclosed homes are completely innocent and without fault- they pay rent faithfully and still lose their housing. It is unclear if this legislation will succeed, but even if it does, many tenants will not be safe from credit problems. Many tenants are wrongfully evicted due to lack of representation. When a person has a judgment of eviction against them, it makes it difficult for them to get new housing, making homelessness likely. Landlords who have obtained an eviction judgment then go after tenants for more money through collection agencies, subjecting to them to harassment while they are facing homelessness.

Unfortunately, disabled individuals are more susceptible to eviction because of difficulty working and low-income, and landlords' failure to provide reasonable accommodations. disabled individuals may also face high medical debt due to inadequate insurance, which can further harm their credit and make it difficult to find safe, stable housing. Housing insecurity is even more harmful to people with disabilities.

A fellow working on this project will focus on assisting low income people with medical debt and credit issues caused by housing problems.

Sexual Assault Fellowship Proposal

(project is regional, but located in Central Support office)

One in six women and 1 in 33 men will be sexually assaulted at some point during their lifetimes. In the aftermath of a sexual assault, victims frequently suffer flashbacks, depression, anxiety, and other post-traumatic symptoms that make it difficult to recover from the ordeal and to resume "normal" routines such as work, school and relationships with friends and family. Many survivors lose their jobs, drop out of school, split up with their partners, and/or turn to drugs and alcohol. (Between one-fourth and one-third of survivors lose their jobs and at least 32% contemplate suicide after the assault.) Through its efforts to stop domestic violence, and ensure that immigrant DV survivors receive the relief to which they are entitled, BayLegal became aware that no legal services program in the Bay Area provides comprehensive representation to sexual assault survivors in civil legal proceedings. There is a crucial need for a program to address this unmet need.

The Sexual Assault Survivor Project will: 1) provide direct legal service to survivors of sexual assault seeking Civil Harassment Orders (CHOs), and intersecting legal relief, such as unemployment compensation, immigration assistance, housing and public benefits, and 2) educate and support BayLegal staff and community rape crisis center staff on legal protections and benefits available to survivors of sexual assault through the creation of regional infrastructure, outreach and trainings. Immigrant survivors will receive assistance obtaining U-Visas for victims of violent crime or T-Visas for victims of human trafficking. The fellow will work closely with BayLegal's DV regional counsel and BayLegal's regional immigration coordinator, both experienced attorneys. Through the work of the Project, survivors will be empowered to achieve physical safety, reclaim financial security and move past the trauma.

The successful applicant for this position will build the sexual assault program from the ground up. This requires a highly motivated self-starter, familiar with the target population and skilled in dealing with vulnerable clients in crisis. Many of our clients are recent immigrants with limited English proficiency. Thus, bilingual and bi-cultural competency will be highly prioritized in the selection process.

Court Accountability Fellowship Proposal: Appeals on Family Law Issues

(project is regional, but located in San Mateo office)

The appeals system is the only effective way to review the performance of judicial officers. The vast majority of litigants in family court are pro per and middle or low income. It is costly and time consuming to pursue the appellate process. The appellate process is not a realistic option for the majority of cases. When family law cases do find their way to the Court of Appeal, the cases seldom address issues that matter to low income, self-represented, or non-English speaking victims of abuse. As a result, judicial officers making rulings on issues impacting our client population do not have their performance reviewed, and they are not held accountable.

California's Elkins Family Law Taskforce solicited public comments focused on people's experience in family court. Many lawyers litigants and their children observed that the laws are fair but that the judicial officers do not apply the laws as written. Commentators experienced, among other things, judicial bias, lack understanding of the law, or lack of time to properly understand the facts.

With the economic crisis in California, Courts are facing severe cutbacks. Family law courts statewide are bearing a disproportionately high burden of those cuts. These cuts will mean fewer resources to self-represented litigants and higher case loads in family law departments. These cuts will necessarily negatively impact the ability of judicial officers in California to fairly adjudicate family law cases.

The purpose of this project is to bring appeals in appropriate family law cases in the Bay Area with the aim of holding courts accountable to the laws created by the legislature, reverse erroneous judicial opinions, and improve fairness and access for low income, self-represented, or non-English speaking victims of abuse.

The successful applicant for this position will have excellent legal research and writing skills. This position requires someone who is able to push the envelope, build creative, but logical legal arguments grounded firmly in the law. An interest in statutory construction and shaping public policy through litigation is essential. The issues raised in appeals will relate to the domestic violence prevention act, child custody and support orders, custody mediation, immigration status, language access, and access to the courts for the economically disadvantage. This position will address cases arising in all Baylegal counties, will be located in Redwood City and be supervised by the managing attorney of the San Mateo County Regional office.