BayLegal’s Community Needs Assessment

BayLegal is committed to doing our best to understand and be responsive to our clients’ needs and priorities, and to remove barriers to legal services and equal justice.

Your Feedback Drives Our Work

Every 3-4 years we survey staff, community partner organizations, and client communities throughout the seven Bay Area counties in which we provide services. We ask about current needs, what legal help they think is currently the most important, and how we can improve our services. We consider the responses along with available poverty and other demographic data to guide how best to meet our clients' needs.

At the forefront of this report, we want to highlight that housing, homelessness and displacement remain the top legal issues and needs consistent with our prior needs assessment in 2019. Further, while the statistics and responses in this assessment are alarming — including that 60⁺% of client survey respondents had experienced eviction or had to move in the prior year — this assessment was conducted prior to the June 2024 Supreme Court decision in City of Grants Pass vs. Johnson, which allows local governments to enforce “anti-camping” ordinances, including criminal sanctions, against individuals who are unhoused, further compounding the crisis and legal complexities.

Understanding this need and priority, BayLegal continues to focus our expertise, limited resources, and services on helping clients and communities address the intersecting legal issues that help interrupt and prevent homelessness and create long-term stability.

Goals of the Needs Assessment

Highlights of the 2023-24 Survey

Who Responded?

Sources of responses and demographic data on respondents

Clients

client and former client surveys

Client survey respondent demographics
Status	Total #	% of total	Race	Total #	% of total
Former	391	49%	Black/AA	273	34%
			White	191	24%
			Hispanic/Latino/a/x	143	18%
Current	353	44%	Asian	45	6%
			Native American / Alaskan	43	5%
			Middle Eastern / North African	36	5%
Never	50	6%	Multiracial	22	3%
			Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander	18	2%
			Decline to state	18	2%
			Another race	8	1%

County	Total #	% of total	Age	Total #	% of total
San Francisco	230	29%	26-49	498	62%
Contra Costa	145	18%	26-49	498	62%
Alameda	135	17%	18-25	157	20%
San Mateo	83	10%	18-25	157	20%
Santa Clara	80	10%	50-61	87	11%
Marin	74	9%	50-61	87	11%
Napa	47	6%	62+	54	7%
Other	4	<1%	62+	54	7%
Skipped	2	<1%	<17	4	<1%

Gender	Total #	% of total	Transgender	Total #	% of total
Male	437	56%	No	647	83%
Female	327	42%	Yes	120	15%
Non-binary	10	1%	Decline to state	14	2%
Other	1	<1%	Skipped	19	2%
Decline to state	7	<1%
Skipped	18	2%

Staff

staff surveys

Hotlines and clinics

callers and participants

Community partners

surveys from partner organizations

Community partner survey respondent demographics
County	Total #	Population	Total #
San Francisco	35	Low income	65
Alameda	24	Persons w/ disabilities	55
Napa	22	Unhoused/homeless	52
Contra Costa	21	Seniors	52
Other	20	Families w/ children	50
San Mateo	17	Immigrants	50
Santa Clara	14	LGBTQIA+	49
Marin	5	The above were "check all that apply" questions

Population	Total #
Domestic violence/sexual assault survivors	47
General public	42
Criminal/legal involvement	36
Youth	35
Veterans	27
Specific ethnicity/nationality/language	21
Consumers/debtors	18
The above were "check all that apply" questions

Additional outreach

targeted outreach and focus group participants

Summary of Key Findings

Our clients and communities, and their legal issues, barriers to access, and experiences of discrimination

Focus On

Housing and Homelessness

Housing and homelessness issues were experienced the most across all ages, races, and geographical locations.

Focus On

Eviction and Displacement

60% of client survey participants had been evicted or forced to move in the last year.

Focus On

Economic Justice and Safety

Almost 50% of all client survey participants experienced an issue with back rent, access to health care, denial of public benefits, other benefits problems, or family law and domestic violence problems.

Most common problems experienced by clients last year - by county
County	Problem #1	Problem #2	Problem #3	Problem #4	Problem #5
Alameda	Homelessness	Eviction	Back rent	Benefits termination	Family law
Contra Costa	Eviction	Benefits termination	Homelessness	Back rent	Family law
Marin	Homelessness	Eviction	Benefits termination	Back rent	Family law
Napa	Benefits termination	Homelessness	Eviction	Family law	Back rent
San Francisco	Eviction	Back rent	Family law	Benefits termination	Homelessness
San Mateo	Eviction	Homelessness	Benefits termination	Family law	Back rent
Santa Clara	Eviction	Family law	Homelessness	Back rent	Benefits termination

Weighted Ranking of Issue Importance by Survey Group*
Group	Issue #1	Issue #2	Issue #3	Issue #4	Issue #5
Clients	Housing / Eviction	Benefits Issues	Civil Rights (Racial, Disability, LGBT+)	Family Law / Domestic Violence	Consumer Issues
Community Partners	Housing / Eviction	Family Law / Domestic Violence	Homelessness	Benefits Issues	Immigration (Domestic Violence)
Staff	Housing / Eviction	Benefits Issues	Family Law / Domestic Violence	Health Access	Immigration (Domestic Violence)

* Respondents' answers were weighted by order, i.e., 5 points for first choice, 4 for second, etc.

Client Experiences of Discrimination, by Ethnic Group and Source
Group	% Experiencing Discrimination by Court	% Experiencing Discrimination by Government Agency	% Experiencing Discrimination by Law Enforcement Agency
Asian	29%	29%	18%
Black / African American	27%	32%	41%
Decline to State	17%	22%	11%
Hispanic or Latino/x	13%	17%	43%
Middle Eastern / North African	31%	44%	42%
Multiracial	23%	45%	18%
Native American or Alaska Native	12%	40%	16%
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	6%	28%	28%
White / Caucasian	23%	26%	21%
Grand Total	22%	28%	32%

Unequal

Access to Internet

20% of clients reported that they did not have consistent access to the internet.

Mixed

Preference Remote or In-Person

Across age groups and geographical areas, there is no single clear preference for in-person or remote legal service delivery.

Considerations

For accessibility

Some considerations for remote or in-person include: availability of transportation, childcare, work schedules, and complexity of issues.

How do you usually access the internet? (by age)
Age group	I use my computer	I use my phone	I use a phone or computer of a family member or friend	I use a public computer	I don't have access to a computer or smartphone	I can't use the internet due to language or disability limitations	Other
17 or younger	0%	50%	0%	0%	0%	0%	50%
18 to 25	25%	22%	19%	27%	4%	1%	1%
26 to 49	32%	42%	15%	9%	1%	0%	1%
50 to 61	33%	49%	11%	3%	0%	1%	3%
62 and above	30%	48%	7%	2%	3%	2%	0%

Do you prefer to receive services remotely on in person? (by age)
Age group	Remotely	In person	It depends
17 or younger	50%	0%	50%
18 to 25	53%	45%	3%
26 to 49	46%	50%	4%
50 to 61	39%	41%	20%
62 or above	31%	56%	0%

Do you prefer to receive services remotely on in person? (by county)
County	Remotely	In person	It depends
Alameda	60%	28%	12%
Contra Costa	59%	36%	5%
Marin	67%	30%	3%
Napa	34%	64%	2%
San Francisco	20%	74%	6%
San Mateo	53%	46%	1%
Santa Clara	50%	43%	8%

Disproportionate

poverty by demographic

Some racial and ethnic populations in our service area are over-represented in poverty populations relative to their percentage of the overall population.

Elevated

levels of poverty

Some racial/ethnic populations in our service area have extremely high poverty levels.

Other

underserved and vulnerable populations

There are additional populations defined by characteristics other than race and ethnicity who display disproportionate poverty in our service area.

Some populations with especially extreme poverty levels
% of Black residents at or below 125% of poverty	% of Native American residents at or below 125% of poverty	% of Native American residents at or below 50% of poverty
San Francisco: 36%	San Mateo: 37%	San Francisco: 20%
Alameda: 25%	San Francisco: 31%	Contra Costa: 15%
Santa Clara: 21%	Contra Costa: 21%	San Mateo: 10%

Some other underserved/vulnerable populations:

Seniors 60+ years represent between one- quarter and one-third of the population in Santa Clara, San Mateo, Napa, and San Francisco Counties.

Veterans represent over 6% of the population in Napa.

Limited English-Speaking (LEP)Households: Many non-native English speakers in our area are proficient in English, but newcomers with limited English proficiency (LEP) face major barriers to legal services. Identifying which groups have the most LEP individuals is crucial for effective outreach, as the largest non-native English group in some counties may not have the most LEP speakers.

LEP Households by County
Language	County
Contra Costa	Marin	Napa	San Francisco	San Mateo	Santa Clara
Spanish	12,300	2,700	2,150	5,150	7,200	16,000
Chinese	6,100	600	65	24,500	8,100	20,500
Slavic languages	1,800	245	30	1,780	740	3,050
Tagalog	1,300	0	120	1,100	1,500	1,300
Vietnamese	1,200	200	4	1,750	300	12,500
Korean	460	150	15	790	500	2,500

Alameda County LEP Groups (# of individuals)*
Number of speakers	Spanish	Chinese	Tagalog	Vietnamese	Korean	Punjabi	Persian	Hindi
100,000+
50,000 - 99,999
15,000 - 24,999
5,000 - 14,999
4,999 or fewer

* Because LEP data in Alameda County is measured by individuals rather than households, and because the group of languages with significant speaker populations differs somewhat from the rest of the region, we have presented this data separately.

Recommendations

Informed by the survey results, the following recommendations from BayLegal’s Community Needs Assessment Working Group will help to inform BayLegal’s priorities in the coming years.

Prioritize

Key Services

Prioritize services to the problems participants said were most common and most important: housing, public benefits, domestic violence/family law, civil rights, consumer, immigration, and health access.

Hybrid

Service Delivery

Continue to provide a mix of in-person and remote services as these best meet client needs.

Flexible

Access Options

Improve client access with non-business hour services, more walk-in services, virtual appointment scheduling, and increased technology assistance.

Prioritize

cultural humility

Continue to prioritize staff learning and commitment to meeting the needs of people with different cultures, experiences, and perspectives.

Increase

Targeted Outreach

Increase outreach to groups and organizations that serve Asian, Latino/x, seniors, veterans, and LEP populations where gaps were identified.

Emphasize

High-Poverty Communities

Continue to focus on the groups who have the highest levels of poverty, like Black/African American, and Native American.

Additional Notes

The survey was conducted between February and July 2024. (The survey was completed before the Supreme Court’s decision in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, which has significant effects on the issue of homelessness.)

Separate surveys were created for current, former, and potential clients; for community partners, and for BayLegal staff. Shorter surveys were orally administered to callers to our hotlines and to clinic participants.

Surveys were available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and Arabic.

Survey links were sent to 3000 current and former BayLegal clients.

Electronic surveys were available on BayLegal’s website, and by QR Code or tablet at local offices.

Paper surveys were also available at local offices and were distributed at community organizations and outreaches in San Francisco, Napa, and Alameda Counties.

Targeted focus groups were conducted at two community organizations in the South Bay.

Data from the 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) for the San Francisco Bay Area and from the 2023 and 2024 Point in Time counts of homeless individuals was analyzed. ( ACS data has since been released for 2023.)

Data mapping from the Statistical Atlas of the San Francisco Bay Area was reviewed to pinpoint areas of significant poverty and concentrations of various demographic groups.

Legal Service Corporation Regulations on Establishment of Program Priorities: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-B/chapter-XVI/part-1620
Legal Services Corporation Performance Criteria: https://www.lsc.gov/video/webinar-2018-standard-applicant-informational-session-performance-area-1
American Community Survey: https://www.census.gov/data.html
Demographic Statistical Atlas of California: https://statisticalatlas.com/state/California/Overview
23-175 City of Grants Pass v. Johnson (06/28/2024): https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-175_19m2.pdf

		To gather feedback from participants on the issues faced by low-income communities
To understand our clients, their communities, and the barriers preventing them from getting help	To recommend organizational priorities, identify needed resources and how to apply them to client needs.		To identify which services are most important for clients based on frequency of problems, and resources available to address them
		To assess how easy it is for people to use our services and improve any areas that make it more difficult

Community Needs Assessment Executive Summary

Your Feedback Drives Our Work

Highlights of the 2023-24 Survey

Who Responded?

Summary of Key Findings

Housing and Homelessness

Eviction and Displacement

Economic Justice and Safety

Access to Internet

Preference Remote or In-Person

For accessibility

poverty by demographic

levels of poverty

underserved and vulnerable populations

Recommendations

Key Services

Service Delivery

Access Options

cultural humility

Targeted Outreach

High-Poverty Communities

Additional Notes

Legal Advice Line

Administrative Office

California Relay Service

Connect with us

accreditations