Access to Civil Justice

PROGRAM AREA #2

ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 52 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE Community Needs

Legal Services Corporation, the largest funder of civil legal services in the U.S., reported that 71% of low-income households experienced at least one civil legal problem in 2017, and that those in need were unable to obtain adequate legal assistance 86% of the time. The unmet need is particularly high for undocumented and recent immigrants, seniors, survivors of domestic violence, families with minor children, and adults with disabilities.

The law pervades all aspects of life: family, community, work, health, finance, safety, and beyond. Most San Franciscans “go it alone” without the assistance of a legal professional in urgent, complex and high-stakes civil legal matters. When access to the civil legal services needed to address their most fundamental rights is limited, this only reinforces existing disparities.

In San Francisco, the two civil legal problems of greatest urgency and highest level of need are immigration and housing/eviction legal defense. For applicants interested in applying for eviction legal defense, view our Tenant Right to Counsel strategy under the Eviction Prevention & Housing Stabilization program area on page 38 of this RFP). Other areas of particular need are benefits advocacy, consumer law, and family law (including legal assistance to survivors of domestic violence).

Immigration Immigration legal services are simultaneously in higher demand and increasingly challenging as a result of changes to immigration policy, increased immigration from Mexico and Central America as families seek to escape violence and economic instability, and other factors. As the number of immigrants in need of legal services increases, these cases are also becoming longer, more complex, and labor-intensive.

Many immigrants are exposed to extreme stress through this process, and this trauma further compromises the life outcomes of San Francisco’s immigrant communities. Those who have an attorney succeed more than five times as often as their unrepresented counterparts. For clients in detainment, an attorney can mean the difference between getting to stay in the U.S. or being deported. Just 11% of people without legal representation prevail in deportation cases, compared with 33% who have an

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 53 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE Community Needs (continued) attorney. In San Francisco immigration courts, two-thirds of detainees have no legal representation at any point during their proceeding. Criminal justice-involved cases add a layer of complexity to an already-challenging situation. These cases require a deep understanding of criminal law, post-conviction relief, and immigration law. Asylum claims are being denied and transferred to immigration court for removal proceedings, and legal defense in removal proceedings is time and labor-intensive. As a result, an attorney’s annual caseload rarely exceeds 10, and there are hundreds of people on the waitlist for intake interviews.

Court proceedings not only impact the immigrant who is subject to removal, but also everyone networked to them. In some cases, people who have been in the U.S. since they were children are being deported without access to counsel. These deportations can have a devastating impact on the individual, their family and their community. Nearly one in five children in California is a U.S. citizen living with at least one undocumented family member. In addition, detention or deportation of a parent means extreme loss of income, causing household income to fall by 50% on average and leading to increased poverty and economic hardship.

Given the demand, urgency, complexity, and high stakes of the crisis, San Francisco relies on a community-based system of legal services, language-accessible communications, and community education and preparedness. Providers of these services are integrated in a collaborative network, as the scale and urgency of the problem requires extensive coordination and agile strategy implementation. MOHCD has funded community providers and collaboratives to provide these services since 2006, with investments growing as the need has grown.

Housing Sixty-five percent of all San Francisco households are tenants. Of the more than 225,000 rental units in San Francisco, more than 75% are rent-controlled. Thirty percent of all tenant households have incomes at or below 30% Area Median Income (AMI), and one out of three tenant households have severe housing problems, which could include one or more of the following: lacking complete kitchen/plumbing facilities, overcrowding of more than 1.5 persons per room, or rent burden of more

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 54 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE Community Needs (continued) than 50%. Most of San Francisco's rent-burdened households are extremely low and very low income households earning less than 50% AMI. People of color are more likely to pay more than 30% (i.e., rent-burdened) and 50% (i.e., severely rent- burdened) of their income toward housing. Nearly half of all African American and Latino tenants are either rent-burdened or severely rent-burdened.

Access to stable housing improves economic, health, and other key life outcomes for individuals and families. While eviction defense legal services are critical in ensuring San Franciscans remain in their homes and communities, there are other housing matters that can lead to residential instability and displacement, such as unlawful rent increases, habitability issues, fair housing issues, reasonable accommodation denials, and landlord harassment and retaliation.

Consumer/Finance Consumer and financial issues can have a devastating effect on low income individuals and families. Unrepresented people who lose a case may have their already-meager wages garnished and/or property seized, thereby locking them more firmly and deeply in poverty. Moreover, these problems are quite common, as more than one- third (37%) of low income households struggled with a consumer/financial issue in 2018.

Vulnerable populations are increasingly victims of financial fraud and abuse. Seniors are often targeted for their retirement savings and/or home equity, and may experience financial and other forms of abuse in residential care facilities. Currently, when a senior or family member reports elder abuse, unless the injury could bring a significant financial award, a private attorney may not devote resources to represent them. Senior-focused legal services may include estate and end-of-life planning, outreach (especially for transgender and lesbian seniors), assistance in conservatorship matters, consumer protection education, etc.

Additionally, opportunities to transfer wealth to the next generation are lost when people die without trusts and wills, often contributing to racial disparities and the gender wealth gap. Without a trust, families risk displacement if they have to sell

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 55 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE Community Needs (continued) their home to pay for court, legal and probate fees. These legal services are too costly for low-income families, leaving them vulnerable to increased economic hardship.

Increasing levels of debt also create greater need for consumer protection and legal representation. An April 2019 report found that total student loan debt in the Bay Area increased by 243% between 2003 and 2018, with the percentage of the adult population with student loan debt doubling from 6.2% to 12.2%. The highest rates of delinquency and default were concentrated in neighborhoods with high percentages of African American and Latino residents (San Francisco Office of Financial Empowerment and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco).

Employment For low-wage workers, a single paycheck could mean the difference between stable housing and experiencing homelessness. During San Francisco’s 2017 point-in-time homelessness count, 22% of people experiencing homelessness reported that the primary cause of their housing crisis was job loss. In San Francisco, low-wage workers typically work multiple jobs and would need to work 171.5 hours per week to afford a 2-bedroom market-rate apartment.

The U.S. Census reported that 17,000 low income San Franciscans have experienced a legal issue in the workplace. Of those who reported an employment issue, 65% said that the issue had a severe impact on their lives, including leading to a mental health condition such as anxiety or depression.

Among those who require access to employment legal services, some populations have specific needs for targeted education and outreach including: workers’ rights trainings to underserved communities; outreach at day labor centers; general outreach to low- wage workers about illegal and unfair practices; and maternity leave rights and pregnancy discrimination outreach to low-income pregnant women and parents.

Since employment law is generally a complaint-driven system, issues that go unreported are hidden. Without advocacy and representation, violations of

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 56 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE Community Needs (continued) employment rights go unaddressed, and there are very few low-cost mechanisms to enforce the existing laws that protect workers.

Benefits Advocacy Many San Franciscans are entitled to local, state and federal benefits but are unaware of these opportunities and/or lack access to services that could help them obtain these benefits. Seniors are the fastest growing age group – nearly 30% of San Franciscans will be age 60 or older by 2030. Additionally, one in ten San Franciscans report a disability (94,000 people), and almost half of people with disabilities are under age 65. African Americans are twice as likely to experience a disability. One in four people with disabilities live in poverty. Even adults with disabilities who are employed are more than twice as likely to experience poverty.

Federally-funded Supplemental Security Income (SSI) offers more than $900 per month to low income people with disabilities, while local general assistance amounts are typically much lower (between $100 and $473). More than half of all SSI applications are initially rejected, but more than half are approved upon appeal. Legal advocacy improves the success rate for both initial application and appeal, while also connecting clients to treatment and community-based services.

Family/Survivors of Domestic Violence Lack of access to legal assistance in family law cases means that many low income people must try to represent themselves in complex and high-stakes matters. The impacts on the family can be severe, particularly for children whose contact with their parents is being litigated. When parents do not receive adequate legal assistance, it is more difficult to resolve cases and judges may have a harder time assessing what is in the best interest of the child. Furthermore, in many of these cases, both sides are unrepresented and have to go back and forth from the court’s self-help center, which is currently only open three days a week and during regular business hours.

Lack of legal assistance also leads to serious consequences for survivors of domestic violence, who may be in immediate need of assistance with restraining orders and

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 57 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE Community Needs (continued) other vital forms of legal relief. The consequences can also be grave for their children, who may be placed in harm’s way, or be removed and placed in foster care.

Navigating Civil Legal Services According to Legal Services Corporation's 2017 study, only 20% of low income households seek professional legal help for the civil legal problems they face. Top reasons for not seeking professional legal help include: deciding to deal with a problem on one’s own; not knowing where to look for help or what resources might exist; and not being sure whether their problem is a legal problem. Many legal problems are directly related to unmet social service needs that the legal aid community, with their limited funding and resources, is often not equipped to address.

Service Access Legal services should consider population-specific needs, such as improving access to and quality of civil legal services for San Franciscans with limited English proficiency, those who may be physically or socially isolated, those with limited access to transportation, and those who have constraints due to employment or childcare obligations.

For example, 54% of San Francisco seniors speak a language other than English. The San Francisco Superior Court plans to implement language access measures that will provide certified interpreters in its civil division by 2020. It can take twice as long to work with a client who is using a family member as a translator and can affect confidentiality because there is a third party in the room. It also prevents the formation of a functional and trusting attorney-client relationship and impacts the quality of legal assistance. Therefore, culturally competent and humble legal practitioners lead to higher quality legal assistance.

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 58 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE Program Area Goals

To address the unmet need for civil legal services among vulnerable households, we seek to fund programs and solutions that:

1. Increase access to civil legal services for low income San Franciscans.

2. Result in improved legal outcomes for clients. While specific goals may vary by practice area, legal assistance should prioritize urgent, complex and high-stakes legal matters.

3. Result in San Franciscans knowing their rights and knowing where to seek assistance in asserting their rights.

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 59 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE Strategies in this Program Area

Allocation Number of Strategy Page Range Grants Range $8,200,000 - Immigrant Justice 5 - 7 61 $8,700,000 $500,000 - Worker Justice 2 - 5 67 $700,000 $250,000 - Housing Justice 2 - 5 70 $350,000 $250,000 - Consumer Justice 2 - 4 73 $350,000 $200,000 - Benefits Advocacy 2 - 5 76 $300,000 $150,000 - Family Justice 1 - 3 79 $300,000 Community Legal $100,000 - 1 - 2 82 Navigators $150,000

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 60 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE IMMIGRANT JUSTICE Strategy Description

MOHCD anticipates primarily funding this service strategy through large collaboratives of community-based organizations, with sophisticated referral networks and a high level of organization. There should also be close coordination between different collaboratives. These collaboratives should be able to provide linguistically and culturally competent and humble services to all groups affected by immigration issues.

If single agencies apply to provide services, they should have a clear rationale for doing so, and provide detailed explanation regarding how they will work with established collaboratives to coordinate services and avoid duplication.

Activities funded will include:

1. Prevention activities, including outreach and education • Legal education workshops, with consultations provided; • In-depth immigration presentations to high need, specialized populations; • Train-the-trainer modules; • Working with key community and City stakeholders to develop materials and information on general immigration topics and services; • Distributing information on immigration services and legal rights to all affected communities, in the appropriate languages; and • Outreach and public awareness through events such as Immigrant Family Day and International Migrants Day.

2. Legal services for residents not currently in deportation proceedings, on issues including (but not limited to) asylum (including unaccompanied minors), adjustment of status, family petition, special immigrant legal status, trafficking, T-Visa, U- Visa, deportation and removal defense, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and other immigration matters.

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 61 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE IMMIGRANT JUSTICE Strategy Description (continued)

• Counseling and advice (i.e., Limited Services) through legal clinics, drop-in office hours, and scheduled appointments; • Applications and documents processed to obtain legal relief; • Full representation (i.e., Extended Services) to obtain legal relief; and • Case management and social services for clients in need of these services, including access to emergency funds for families in crisis.

3. Operation of a 24/7 hotline to serve persons affected by immigration enforcement activities in San Francisco • Individuals who call the hotline will speak with trained responders and/or paraprofessional volunteers who physically verify each call; • Hotline responders are dedicated to providing the best service to every caller. Hotline responders are trained to assess the level of individual risk and to determine the appropriate level of service connection for impacted families; • When the caller needs legal representation, hotline responders connect him/her with an on-call attorney who is available 24 hours a day; • The main Hotline dispatcher maintains call data, ensures quality assurance and conducts follow-up; • Volunteers are trained on how to verify immigration enforcement activity and how to respond to the service needs of individuals/families and bystanders; and • Educational workshops or webinars for City agencies on issues involving individuals affected by enforcement activity.

4. Legal services for people in deportation proceedings • Immediate consultations for youth or adults facing deportation; • Case management and social services for clients in need of those services;

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 62 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE IMMIGRANT JUSTICE Strategy Description (continued)

• Legal Representation: Access to legal counsel, and representation for children, families and individuals going through deportation proceedings in Immigration Court. 100% of cases represented by attorneys and support staff will have access to counsel for the duration of the case; • Attorney of the Day: Participation by all grantees and partner agencies in the Attorney of the Day Program at the Immigration Court; • Legal Roundtables: Monthly collaborative meetings will be held to ensure efficient and effective communication and legal strategies between providers; • Hotline Attorney Coverage: Ensure there is prompt access to high quality legal representation for individuals by providing 24/7 attorney coverage to respond to hotline calls; • Annual Report: Collaboratives will develop an annual report that describes trends, impacts and insights into the immigration legal services landscape of San Francisco; and • Implementation of a media strategy: Directly inform impacted community members of services available. Media strategies may include staff training, preparation for media interviews, tools for press releases and press statements, etc. Additionally, further develop a technology platform to support coordination efforts. Work with local municipalities to analyze trends and develop service strategies.

Legal services are categorized as either Limited Services or Extended Services. Limited Services include: counsel and advice, such as preparing and providing advice to the client, reviewing relevant information, and counseling the client on how to take action to resolve the issue; and limited action, such as services provided to a client that involve the preparation of relatively simple or routine documents and relatively brief interactions with other parties, which could include preparing short letters, drafting routine documents or power of attorney, making a telephone call, or helping a pro per client prepare court or other legal documents.

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 63 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE IMMIGRANT JUSTICE Strategy Description (continued)

Extended Services include: negotiating a settlement with or without litigation; representing a client in court or in an administrative agency; and providing another extensive service, which may include research, preparation of complex legal documents, interaction with third parties on behalf of clients, ongoing assistance to clients, etc.

Benefits in immigration legal matters may include:

• Obtaining asylum or other forms of legal relief; • Obtaining lawful permanent residency, employment authorization, legal status, or quasi-legal status; and • Preventing deportation, or obtaining release from immigration custody.

Priority will be given to existing San Francisco-based collaboratives with experience providing these services on behalf of MOHCD.

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 64 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE IMMIGRANT JUSTICE Key Metrics

Here are some suggested outcomes to include in your proposal:

Outcome Metric

# of legal education workshops provided

# of residents who receive a legal consultation

# of residents who file applications and documents related to immigration status

# of residents engaged in case management and social support services

# of residents receiving Limited Services legal assistance # of residents receiving Extended Services legal assistance (including full representation of individuals in Immigration Court) # of residents obtaining asylum or other forms of legal relief # of residents obtaining lawful permanent residency, employment authorization, or other adjustment of legal status # of residents obtaining deportation relief

# of residents who are released from immigration custody

Feel free to expand on these, or offer other measures of success in your proposal.

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 65 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE IMMIGRANT JUSTICE Applicant Qualifications

• Applicants must be nonprofit organizations whose purpose or mission is to provide free civil legal services to vulnerable populations in San Francisco;

• Applicants must have demonstrated expertise in local, state and federal immigration law; and

• Applicants must have the ability to provide culturally competent and humble legal services or translation in languages needed to serve the target population(s).

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 66 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE WORKER JUSTICE Strategy Description

This service strategy will support employment and related legal services, including (but not limited to) job discrimination, wage claims, employee rights and other employment matters.

When a client-attorney relationship has been established, service types can include Limited Services and Extended Services. Additional eligible activities include community-based prevention workshops and know-your-rights education, and outreach that results in referrals to San Francisco's Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE) and/or other related administrative agencies.

Limited Services may include:

• Counsel and advice, such as preparing and providing advice to the client, reviewing relevant information, and counseling the client on how to take action to resolve the issue; and • Limited action, such as services provided to a client that involve the preparation of relatively simple or routine documents and relatively brief interactions with other parties. This may include preparing short letters, drafting routine documents or power of attorney, making a telephone call, or helping a pro per client prepare court or other legal documents.

Extended Services may include:

• Negotiating a settlement with or without litigation; • Representing a client in court or in an administrative agency; and • Providing another extensive service, which may include research, preparation of complex legal documents, interaction with third parties on behalf of clients, ongoing assistance to clients, etc.

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 67 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE WORKER JUSTICE Strategy Description (continued)

Benefits in employment matters may include, but are not limited to:

• Obtaining unpaid wages due; • Overcoming or obtaining relief from job discrimination, harassment, retaliation and/or other adverse employment action; • Improving an employer’s compliance with employment law and best practices; • Overcoming or obtaining relief from health and safety violations; • Successfully referring a case to an administrative agency (especially OLSE); and • Removing barriers to employment.

Key Metrics

Here are some suggested outcomes to include in your proposal:

Outcome Metric

# of residents receiving legal counsel or advice

# of residents receiving legal representation

# of residents who obtained wages or other relief

# of residents whose barriers to employment were removed

# of residents referred to an administrative agency, such as OLSE

Feel free to expand on these, or offer other measures of success in your proposal.

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 68 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE WORKER JUSTICE Applicant Qualifications

• Applicants must be nonprofit organizations whose purpose or mission is to provide free civil legal services to vulnerable populations in San Francisco;

• Applicants must have demonstrated expertise in employment law; and

• Applicants must have the ability to provide culturally competent and humble legal services or translation in languages needed to serve the target population(s).

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 69 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE HOUSING JUSTICE Strategy Description

This service strategy will support housing legal services that are outside the scope of the Tenant Right to Counsel strategy, which focuses on full scope representation for tenants facing eviction.

For applicants interested in applying for eviction-related legal services, see the Tenant Right to Counsel strategy under the Eviction Prevention & Housing Stabilization program area on page 38. For applicants interested in applying for know-your-rights education, tenant counseling, and other tenant services not provided by an attorney, see the Tenant Counseling & Education strategy under the Eviction Prevention & Housing Stabilization program area on page 42 of this RFP.

There are a range of crucial housing law issues that tenants and homeowners face that are not related to eviction. Services in the Housing Justice strategy may include, but are not limited to:

• Threats of eviction; • Rent increases; • Rent Board proceedings; • San Francisco Housing Authority proceedings; • Publicly-assisted housing matters; • Safety and habitability matters; • Reasonable accommodations; • Fair housing matters; • Foreclosure and property fraud; • Title disputes; and • Other tenant-landlord matters

When a client-attorney relationship has been established, service types can include Limited Services and Extended Services. Additional eligible activities include community-based workshops.

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 70 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE HOUSING JUSTICE Strategy Description (continued)

Limited Services may include:

Extended Services may include:

Benefits in housing matters may include, but are not limited to:

• Obtaining or preserving access to housing; • Preventing, ending or obtaining relief from unfair or illegal behavior, or otherwise enforcing rights or obtaining remedies related to housing; • Enforcing rights to safe and habitable housing; • Obtaining relief from foreclosure or property fraud; and • Resolving title disputes.

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 71 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE HOUSING JUSTICE Key Metrics

Here are some suggested outcomes to include in your proposal:

Outcome Metric

# of residents receiving legal counsel or advice

# of residents receiving legal representation

# of residents granted a reasonable accommodation request or appeal

# of residents granted a favorable Rent Board decision

# of residents granted a favorable San Francisco Housing Authority decision

Feel free to expand on these, or offer other measures of success in your proposal.

Applicant Qualifications

• Applicants must be nonprofit organizations whose purpose or mission is to provide free civil legal services to vulnerable populations in San Francisco;

• Applicants must have demonstrated expertise in housing law; and

• Applicants must have the ability to provide culturally competent and humble legal services or translation in languages needed to serve the target population(s).

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 72 CIVIL LEGAL SERVICES CONSUMER JUSTICE Strategy Description

This service strategy will support consumer and related legal services, including but not limited to:

• Bankruptcy; • Debtor relief and collections (including repossession); • Garnishment; • Contracts and warranties; • Credit access and loans; • Unfair sales practices; and • Related legal services, including conservatorship matters, employment matters, health and long-term care matters, tax matters, etc.

Proposed projects designed to protect seniors from abuse more broadly may also be submitted in response to this strategy.

When a client-attorney relationship has been established, service types can include Limited Services and Extended Services. Additional eligible activities include community-based workshops.

Limited Services may include:

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 73 CIVIL LEGAL SERVICES CONSUMER JUSTICE Strategy Description (continued)

Extended Services may include:

Benefits in consumer matters include, but are not limited to:

• Student loan debt counseling; • Obtaining federal bankruptcy protection; • Preventing repossession; • Preventing or reducing deficiency judgments; • Ending or reducing debt collection or wage garnishment; • Obtaining relief from fraudulent sales practices, or other unlawful and deceptive acts or practices; • Obtaining or preserving credit, or resolving reporting errors; • Resolving issues related to identity theft; • Obtaining protection from financial abuse; and • Obtaining protection from abuse or neglect in other matters.

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 74 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE CONSUMER JUSTICE Key Metrics

Here are some suggested outcomes to include in your proposal:

Outcome Metric

# of residents receiving legal counsel or advice

# of residents receiving legal representation

# of residents receiving student loan debt counseling

# of residents receiving protection from financial abuse

# of residents receiving federal bankruptcy protection

# of residents who preserve their credit

# of residents whose debt collection ended or was reduced

Feel free to expand on these, or offer other measures of success in your proposal.

Applicant Qualifications

• Applicants must be nonprofit organizations whose purpose or mission is to provide free civil legal services to vulnerable populations in San Francisco;

• Applicants must have demonstrated expertise in consumer law; and

• Applicants must have the ability to provide culturally competent and humble legal services or translation in languages needed to serve the target population(s).

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 75 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE BENEFITS ADVOCACY Strategy Description

This service strategy will support legal assistance in matters of income maintenance, health and long-term care, and benefits advocacy, including but not limited to:

• CalWORKs; • CalFresh; • Social Security (including Disability Insurance); • Supplemental Security Income; • Unemployment compensation; • Veteran benefits; • Workers’ Compensation; • Medicare; • Medicaid; and • Medi-Cal.

When a client-attorney relationship has been established, service types can include Limited Services and Extended Services. Additional eligible activities include community-based workshops.

Limited Services may include:

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 76 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE BENEFITS ADVOCACY Strategy Description (continued)

Extended Services may include:

Benefits in income maintenance and health and long-term care matters include, but are not limited to:

• Obtaining, preserving or increasing benefits to which client is entitled, including: foster care benefits, veterans or military benefits, disability or age-related benefits, benefits to relieve hunger, and benefits to help maintain economic self-sufficiency; • Obtaining or preserving eligibility under publicly-funded health insurance, long-term care services, or coverage under private insurance; • Increasing access to health services or long-term care services; and • Obtaining protection from abuse and neglect in a health and long-term care context.

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 77 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE BENEFITS ADVOCACY Key Metrics

Here are some suggested outcomes to include in your proposal:

Outcome Metric

# of residents receiving legal counsel or advice

# of residents receiving legal representation

# of residents who obtained or preserved benefits

# of residents whose access to services increased

Feel free to expand on these, or offer other measures of success in your proposal.

Applicant Qualifications

• Applicants must be nonprofit organizations whose purpose or mission is to provide free civil legal services to vulnerable populations in San Francisco;

• Applicants must have demonstrated knowledge of local, state and federal benefit programs; and

• Applicants must have the ability to provide culturally competent and humble legal services or translation in languages needed to serve the target population(s).

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 78 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE FAMILY JUSTICE Strategy Description

This service strategy will support family law and related legal services, including but not limited to:

• Custody; • Visitation; • Divorce; • Separation; • Annulment; • Parental rights termination; • Paternity; and • Domestic violence.

When a client-attorney relationship has been established, service types can include Limited Services and Extended Services. Additional eligible activities include community-based workshops.

Limited Services may include:

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 79 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE FAMILY JUSTICE Strategy Description (continued)

Extended Services may include:

Benefits in family matters may include, but are not limited to:

• Obtaining or preserving custody of child(ren); • Obtaining, preserving or increasing visitation rights; • Obtaining protection from abuse or neglect; • Obtaining a divorce, separation, or annulment; • Obtaining, preserving or increasing child support, or household income and assets; • Obtaining downward modification of child support; and • Establishing parentage for a child.

Domestic violence related benefits may include, but are not limited to:

• Obtaining or reissuing a temporary restraining order; • Obtaining other services and benefits to protect from abuse or neglect; • Preventing issuance or obtaining termination of protective order; and • Obtaining or renewing a restraining order after hearing.

MOHCD seeks proposals that are not limited to serving survivors of domestic violence only, as there is significant unmet need across all areas of family law. This includes providing representation in custody and visitation cases when neither party is represented.

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 80 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE FAMILY JUSTICE Key Metrics

Here are some suggested outcomes to include in your proposal:

Outcome Metric

# of residents receiving legal counsel or advice

# of residents receiving legal representation

# of residents who obtain or preserve custody

# of residents who preserve or increase their visitation rights

# of residents who obtain a restraining order

# of residents who obtain a divorce, separation, or annulment

Feel free to expand on these, or offer other measures of success in your proposal.

Applicant Qualifications

• Applicants must be nonprofit organizations whose purpose or mission is to provide free civil legal services to vulnerable populations in San Francisco;

• Applicants must have demonstrated expertise in family law; and

• Applicants must have the ability to provide culturally competent and humble legal services or translation in languages needed to serve the target population(s).

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 81 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE COMMUNITY LEGAL NAVIGATORS Strategy Description

As described in the Community Needs section (see page 58), the vast majority of low income households do not seek professional help for the civil legal problems they face, often because they do not know where to look for help or because they are not aware that their problem is a legal one. The goal of this service strategy is to build the capacity and expertise of social service organizations to identify and triage the legal issues that their clients face, and to ensure effective referrals to appropriate legal services.

Funded programs will work with MOHCD to identify a cohort of social service partners. Programs will then support these partners by:

• Providing training, support, and guidance to client-facing staff; • Providing strategy, infrastructure and capacity building services and guidance to management; • Embedding staff at key partner sites for determined periods of time; • Building strong referral networks between these social service providers and key legal services organizations (particularly those funded through MOHCD); and • Collecting data from partners regarding number, type and outcome of referrals.

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 82 ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE COMMUNITY LEGAL NAVIGATORS Key Metrics

Here are some suggested outcomes to include in your proposal:

Outcome Metric

# of social service partner organizations

# of staff trained at partner organizations # of strategy and capacity building meetings with management at partner organizations # of referrals to legal services organizations by partner organizations

Feel free to expand on these, or offer other measures of success in your proposal.

Applicant Qualifications

• Applicants must be nonprofit organizations whose purpose or mission is to increase access to free civil legal services to vulnerable populations in San Francisco; and

• Applicants must have demonstrated knowledge of the legal needs of residents, and ability to make connections with various service providers across San Francisco.

Community Development RFP 2020-2025 83