NEW HAMPSHIRE HAS made sweeping progress in administering legal aid since Legal Services Corporation called for the creation of "state justice communities" six years ago, according to a report released last month by the Legal Services Corporation.

The report, "Building State Justice Communities," identifies the 18 states most successful in implementing reforms since LSC-funded programs were required to develop integrated, statewide delivery systems for legal services in 1995.

Along with New Hampshire, other states highlighted in the report were: California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Washington and West Virginia.

The report found that all 18 states "improved access to justice for low-income people, strengthened the quality of legal services delivered by programs and forged new and deeper bonds among stakeholder partners in each state’s civil justice community."

"This report confirms that LSC programs are striving to find the highest and best use of federal dollars by working together to serve as many clients as effectively as possible," said LSC President John McKay. "These findings are encouraging because they show how far states can stretch scarce resources with cooperation and creativity."

LSC is the independent, non-profit corporation established by Congress in 1974 to provide equal access to justice for low-income Americans. LSC initiated its State Planning Initiative in 1995 to expand the number of clients served after Congressional budget cuts in the mid-1990s left tens of thousands of low-income Americans without needed legal representation.

The LSC Board of Directors, led by Chairman Douglas S. Eakeley, charged all 50 states with evaluating "whether the current structure of the state [legal aid] delivery system ... constitutes the most effective and economical way to meet client needs throughout the state."

In the most recent national surveys taken on the unmet legal needs of America’s poor, a 1994 study by the American Bar Association concluded that approximately 80 percent of low-income Americans do not have an attorney when they are in a serious situation requiring legal counsel. A survey of selected local legal services programs in the spring of 1993, when LSC funding was proportionately much higher, revealed that nearly half of all people who applied for assistance from local programs were turned away due to lack of program resources.

In its analysis of NH, the report highlighted the statewide accomplishment of the state planning process. In 1995 the NH Bar Association and the state legal services community joined forces to establish the LSC-funded Legal Advice & Referral Center (LARC). Over the last six years, LARC has greatly expanded legal aid in New Hampshire by offering:

• A hotline that conducts intake for the Pro Bono Referral System;
• Advice and counsel in specific substantive areas;
• Referrals to New Hampshire Legal Assistance (NHLA) for cases requiring more advice and counsel;
• New materials on community education and pro se activities.

In addition to the establishment of LARC, the tightly knit New Hampshire legal services community has instituted a series of successful reforms:

• Pooled the fundraising efforts of LARC, NHLA and the Pro Bono Program;
• Provided all staff with the necessary technology, including a system-wide database, personal computers and Internet access;
• Developed a cost-effective method for determining the legal needs of low-income people in New Hampshire.

Randi Youells, LSC’s vice president of programs, noted that several states not included in the report have made meaningful strides in restructuring to better serve more clients, but that the 18 states included in the report were "the cream of the crop" in delivering legal aid.

"We are genuinely impressed with the efforts in most states, and we feel that every state is capable of doing the kinds of things New Hampshire has done," Youells said. "Since we called for state planning six years ago, many in the legal services community have asked us what exactly we are looking for. This report answers their questions by offering models like New Hampshire."

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