May - June 2003

Cover

The May-June issue features articles on child support, mental illness and domestic violence, technology, battered immigrant women, and civil/defender collaboration.

 
  • Breaking the Cycle of Defeat for "Deadbroke" Noncustodial Parents Through Advocacy on Child Support Issues

    Low-income noncustodial parents face employment and economic barriers that are caused by federal and state child support policies and local practices. Maryland's Legal Aid Bureau launched a project to tackle these barriers and has developed successful advocacy responses to their clients' recurrent problems.

    By Daniel L. Hatcher and Hannah Lieberman

  • Mental Illness and Domestic Violence: Implications for Family Law Litigation

    Experts find that a large percentage of battered women have significant mental health issues. Prejudice in family courts regarding mental health conditions can cost these women custody of their children. However, lawyers representing battered women can effectively raise the issue of mental illness and use mental health treatment evidence in ways that mitigate the stigma, potentially help the client prove her case, and over time erode the prejudice.

    By Denice Wolf Markham

  • Opening a Door to Help: Legal Services Programs' Key Role in Representing Battered Immigrant Women and Children

    Civil orders of protection are an important tool in thwarting domestic violence, but most victims, especially immigrants, need legal representation to ensure meaningful access to this tool. Programs funded by the Legal Services Corporation are prohibited from representing many immigrants, but the Kennedy Amendment exempts many battered immigrant women and children from this restriction. Under the amendment, such funded programs may represent otherwise ineligible immigrant women and children on a wide range of matters, provided that the service is directly related to the abuse.

    By Leslye Orloff, Amanda Baran, Laura A. Martinez- McIntosh, and Jennifer Rose

  • The Future of Technology in Legal Services: A Time for New Advocacy

    Concurrent with technology advancements, the legal services community is in the midst of its own technological revolution. Technology advocacy efforts are advancing to assist the low-income community all the better.

    By Gabrielle Hammond and Ellis Jacobs

  • Bridging the Gap: A Practical Guide to Civil-Defender Collaboration.

    When low-income clients are charged with criminal offenses, the disposition of the cases often has significant civil implications. Public defenders are often unaware of these implications, however, and legal aid attorneys are often unaware of their clients' involvement in the criminal justice system. Lawyers for the poor should work to bridge this gap; the result will be better service to their clients.

    By McGregor Smyth

  • Closing the Courthouse Doors

    Not only have recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions created substantial obstacles to civil rights litigation, but, more perniciously, most of the Rehnquist Court's civil rights cases show a profound disrespect for the importance of the availability of the judicial process to injured individuals. The consistent theme that unites these recent decisions is how they close the courthouse doors to those whose rights have been violated. Although there are no easy solutions, there are avenues for reopening the courthouse doors to civil rights litigants.

    By Erwin Chemerinsky

  • Working with Linguistically and Culturally Isolated Communities: The Cambodian Outreach Project of Merrimack Valley Legal Services

    Extending service to historically underserved and underrepresented communities is a concern shared by many different organizations. The Cambodian Outreach Project of Merrimack Legal Services exemplifies an approach to working with linguistically and culturally isolated communities.

    By Trang Nguyen

  • The TANF Child Care Collaborative: Responding to a Changed Environment for Subsidized Child Care

    When the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program imposed work requirements on welfare recipients, advocates had to assist clients with difficult child care problems. In response to these challenges, three national legal advocacy groups launched the TANF Child Care Collaborative to support state and local organizations advocating improved child care for low-income families. The collaborative focused on increasing the capacity of state and local advocates to address child care issues in Illinois, New York, and Texas.

    By Anne Erickson, Henry Freedman, Marcia Henry, Eve Hershcopf, Sherry Leiwant, Daniel Lesser, Marcia C. Rachofsky, and Nancy Strohl

  • Salute to R. Sargent Shriver