State Funding for Legal Aid Receives Boost

State funding for the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation will increase to $2 million, from the previous level of $472,900, for the state fiscal year starting July 1, 2005. The foundation distributes state funding for civil legal aid to nonprofit groups throughout the state. The additional funding will enable those organizations to help, the foundation estimates, more than 30,000 individuals and families with legal problems.

“With this funding, the state will help low-income residents who have nowhere else to turn to get the legal help they need that is essential to their safety and independence. It’s absolutely critical we ensure that poor people have access to the same kind of court system and the same kind of legal relief as those who can afford to pay,” said Phil Rock, former Illinois Senate President and cochair of the Equal Justice Illinois Campaign. “While Illinois still needs to do more when it comes to providing legal aid resources, this is a critical first step in getting us in line with the rest of the nation,” he added. Among the ten most populous states, the average appropriation for legal aid is $6.8 million.

The foundation’s appropriation, originally housed in the Illinois Department of Human Services, has been moved to the Office of the Attorney General. “This increased appropriation is critical to providing services to Illinoisans who need legal assistance but cannot afford it,” said Attorney General Lisa Madigan. “Our legal system was designed for all. With this funding, legal aid organizations throughout the state will make sure that low-income Illinois residents have access to that system.”

The effort to increase legal aid funding enjoyed strong bipartisan support within the Illinois General Assembly. Senators Jeff Schoenberg (D-9th) and Kirk Dillard (R-24th) led the effort and sponsored bills to increase the state appropriation for civil legal aid to $2 million and $1 million, respectively.

“Legal aid funding is a solid investment for our state,” said Senator Schoenberg, who also initiated moving the funding to the Attorney General’s Office. “Access to legal services makes the difference in people’s lives. By providing people with the legal help they need now, we can help prevent problems such as child abuse, domestic violence, and homelessness.”

The $2 million in funding will provide critical relief to Illinois’s legal aid network, which is so overburdened and underfunded that it is operating in a crisis mode, accepting only the most critical cases and turning away tens of thousands of people each year. A statewide legal needs study released earlier this year found that, in 2003 alone, poor people faced more than 1.3 million civil legal problems, involving issues such as domestic violence, divorce, child custody, evictions, mortgage foreclosures or the physical and financial abuse of the elderly. However, in more than 80 percent of those cases, individuals and families faced the problem without any legal assistance.

Federal funding from the Legal Services Corporation, which is the largest source of support for legal aid, has dropped by 38 percent over the past 15 years, when adjusted for inflation.

State funding for civil legal aid is appropriated through the Illinois Equal Justice Act. The Act, approved by the General Assembly and signed into law in 1999, recognizes the State’s responsibility to ensure equal access to the legal system. It sets forth a wide range of innovative, cost-effective initiatives to help low-income people understand the legal system and resolve their routine legal problems more effectively.

For more information about the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation and the Equal Justice Illinois Campaign, see www.equaljusticeillinois.org. You may also contact Margaret Stapleton at 312.368.3327.