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NLADA's Board of Directors and Civil Policy
Group recently adopted a strong statement of vision and what we view as
the core values necessary for a quality legal aid system as part of our
ongoing effort to support the enhancement of quality in the delivery of
civil legal assistance. The statement was developed by a subcommittee of NLADA's Program Enhancement Committee, chaired by Tom
Matsuda, executive director of Legal Aid Services of Oregon. Linda Perle of CLASP provided primary staffing support.
The purpose of the document is to
take the various quality instruments that have been developed during the
last several years (ABA Standards, LSC Performance Criteria, ABA
Principles of a State System and Defined Right to Counsel Resolution) and
distill them into a compelling, saleable statement of values and minimum
capacities essential to a quality system.
In developing the statement,
Matsuda said, "we reasoned that, to be truly effective for clients,
any effort to improve the quality of legal services must be grounded in
the well-established core values and beliefs of the legal services
community, and that those values ought to be stated up front in
everything we do related to improving quality."
He noted:
"We wanted to simplify the language and eliminate jargon so that the
document speaks clearly to a broad range of audiences, from legal
services staff and clients to funders, the
private bar, the judiciary, local and national legislators, community
partners and the general public. We particularly were concerned with
keeping our strong vision of justice alive to inspire future generations
in legal services."
The NLADA Civil Policy Group and
Board considered and slightly revised the statement and ten core values
prior to final adoption on April 29th. The document was unveiled during
the Equal Justice Conference in Minneapolis
in May.
NLADA is excited to release the
statement and ten core principles widely within the equal justice
community to stimulate discussion and input from allies and colleagues
and to contribute to the overall quality effort.
Director of Civil Legal Services
Don Saunders remarked, "we at NLADA see the unveiling of this vision
and ten core values document as a critical moment in our efforts to help
improve the delivery of civil legal services in this country. It not only
provides a clear and inspirational vision of our community's shared
values of justice for all. The statement also invokes the fundamental
commitment of all members of the legal aid system to stand with clients
to demand an end to inequality and unfairness in the administration of
justice in America."
The ten core values document lays
out the absolute essential qualities of any effective legal aid system
from the providers' and advocates' perspective. It mirrors the 10
Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System that has been used very
effectively in many states in advocating for additional resources and other
improvements in indigent criminal defense.
The Statement of Vision and Ten
Core Values for the National Civil Legal Aid System can be viewed by
clicking here.
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