Investing in and Advocating for Access to
Justice for Poor and Vulnerable Mainers
Draft Meeting Report
May 5, 2015, Hallowell, Maine
Good Group Decisions
98 Maine Street, Brunswick, Maine, 04011
207-729-5607
www.GoodGroupDecisions.com
Contents
About the Meeting ................................................................................................................................. 1
Attendance .......................................................................................................................................................... 1
Opening Remarks ............................................................................................................................................. 2
Agenda and Ground Rules............................................................................................................................. 3
Maine Intersections .............................................................................................................................. 3
Presentation ....................................................................................................................................................... 3
Questions ............................................................................................................................................................. 5
Impacts, Trends and Challenges in Civil Legal Aid .................................................................... 5
Emerging Themes ............................................................................................................................................ 6
Discussion ........................................................................................................................................................... 7
Support for Access to Justice ............................................................................................................. 9
Emerging Themes ............................................................................................................................................ 9
Discussion ........................................................................................................................................................ 10
Collaboration Opportunities ........................................................................................................... 12
Top Ideas .......................................................................................................................................................... 12
Small Group Discussion Notes.................................................................................................................. 14
Closing Comments ............................................................................................................................... 16
Appendix A: Agenda ........................................................................................................................... 18
Appendix B: Maine Intersections Data Charts .......................................................................... 20
This report is organized by topic, not necessarily the order in which things were discussed.
About the Meeting
The purpose of this meeting was to discuss access to justice among Maine philanthropists
and legal aid providers. Following the presentation of some baseline data, participants
discussed several open-ended questions. The meeting was professionally facilitated and
documented by Craig Freshley and Kerri Sands of Good Group Decisions.
Attendance
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Bethany Beausang, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree's Office
Barbara Cardone, Maine Bar Foundation
Cathy Coffman, Campaign for Justice
Janis Cohen, Maine Bar Foundation
Kim Crichton, Maine Women’s Fund
Deb Curtis, Maine Equal Justice Partners
Barbara Edmond, Maine Philanthropy Center
Stephanie Eglington, Maine Community Foundation
Amy Gallant, AARP
Joan Gilbert, Maine Bar Foundation
Deb Felder, The Broad Reach Fund
Sarah Fuller, Legal Services for the Elderly
Karen Heck, Bingham Program
Juliet Holmes-Smith, Volunteer Lawyers Project
Morgan Hynd, Maine Health Access Foundation
Gail Kezer, Senator Angus King's Office
Peter Landis, Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project
Lauress Lawrence, Elmina B. Sewall Foundation
Michael Levey, Maine Bar Foundation
Chuck Mahaleris, Senator Susan Collins’ Office
Jaye Martin, Legal Services for the Elderly
Alysia Melnick, United Way of Greater Portland
Helen Meyer, Pine Tree Legal Assistance
Loretta Prescott, Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project
Sue Roche, Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project
Ed Saxby, Maine Equal Justice Partners
Jill Saxby, Maine Equal Justice Partners
Diana Scully, Maine Bar Foundation
John Shoos, Sam L. Cohen Foundation
Deirdre Smith, Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic
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Craig Freshley, Good Group Decisions
Kerri Sands, Good Group Decisions
Investing in and Advocating for Access to Justice for Poor and Vulnerable Mainers - May 5, 2015
Draft Meeting Report prepared by Good Group Decisions
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Opening Remarks
Diana Scully, Executive Director of the Maine Bar Foundation, welcomed the group with the
following opening remarks:
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It’s been an honor to be involved with this work in Maine
Thanks for coming today to participate in this conversation
Thanks to the project guidance committee: Janis Cohen, Jaye Martin, Helen Meyer, Juliet
Holmes-Smith, Deb Curtis, Sue Roche, and Barbara Edmond
A reminder that civil legal aid is free legal assistance for those with non-criminal
problems who do not have access to an attorney
The federal government has brought together the philanthropic and legal aid
communities to discuss the toolkit of resources
o This conversation is happening nationwide
Our project is called the Maine Intersections Project
Diana referred participants to two handouts that were provided: “Civil Legal Aid 101” and
“Natural Allies: Philanthropy and Civil Legal Aid”. The handouts can be found, respectively,
at:
http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/atj/legacy/2014/04/16/civil-legal-aid-101.pdf
and
http://www.publicwelfare.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/NaturalAllies.pdf
Barbara Edmond, President of the Maine Philanthropy Center, offered the following
welcoming remarks:
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Maine Philanthropy Center is trying to increase awareness, impact, and effectiveness of
philanthropy
o This requires nonprofit partners on the ground
o We need to create non-solicitation spaces to explore issues together
o Cross-pollination, rather than each group working separately to look at trends
The Maine Bar Foundation is in both worlds; it is a funder and it is focused on legal aid
services
Legal aid is important to many other issues but may not be a primary focus for funders.
There is an undercurrent of legal aid across many other needs.
Thanks to our federal legislative reps’ staff for being here
Investing in and Advocating for Access to Justice for Poor and Vulnerable Mainers - May 5, 2015
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Agenda and Ground Rules
Facilitator Craig Freshley explained the planned agenda (see Appendix) and the following
ground rules, things to keep in mind for an effective and efficient conversation:
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In the spirit of exploration: We are here to explore ideas - we don’t have to agree or
make any decisions
Understanding first: Ask questions
All views heard: To help with this, raise hands and let Craig call on people
Minimize distractions: Like cell phones and side conversations
Flexible agenda: We may adjust the agenda to fit group energy
Next steps are up to us: Everyone take your own initiative to follow up on what you
learn today - it is not all on one organization to handle next steps
Maine Intersections
Presentation
Diana Scully briefly presented some recent research identifying intersections between the
Maine philanthropic community and Maine’s civic legal aid providers. Diana referenced
handouts of seven data charts (see Appendix). The following comments were captured:
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Thanks to Kim Crichton for gathering information on foundation giving in Maine
Initially we had a bias that Maine foundations were not doing much for civil legal aid
However, we learned that foundations are doing a lot - so thanks!
The federal government’s role is not represented in this data. For today, we are looking
at the legal community and the philanthropic world.
o We recognize that there is much more to do in the future regarding the federal
role
There are six providers of civil legal aid in Maine:
o Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic (at the University of Southern Maine)
o ILAP - the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project
o Pine Tree Legal Assistance
o VLP - Maine Volunteer Lawyers Project
o MEJP - Maine Equal Justice Partners
o Legal Services for the Elderly
Chart #1
o IOLTA - the Interest on Lawyer’s Trust Accounts
 A funding mechanism for civil legal aid
 There are trust accounts where lawyers hold money for clients
 Sometimes funds are in these accounts for such a short time or are
Investing in and Advocating for Access to Justice for Poor and Vulnerable Mainers - May 5, 2015
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so tiny in amount that it would cost more to the client for the
financial institution to set up the process to pay them interest
income than they would receive in interest income
 The interest income from these types of funds is pooled and
distributed for charitable purposes
The amount of money distributed by us has flattened
The amount of money we have received has been a sharper decline
We have been using reserves we set aside earlier
Interest rates have continued to be low so what we are receiving is not going to
increase
We are about to face an interest rate cut from 1% to 0.35% by a major bank
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Chart #2
o Maine Civil Legal Services Fund
 Overseen by 3 volunteer Commissioners
 Revenue comes from court fees and penalties
 So when you get a speeding ticket you are performing a
philanthropic act!
o These funds have also been declining
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Chart #3
o Private bar contributions
 These are significant
 Total amount raised in each of the last 2 years has exceeded $500,000
o This chart shows the amounts that have gone to providers
 Campaign for Justice
 Coffin Fellowship Program
 Fellowships at Pine Tree Legal
 Has been level-funded
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Chart #4
o Philanthropic community contributions
o 2014 saw some major one-time gifts
 This was wonderful!
 But giving is not expected to continue at this level
o The philanthropic community is giving at a great level
o Note: This chart does not include the United Ways
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Chart #5
o Levels of funding across the different organizations
o Many are giving less than $50,000
o A few are giving $1 million or more
o This chart includes the United Ways
o Wide range in sizes of actual gifts
Investing in and Advocating for Access to Justice for Poor and Vulnerable Mainers - May 5, 2015
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Chart #6
o How many legal aid providers does each foundation support?
 Almost half are supporting 1 provider
 22% are supporting 2-4 providers, and 22% supporting 3-4 providers
 9% supporting 5-6 providers
o This support is for specific legal aid
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Chart #7
o A summary showing the amount of all legal aid funding, by source
o The 2014 one-time money was removed from this chart
 Nevertheless, the trend is still up
Questions
Participants had a chance to ask questions. In response, Diana clarified the following:
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We are not yet sure how Maine compares to similar programs in other states
o We will find out when we come together with the other 10 states who are doing
this work
Regarding Chart #6, showing that 9% of foundations support 5-6 legal aid providers,
the 9% includes Maine Bar Foundation, plus one or two others who support all Maine’s
providers
This project is funded by the Public Welfare Foundation
Impacts, Trends and Challenges in Civil Legal Aid
In a facilitated discussion, the group heard first from providers and then from others about
how access to justice is connected to many issues and about specific future needs. Specific
questions addressed were:
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Why is legal aid so important?
o What are the impacts of civil legal aid, especially on poor and vulnerable
Mainers and others?
o What are the trends that affect people who need civil legal aid, those who
provide legal aid, and others who touch the lives of people who need civil
legal aid?
o What are the challenges for people who need civil legal aid, who provide civil
legal aid, and others?
Investing in and Advocating for Access to Justice for Poor and Vulnerable Mainers - May 5, 2015
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Emerging Themes
Craig captured the following themes on the screen:
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Why Legal Aid is So Important
o Direct representation – helping people case by case
o General impact – applying expertise
o Access to justice helps get basic human needs met
 We work together to make sure all the needs are met
o Dignity and respect
 “My attorney was the first person to believe me.”
o Gives people a voice
o Justice denied impacts society – we are all diminished
o We help social services work better
o We help eliminate the need for social services
o Our work is especially important in a challenging economy
o Prevention AND cure
 We work upstream as well as downstream
o We help seniors with independence
o We help people with their civil rights
 We provide protection against unfair or mistaken application of laws
o We understand the issues that people are facing and can influence what’s most
important
o Legal aid has a huge impact on individual cases
 Those represented by lawyers have significantly better outcomes
o We work in coalitions
o We are a knowledgeable voice at the Legislature
 At several different layers in several different ways
 Understand implications of changes in the laws
Trends
o We are getting older, quickly
o Growing immigrant population
 Growing population of asylum seekers
o We are seeing more criminalization of homeless
 More interaction between homeless people and police
o We are seeing greater diversity of homeless people
Challenges
o The public sector doesn’t want to pay for anything anymore
o Many people (40%-50%) in our state don’t want poor people to have legal
access
o The need is growing
 More and more people (many working people) are unable to afford a
lawyer
o Describing the work we do on “non-lawyer” terms
Investing in and Advocating for Access to Justice for Poor and Vulnerable Mainers - May 5, 2015
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We are solving society’s greatest problems
Discussion
Providers
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What’s unique about the impact of civil legal aid:
o It’s a combination of direct representation and broader impact work
o Goes back to War on Poverty issues
o Each provider has local expertise in a specialty area
 Providers help individuals and then share that expertise more broadly
 This allows the community to see where problems are and work on
solutions
 Example: Working on elder abuse and foreclosure cases generated work
on policy and with social service agencies
Civil legal aid has an impact on maintaining basic needs, making sure people can use the
justice system
o So people aren’t on their own in job loss or divorce cases
o Helps people maintain their families and homes
Civil legal aid provides dignity to people. If you don’t have access to the justice system,
it leaves you disconnected and without a feeling of worth in the community.
o Examples:
 A client of the Volunteer Lawyers Project was upset because she received
a proposed order for her kids to have overnight visits with their father,
even though one of the children was only 3 months old and was
breastfeeding. Client did not understand what a “proposed order” was;
felt there was no place for her voice to be heard. We helped her
understand how to have a voice in the system.
 Feedback from open legal clinics for homeless people at Preble Street:
 Clients felt that it was helpful to talk to a lawyer, but it was even
more meaningful to be treated with respect.
 Clients felt that someone listened, looked them in the eye, took
them seriously, and helped them figure out steps to take to make a
legal situation better.
Civil legal aid helps people stay in viable living situations
These issues impact ALL of us. Civil legal aid is a doorway that can either be locked and
slammed shut, or if opened, gives access to justice. If we deny access to justice, what can
we say about our legal system and our society? If we don’t do this well, we are all
diminished.
Civil legal aid touches on basic human needs: protection from violence, status for work.
Sometimes the justice system is the barrier.
The six providers work together closely and can cross reference. Housing issues cross
with employment issues and elder issues. If housing is a key issue, it might prevent
Investing in and Advocating for Access to Justice for Poor and Vulnerable Mainers - May 5, 2015
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someone from addressing a domestic violence issue. Together we can maximize our
impact.
We take our individual work and apply it to the larger system. For example:
o How can a public assistance program work better?
o How can we alleviate need for public assistance?
o The decline in funding is exemplary of the economy which is also affecting Maine
families
o We are trying to figure out how to retain basic assistance AND what will help
families move out of this trap
Civil legal aid helps with independence. Seniors more than anyone fear loss of
independence. Especially if food and housing is at stake.
Civil legal aid helps correct unfair or mistaken application of laws. Our justice systems
were set up so people could fight for their rights, to give people a chance to say, “You
got it wrong” or “Here’s what you don’t know”. Such rights are totally meaningless to
the people we are talking about if they don’t have an advocate.
o It doesn’t matter if there is a foreclosure diversion effort if someone can’t read
We see a high volume of clients coming through, and we have a pulse on the issues
Mainers are facing. We can address these issues immediately. We have been able to
change systems in favor of protection from abuse; for example, it is now possible to file
for a protection order before starting a divorce proceeding, or without being in a
relationship.
Trend: Maine is the oldest state and median age is increasing. 25% of Mainers will be
over 60 in 15 years.
Challenge: The public sector can’t agree to fund anything generally as a society. There
are many in Maine who don’t want poor people to have legal access. It’s important to
provide a base of consensus about working on these issues.
Challenge: The need is growing. Many people who can’t afford a lawyer are working
people, not the traditional indigent population. More and more people have a legal
problem but can’t just go hire an attorney.
It is a challenge describing the work we do in non-legal terms. We are solving society’s
greatest problems: financial insecurity, homelessness, etc., but we often describe it as
justice work, which doesn’t always resonate with everyone.
Civil legal aid providers work upstream as well as downstream. Like in the fable, we
help the wounded people who are coming down the river and we go investigate the
source of the problem.
Civil legal aid providers work in coalition. Here in Maine we know how to work
together. We know who to make the leader of particular projects. And we like each
other.
Trend: We have a growing immigrant population, and asylum seekers have limited
access to services.
We need more immigration to combat age trends. We are cutting off noses to spite our
faces.
Funding legal aid has an impact on the judicial system. People who have no
representation in asylum cases are denied 89% of the time. The results are significantly
Investing in and Advocating for Access to Justice for Poor and Vulnerable Mainers - May 5, 2015
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better if people have an attorney.
o People can’t navigate the system without representation
o The system is designed to “chew you up and spit you out”
Others
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Trend: We are seeing more criminalization of homelessness. We are seeing homeless
people have negative interactions with police in downtown parks for things you or I
could do all day long.
Trend: There are now more people who are homeless as a demographic. It used to be
40-year-old white males; now it’s families.
Civil legal aid has had a major impact in the restoration of dignity. Homeless people
have expressed that the well-dressed attorney who met with them was the first person
to believe them, to believe their story.
You providers are the experts on the issues. Our legislators turn over so frequently, but
you can tell legislators exactly what the impact is on districts, constituencies. You are
the resources for other advocates and for legislators.
You are experts on how changes in law affect people
Opportunities to collaborate on specific angles in specific cases. For example,
strategizing with MEJP (Maine Equal Justice Partners) on food stamp legislation.
Trends: The need is growing, and so is the willingness to fund
We should include Consumers for Affordable Health Care in this conversation. They
help file insurance claims, etc. As Mainers have increased access to insurance and health
care, they will probably be running into more issues that require legal assistance.
Support for Access to Justice
In a facilitated discussion, the group heard first from funders and supporters, and then
from others, about philanthropic goals and motivation for funding access to justice. Specific
questions addressed were:
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Why support legal aid?
o Why are funders and other supporters motivated to fund access to justice?
o What larger goals are supported by improving access to justice?
Emerging Themes
Craig captured the following themes on the screen:
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Why Support Legal Aid
o Helps achieve our mission
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 Healthcare access
 Social justice
Practically speaking, involvement of lawyers helps prevent the system from
getting bogged down
Focus on immigrant refugees and migrant farm workers
We care for human beings
 Without access for all there is no justice
We want to support systemic change
The needs are huge and when they are not addressed – when people ask for help
and don’t get it – it has huge, life-cycle impacts
It’s a way to support basic human rights
The issues are interconnected – legal aid is interconnected with other issues
Discussion
Funders and Supporters
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We [at US Senator and Congressional offices] are not allowed to help with specific legal
cases. You provide assistance that we can’t. We can do work in the realm of social
security and the like, but there is a certain line we can’t cross, and when we get to that
line, we turn to you as experts.
Funding access to justice helps us achieve our mission at the foundation level. We
promote access to health care for low income and uninsured folks. We can’t do it all on
our own. We don’t achieve mission without legal aid help.
Impact is always a challenge for foundations. We have a struggle because we want to
make as big an impact as we can. We try to do so via system change rather than direct
services. When you, as providers, see a variety of cases dealing with a particular issue,
we ask, “Can the foundation support changes in the system?”
In philanthropy, if you truly have a concern for human beings, then you want to support
society. Everyone suffers when there are barriers to justice.
Non-lawyers trying to advocate for themselves end up bogging down the entire system.
Not only do they not get justice, but everyone who is waiting in line for court time gets
backed up. A case that might take a half-hour with a lawyer gets held up for 6 months
because of the back-up. So without access for all, there is no such thing as justice - both
conceptually and on a practical level.
Legal aid supports systems-approaches and population-specific approaches. For
example, immigrants and aslyees and farm workers.
Legal aid supports class-action lawsuits. Litigation is an important tool for philanthropy
and not enough people do it.
Legal aid is compelling because Mainers have challenges asking for help. If they are
turned down, they may not ask for help ever again. If people ask for help and can’t get it,
how that does translate into their rest of their lives?
Legal aid is interconnected with other issues. Can’t isolate it from financial stability or
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wellness. When we see that people challenged by any of these things are suffering, we
can see the interconnectedness.
Legal aid helps people access benefits and there are examples of success that we could
showcase. Right now there are lots of Mainers hearing the wrong story about benefits.
People asked for help and couldn’t get it, and so now they are angry at food stamps. This
is responsible for so much negativity we encounter.
There is a trend in foundations to look for system-level change, but there is also
individual giving motivation towards funding basic human rights and dignity. For
example, if an individual donor wants to impact lives rather than work at the policychanging level.
Others
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Question: Why do foundations support systemic change but not direct representation?
o Answers:
 Our mission is to steward resources that can make a difference. When we
look at proposals, we look for which ones will make a difference in a way
that only we can. We can’t fill the gaps in public funding. The high
leverage point for big gifts is systemic change. We want to break open an
industry that can teach people how to fish.
 We do policy development or community health. Our thinking is public
health based. It’s an upstream approach because so much public policy is
focused on downstream problems. If we only have small amount of
money, we want to work upstream.
 Most funders like to see nonprofits have 80% of resources come from
sustainable sources and 20% max from foundations. Funders want to
complement what individuals and the government are giving.
 It is a strategic use of limited dollars to look at a whole problem.
 There are different roles of government, charity, individuals,
philanthropy. Foundations are never going to replace the amount of
money from the government sector. We don’t want to bail out
organizations who have gotten lazy because they relied on government
funds that are now coming to an end. We want to work together with
other funding sources.
 I always want to put my dollars where there is the most change.
I understand foundations are trying to get the biggest bang for buck. But if you are
going to fund medical research, you still need doctors in the system to do referrals,
write prescriptions, and give treatments. Lawyers are the access portal for justice and
you still need them in the system.
There is an education gap. We need to help people get from wanting to fund an
individual to the bigger problem. Help people get from pity and charity to change.
There are big funding gaps for capacity building, for helping an organization stick
around and be successful - well staffed, having an air conditioner so they can work
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comfortably, etc.
A current big challenge is that it is very hard to grasp the pain and cost of legal services.
In the private sector legal services cost hundreds of dollars per hour. But we can’t run a
legal system over time on volunteer labor. We can’t have representation for individuals
relying on who will step up to the podium today vs. tomorrow. So we are giving away
money at $300/hr. Perhaps there need to be salaried positions. How to translate that
outside this room?
A challenge is the myth of individual responsibility; that the individual is the one on
which everything rests. We used to believe that government had a function of providing
for the common good. That has changed, due in part to evangelical and right wing
movements. We now have very loud voices saying that there is no role for government
in the common good - except to support the individual job creators, whoever they are.
Some nonprofits are so swamped in the daily work of providing homeless shelter or
dealing with domestic violence, it is not their employees’ job to do systemic change.
When Legal Services for the Elderly hired a young person to help a particular employee
who was spread across two counties, it freed up the employee’s time to see how much
more they could do to change the lives of many people. They could see the long term
holistic approach because they had a little more capacity.
o Funding a couple of positions would make such a difference. It will blossom so
many ideas that feed back into systemic knowledge.
Collaboration Opportunities
In small groups we discussed how to support each other in achieving our respective goals.
Each group was asked to discuss the following questions, with a particular emphasis on #3:
1. What are the most prominent goals that providers and supporters have in common?
2. In general, what can providers and supporters do to help each other achieve our
goals?
3. What are some specific ways in which we might collaborate to our mutual benefit?
4. Any “Aha’s” from your conversation worth sharing?
Top Ideas
Each group had a chance to share a few top ideas from their conversations. The following
ideas were summarized on the screen during group report-outs:
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We all have the “upstream” concept in common
Think of funders as equal partners
o Learn from them:
 What works
 Gaps
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 What can be supported
o It’s a Legal Services Collaborative
Funders tend to fund organizations they trust
o Organizations: Earn funder trust with a specific project
Goals in common:
o Supporting common good
o Remaining viable and sustainable
Form collaborations and coalitions to
o Share solutions
o Avoid duplicative efforts
o Increase capacity building
We need to talk more about capacity building
Draw on public-private partnerships
o Promote and strengthen them
Work together to jointly educate others on the economic and social impact of providing
legal aid
o Multiplying effect
Opportunities to work together on messaging and data collecting
o This could be a systemic project – the larger message
The foundations could have a more high profile role in making public policy
o Educating our legislators
Legal Aid Collaborative idea
o Different than JAG
o Early childhood collaborative example
 Funders gathered who were interested in the same issues
 Developed collaborative relationship
 Developed an attitude of partnership between providers and funders
 Allowed for an atmosphere of honesty
 Managed the power relationships positively
o Six providers already meet regularly
o Collaborative would include “people doing the work” and “people who fund the
work”
o Let’s keep getting together and keep talking
 The burden is on those of us in the justice system to tell funders what we
think is important – and on funders to tell us where they see needs
o When we get together, there is value in learning and seeing the opportunities to
be most impactful for our work
o We have opportunities to address the growing sense that “it is not the
government’s role”
o Bring in bankers who make decisions about IOLTA interest rates
 It is possible that some banks are willing to pay above comparable rates
o Funders are talking about sustainability of advocacy groups
 Emphasize connections between legal aid and advocacy
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Small Group Discussion Notes
The following ideas were discussed within individual small groups and noted on Table
Discussion Forms for inclusion in this report:
What are the most prominent goals that providers and supporters have in common?
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Education and integration
Similar populations of interest
Striving for change
System is broken - how can we fix for the common good?
Increased access to legal services
More need than resources - how to prioritize
Needs are interconnected
Desire for collaboration
Convening P/P/P
Capacity building of organizations
Helping vulnerable populations
Improving quality of life for all Maine people
Basic human needs
Dignity - all populations
Access to counsel
“Upstream”
o Nothing occurs in silo
o What is base issue that can push other solutions forward?
Working collaboration
What are some specific ways in which we might collaborate to our mutual benefit?
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Sharing within the philanthropy community why we each do it
Campaign for Justice
o Successful with lawyers
o Have to figure out the message for others
o Providers are too close to it
Collaborate on data collection - big picture data
Messaging efforts for different audiences
Bring funders together to talk about gaps to fill
o Direct?
o Systemic?
Take capacity-building approach - need staff to do systems work
Support collaborations to integrate, educate and “connect the dots”
Keep talking!
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Greater opportunities to share perspectives
Capacity building
Frame general operating support - is not generally funded
Start with Project “X” with new donors
Foundations could have a role in making public policy - but not doing it
More conversations between providers and funders
Mission/needs can change
o Data and regular forums can be useful
o Info/idea exchange
o Trends
o Idea: legal services collaborative
Upstream work on advocacy and education
o Themes that cross borders between groups
Follow “adopt a highway” model
o Can we do this for CLA?
What are most expensive cases?
o Could someone adopt those cases?
o Free up $ for rest of people
Use data creatively to draw people in
Menu of life-saving procedures that I could contribute to
Bring philanthropy and people doing work together
Facing aging demographic
o What do we do?
Funders collaborating around issues
o Opportunities to break out of shells
State of the State around legal aid
o Last year vs. this year
Any “Aha’s” from your conversation worth sharing?
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What is government supposed to be doing?
This conversation is a great reminder
Look around! All the needs a client could have and you may have only one in your
control.
Missing: Where is the federal support?
What if legal aid is all together? Getting under one roof?
Legal Service Corporation funding
o Can’t fund certain groups
 E.g. Immigrants
Investing in and Advocating for Access to Justice for Poor and Vulnerable Mainers - May 5, 2015
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Closing Comments
Everyone had a chance to offer a brief closing comment such as a reflection about the
process or perhaps a particular hope or concern going forward.
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Important to understand that program officers don’t make policy decisions about how
money gets spent - talk to trustees
Success on access to justice makes huge impact on individual lives
Appreciative of spending time with people focused on doing good for the community
Capacity building, capacity building, capacity building
What she said
Hope that providers feel supported and appreciated
Inspired by the providers to better understand federal role in the solution
Thanks to Diana and Barbara and everyone
I’m really glad I work in Maine
Our burden as lawyers is to do a good self-examination to make sure we are doing all
we can, so we can sell the product to others. We need to help people overcome negative
perceptions of lawyers. The public believes access to justice is our problem (because of
our fees) and it’s up to us to solve this.
MEJP has a good presentation about what can and can’t be funded. Other organizations
have picked it up and have given the presentation elsewhere - an example of
collaboration.
Good energy and good to get to know folks working in this field
Look forward to continuing the conversation
This conversation is so important - in a small state we can make a difference
Encouraged by interest in advocacy and systemic change - didn’t know it was true
Appreciate federal legislative representatives having a presence here
Appreciate the work of the six organizations
Collaboration needs to start at our next meeting. I would like to know what federal
support looks like. And there is other info to share.
Thanks to funders/supporters - thanks for sharing your thinking behind changes in
funding
Appreciate funders taking the time to be here and to talk with us to understand more
Thanks for convening this and for including us. Thanks to the providers, for your work
with individuals and for shedding light on how we can make better policy. Hope for a
bigger discussion on the federal role.
Thanks to our federal legislative reps who sent someone (and we noticed who did not!)
Excited about this opportunity - it’s been an amazing start to a conversation that needs
to keep going
The collaboration we are talking about - it just happened!
Thanks to funders for listening and learning
Agree with what everyone’s said. The federal piece, and how much money we are losing
from Medicaid, food stamps, and that impact on providers - that would be a nice data
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point.
I wish foundations would step up more. We have the money and the power to change
the conversation about the common good. People on food stamps are not going to be
the ones changing the conversation.
Barbara Edmond offered the following closing remarks:
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Today we achieved our goal of getting people who don’t know each other together, and
talking about what we care about and how we can feel supported in our work
It’s all about matchmaking. Each foundation has a focus - driven by legacy, board, etc. and the foundation staff is doing what it can to meet that charge.
The message about civic legal aid is not same message for foundations, government
individuals, or corporations
Funders have begun to say they need to do more public policy work, but don’t know
how; there are rules and regulations. We are trying to move public policy work forward
in our network.
Diana Scully offered the following closing remarks:
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I feel like such a lucky person!
This room is filled with people who really do care about justice for all Mainers
You can feel the power in the room, and it encourages me that we can do this work
together
Thanks for being open and sharing your ideas and your time with us
Investing in and Advocating for Access to Justice for Poor and Vulnerable Mainers - May 5, 2015
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Appendix A: Agenda
Investing in and Advocating for Access to
Justice for Poor and Vulnerable Mainers
Agenda
May 5, 2015, 9am-12pm, The Carriage House, Maple Hill Farm, Hallowell, Maine
About the Meeting
The purpose of this meeting is to discuss access to justice among Maine
philanthropists and legal aid providers. We will learn about recent support for
access to justice, current trends, and future needs. Together we will explore our
respective goals and discuss how we might collaborate to achieve them.
Following the presentation of some baseline data, the agenda is anchored by three
open ended questions designed to lead us through an exploration. The approach is
not highly prescriptive and we’re not sure what we will find.
To help us be productive and efficient, facilitator Craig Freshley will encourage
input from all participants, keep us on track, and identify themes as we go. Craig and
his associate Kerri Sands will also prepare a complete report of the meeting to be
distributed after.
Agenda
8:45
Arrival and Refreshments
9:00
Opening
 Diana Scully, Executive Director of the Maine Bar Foundation and
Barbara Edmond, President of the Maine Philanthropy Center will
welcome the group and offer some opening remarks.
 Craig Freshley, facilitator, will explain the meeting format and a
few simple ground rules.
 We will each introduce ourselves to each other.
9:15
Maine Intersections
We will hear a presentation from Diana Scully on recent research that
identifies intersections between the Maine philanthropic community
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and Maine’s civic legal aid providers. We will learn specifically how
two dozen foundations and United Ways supported the legal aid
community from 2010 to 2014. There will be a chance for questions
and clarifications.
9:40
Impacts, Trends and Challenges in Civil Legal Aid
Why is legal aid so important? We will hear from providers about how
access to justice affects so many other issues and we will hear
opinions about specific future needs. This will not be formal
presentations but rather a facilitated discussion among providers.
10:00
Support for Access to Justice
Why support legal aid? We will hear from funders about their
motivation for funding access to justice; specifically their
philanthropic goals that this type of support helps to achieve. And this
too will not be formal presentations but rather a facilitated discussion
among supporters.
10:20
Collaboration Opportunities
How can we support each other in achieving our respective goals? We
will discuss this question in small groups of providers and supporters
and identify specific ideas. As a full group we will share, discuss, and
build on the small group ideas.
11:15
Closing Comments
This is a chance for each person to offer a brief closing comment,
perhaps a reflection about the process or perhaps a particular hope or
concern going forward.
11:30
Lunch
Un-programmed, a chance for continuing informal conversation.
12:00
Adjourn
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Appendix B: Maine Intersections Data Charts
#1
#2
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#3
#4
*Not including Maine Bar Foundation
**2014 foundation funding is an anomaly because of some one-time major gifts
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#5
#6
9%
47%
22%
22%
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#7
Maine Bar Foundation includes IOLTA & Endowment
Private Bar includes Campaign for Justice and Coffin Fellows Contributions
2014 Foundation funding does not include one-time major gifts
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