CILS Receives Technology Grant

CILS is pleased to announce a major new initiative that will give poor Californians and their advocates access to much-needed legal information and resources on the internet. Over the next year, CILS will be leading a statewide effort to develop a website that will provide easy-to-use informational and self-help guides on common legal issues facing poor people in California. The current levels of funding and resources available to the state's legal services programs make it impossible to provide individualized representation to all the poor people in California who need legal assistance. This project puts technology to use in finding creative ways to help all Californians access the justice system, and to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of legal services providers in the state. The website will address a wide range of issues, such as unfair eviction, consumer fraud, civil rights violations, eligibility for Medicare, and probate. 

In addition to meeting the needs of the state's poor as a whole, the website will provide resources to address legal problems faced by particular communities within California's diverse population. Indian Law and issues affecting seniors are among the special topics that will be covered on the website. CILS is particularly pleased that the website will be able to make legal education and self-help brochures, manuals, pamphlets, and instructions on special legal issues impacting Native Americans broadly available. 

Several members of our staff will contribute to the development and testing of materials on issues such as tribal jurisdiction, cultural resource protection, Indian family law issues, and tracing Native American ancestry. As the only Indian poverty law expert in the state, CILS looks forward to posting Indian Law materials on the website as a means of helping members of the Indian community and educating other providers of legal services about the needs of their Indian clients.