TRIBAL ALERT!
ACTION NEEDED!
SUPPORT EQUAL FUNDING FOR FREE LEGAL SERVICES TO CALIFORNIA INDIANS
August 29, 2003

FACTS

• CILS has received only a 10% increase in its federal funding over the past 20 years.

• The census count of California Indians during that same period has more than quadrupled.

• CILS receives only $5.77 per year for each Native American in California who lives below the poverty line – and receives no funding for tribal representation.

• Funding for other legal services programs starts at $8.78 per poor person.

• An adjustment to our funding based on the 2000 census would allow us to dramatically expand services in a broad range of areas. For example:

• Increasing assistance in ICWA cases

• More training for and consultation with tribes

• Providing a total of 8000 additional hours of free legal services to California Indians and tribes next year

What action can your tribe take at this time?

If your tribe supports additional funding for more free legal services to California Indians and tribes, you should express your support by faxing a letter to Senator Pete Domenici (R- New Mexico), Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R- Colorado), and Senator Daniel Inouye (D- Hawaii) asking them to increase the Native American line item of the Legal Services Corporation funding. Click here for a sample letter (opens new window).  Congress is reconvening in less than two weeks, so letters to all three Senators should be faxed as soon as possible.

For More Information

For more information about this issue, please contact Lisa Oshiro, Directing Attorney of CILS’ Washington D.C. Office – (866) 204-1831, or by email at  loshiro@calindian.org – or Michael Pfeffer, CILS’ Executive Director – (800) 829-0284, or by email at mikepfeffer@calindian.org. If you would like to have a copy of the sample letter sent to you via email (Word or WordPerfect attachment), please contact Kate Griffin at kate@calindian.org.

Support Letter (HTML - opens new window)

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