For the first time ever, the City is making funding available in its budget for two programs that will support Philadelphians who lack access to legal help.
One of the programs, the Family Court Help Center, is a walk-in space in the Family Court building. Staffed by Philadelphia Legal Assistance (PLA), the Center offers information and help with forms to people dealing with child custody and divorce. Although the Center has a great track record, it had been headed for closure this fall because of federal funding cuts.
The other program, which is entirely new, will offer in-person help from a trained “navigator” to people who have debt cases in Philadelphia Municipal Court. Many of these people do not have lawyers and need assistance understanding their rights and options — but until now, that help hasn’t been available.
Both programs were the subject of reports produced this spring by the Center’s Access to Justice Clinic. In A Navigator Program for Philadelphia’s Debt-Collection Court, Paulina Calistru, Dominique Hazel-Criss, and Joe’lyce Waiters documented the need for a navigator program and made proposals for its design. And in Potential Futures for the Philadelphia Family Court Help Center, Jamal Connelly, Solan O’Malley and Nina Torres detailed a range of options for keeping the Center open in the absence of federal funds (including the option of City funding).
Our work on these issues is only one of the factors that led to the City’s decision to find money for these programs. PLA, Community Legal Services, and the Philadelphia Bar Association played leadership roles; the courts signaled their support; and we have Councilmember Rue Landau and colleagues to thank as well. We’re happy to have worked with these partners, and are grateful that the City has come to see these services as important to the well-being and economic security of Philly’s citizens.