Please Share Your Input on Pro Bono in the Time of COVID-19 and Beyond

Thank you for sharing your ideas.

Prairie State Legal Services, Inc. is the civil legal aid program for 36 counties in northern and central Illinois. Volunteers play an important role in helping our staff serve the thousands of people who come to us for help each year. Judges, bar leaders and local attorneys support our work in many ways and we thank them. The past few months have been particularly challenging as we have served our clients remotely and tried to find creative solutions to the challenges of maximizing pro bono assistance to meet client needs. We look forward to your input as we move forward to build an even stronger pro bono program. 
More detailed information about our pro bono programs is available here:  https://www.pslegal.org/psls-pdf/PSLS_PAI_plan_2020.pdf  
1.In what county is your primary office located?
2.Please tell us which best describes you:
3.What do you think are the greatest motivators for attorneys to do pro bono work? Please choose the three you think play the greatest part.
4.What do you think are the main factors which prevent attorneys from doing pro bono work? Please choose the three you think play the most important role.
5.All of the following statements are true about Prairie State. It is helpful to us to learn what you already know about Prairie State and what is new to you.
I was aware of this
I did not know this
Prairie State has approximately 80 full-time and 20 part-time lawyers to serve clients in 36 counties.
Even before COVID, there were more than 10,000 people eligible for Prairie State's help for every Prairie State attorney. The number of potential clients per attorney is even higher now.
Prairie State is the only legal aid program in most of the 36 counties it serves.
Prairie State handles about 15,000 cases each year.
Prairie State's work on cases ranges from brief advice to representation in court and before administrative agencies
Prairie State prioritizes helping clients with basic needs issues.
Prairie State has many different funders, so many of our attorneys are limited in the work they can do -- e.g. some are supported by Older Americans Act funds for work only for seniors.
Prairie State's malpractice insurance policy also covers volunteers
More than 100 legal aid programs in the country receive funding from Congress through the Legal Services Corporation. Prairie State ranks in the top 15 in number of cases handled by volunteers.
6.All of the following statements about Prairie State's services are true. It would be helpful to us to learn what you already know about our work and what is new to you.
I was aware of this
I did not know this
Prairie State assists clients in defending against evictions and foreclosures
Prairie State assists survivors of domestic violence with a variety of matters including protective orders
Prairie State represents seniors in elder abuse and exploitation cases and involuntary nursing home discharges
Prairie State represents clients who have issues with the Social Security Administration.
Prairie State represents clients who have trouble securing Medicaid or Medicare coverage for needed treatment.
Prairie State represents clients who want to seal or expunge criminal records so that they can get a job or find housing.
Prairie State handles special education matters and school discipline cases to help children get the education they need to succeed as adults.
Prairie State has a low income tax controversy clinic; an attorney and a CPA represent clients in all of Prarie State's 36 counties in disputes with the IRS.
Prairie State has a fair housing project which is funded by HUD and by local funders to concentrate its work in Winnebago, Boone, McHenry and Lake Counties, as well as in Bloomington/Normal.
Prairie State has seen a significant increase in requests for help in unemployment insurance matters since COVID.
Prairie State offers free MCLE for volunteers.
7.In light of everything you know about your community, what do you think are the most important ways to involve volunteers in pro bono services to low income clients during the pandemic? Please choose no more than five.
8.Please share any other thoughts you have about the most effective ways to involve volunteers to serve clients during the pandemic. Do you think that attorneys are more likely or less likely to volunteer during the pandemic?  What is the best way to recruit volunteers during the pandemic?
9.The following are our goals for pro bono in our 36 counties in 2020-21. Please share your views on these goals.
This goal should be among the highest priority goals.
This is a very important goal.
This is an important goal but it should not be among the highest priorities. 
This is not an important goal. 
I would recommend removing this goal from the plan.
Continue to prioritize referral of individual clients to volunteer attorneys for extended representation because many clients need a lawyer to win their cases.
Increase referrals to volunteers in the areas of housing, family law, bankruptcy, wills/powers of attorney and expungement/ sealing.
Incorporate volunteers into our response to the most critical COVID-related issues, such as evictions, utility shut-offs, and debt issues.
Recruit more retired and inactive attorneys to volunteer in our offices.
Expand the use of limited scope pro bono representation to reach and assist more clients in court matters.
Develop and offer cost effective “bite-sized” pro bono opportunities which meet volunteer interests and client needs, and which also are cost effective.
Use technology to train and support volunteers.
Recruit bilingual volunteer attorneys to represent limited English-proficient clients, and train English-speaking volunteer attorneys to use Prairie State’s interpreting and translation resources.
Involve more non-attorney volunteers such as law students, CPAs and people who can assist in analyzing medical aspects of disability cases.
Develop and expand pro bono opportunities in the collar counties, and capitalize on untapped pro bono potential in the collar counties..
Increase coordination among Prairie State offices to expand opportunities that cross geographical boundaries; this can allow us to reach clients in rural areas where there are few potential volunteer attorneys. 
10.All of the following reflect our experience with our pro bono programs. It would be helpful for us to learn your view about these issues.
I was aware of this
I was not aware of this but it makes sense to me
I disagree/this does not ring true to me (please explain)
Some legal aid clients are able to solve their problems with advice
Some legal aid clients are not able to act on their own to solve their legal problems
Some legal aid clients need representation, not just advice, to resolve their problems
The number of attorneys asking Prairie State for short term or limited time commitment pro bono opportunities is increasing.
It is challenging for Prairie State to find volunteers who will handle cases in court.
Many clients ask for help in family law matters, but there are not enough staff or volunteers to help all of them.
Sometimes Prairie State spends more staff time in matching an advice case with a volunteer than the volunteer spends giving the advice
Legal aid programs around the country struggle with the problem that advice clinics often are not cost effective in terms of investment of staff time compared with benefit to the client, but advice clinics are popular with volunters.
From 2000 to 2018, the share of the Chicago area's poor who lived in the suburbs increased from 34% to 49%.
72% of attorneys in our 36 counties have main offices in the collar counties, but only 30% of our cases completed by volunteers in 2018 were in the collar counties.
11.This question is designed to help us improve our pro bono work with corporate law departments and large firms. If you currently are an in-house or large firm attorney, or if you have practiced in one of those environments, please share your thoughts on how Prairie State can work most effectively with corporate law departments and large firms.
12.Thank you again for providing your insights on pro bono. If you would like to be entered in a drawing to win an Amazon gift card or one of two Starbucks gift cards which were donated to Prairie State by a supporter, please give us your name and your email address. (prior winners not eligible to win again) We will hold a drawing on October 31, 2020.