Pro Bono Legal Representation for Low-Income Survivors of Domestic Violence

Funds will be used for direct service staff salaries, as well as equipment/supplies needed to facilitate pro
bono legal services.

VLS plays a critical role in helping domestic violence victims/survivors and their children escape abusive and often life-threatening situations and secure their basic needs - a safe home, personal safety, and economic stability.

Leveraging the time, talent, and expertise of our staff and attorney volunteers, VLS provides critical civil legal assistance year-round to domestic victims/survivors and their children through the following programs/services:

1. Legal Advice and Intake Clinics are held at the Austin Public Library-Ruiz Branch, and Austin Public Library-St. John Branch. Our locations are easily accessible by public transportation and in areas with higher rates of poverty. Childcare and security are provided. VLS’s staff attorneys, case placement coordinators, and between 6-15 attorney volunteers and an average of 6 non-attorney volunteers are on hand to welcome clinic attendees, assist them with the necessary paperwork, and provide critical legal advice. Those in immediate physical danger do not have to attend a clinic and can be directly referred to VLS by community agencies. We also hold weekly legal advice clinics via phone on Tuesday mornings and Wednesday evenings. Each week our staff spends 10-20 staff hours prepping for those clinics by intaking online applications, reaching out to applicants, putting together referrals for attorneys, and reviewing cases for potential placement after clinic. Each week, we have between 15 and 30 attorneys who volunteer through the phone clinic.

2. Safety planning services are provided to assist in the creation of a personalized, practical plan for victims in, leaving, or after having left an abusive relationship with an intimate partner, with the goal of avoiding or minimizing the odds of physical or emotional harm and/or preparing for the possibility of dangerous situations that could occur. Many women who come to our evening clinics are evaluating legal options in efforts to ascertain how moving forward with litigation on a protective order, divorce, SAPCR (A Suit Affecting the Parent Child Relationship) or modification would impact their family’s safety and financial security. Those women that connect with staff in our office have typically left recently, so safety planning usually involves how to make the most protective choices with regards to children and how to take steps to best prevent homelessness and poverty, prior to and in anticipation of litigation. Regardless of where the victim is in their efforts to terminate the relationship, safety planning involves 1) discussion of resources - financial, legal, and personal, 2) possible shelters and safe places to stay, 3) notification of relevant entities of any dangers that exist (relatives/Child Protective Services/school/etc.), 4) financial planning with available resources, 5) organization of necessary documentation related to the client and children, and most importantly, 6) calling the police, being aware of surroundings, and taking protective measures should the victim be confronted by the abuser.

3. Through Direct Legal Representation, ranging from simple advocacy and pro se assistance to courtroom litigation, we provide top-tier legal services to income-eligible domestic violence victims/survivors. In addition to managing her own caseload of domestic violence cases, the VLS Family Law Staff Attorney serves as primary support for VLS attorney volunteers providing direct representation for these types of cases. She provides guidance to the volunteers from filing of pleadings and emergency motions through finalizing their pro bono case.

5. Continuing Legal Education is offered to attorney volunteers handling domestic violence cases. Last year, VLS offered eleven such important training courses, including: 1) Divorce Basics Seminar 2) Mock Trial in Family Law Court, and 3) Special Immigration Issues in Juvenile Status. We also plan to offer special training focused on how to work with domestic violence victims/survivors beyond legal representation, including safety planning – in 2024, we have a CLE planned on Trauma-Informed Representation.

 Our target population is low-income or indigent victims/survivors of domestic violence (at or below 187.5% of the federal poverty level) and their families as delineated below:

•  Adult victims/survivors of domestic violence who need to obtain a divorce from an abusive spouse.
• Adult victims/survivors of domestic violence who need to obtain custody orders for children they have with an abusive partner (non-spouse).
• Grandparents (or other adult kinship caregivers) seeking custody of their grandchildren who are victims/survivors of domestic violence; and
• Adult victims/survivors of domestic violence with other legal needs such as wrongful eviction.  It is not uncommon for a landlord to attempt to evict a victim of violence from his/her apartment simply because he/she is a victim of violence.

 Note:  Often, VLS is helping adult, low-income domestic violence victims/survivors who left their abusive partners but who would likely be denied services by area service providers because the violence would be considered too ‘remote’ or because the victim is not in ‘imminent’ danger of further abuse; but who are still desperately afraid of their former partner, are in financial peril, and facing homelessness due to the violence.