Making your case

New resource! Read our factsheet on how civil legal aid can assist parents and children in contact with the foster care system. Click here to download.

Seeking research?

NLADA and the Justice in Government Project have teamed up to create a curated research newsletter. Get the top new studies and where to find data in your inbox each month. Sign up for the monthly newsletter here.

August 2019: Reentry. Read about studies that show record clearing interventions reduce recidivism and support workforce development.
September 2019: Veterans. Read about veterans’ many legal needs and how legal aid is uniquely positioned to help.
- Be sure to also check out the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership’s guide for more information on medical-legal partnerships serving veterans and a step-by-step approach to starting and sustaining a VA MLP.
October 2019: Opioids. Read about research connecting legal aid to improved outcomes related to health and family stability, funding opportunities, and advocacy in action.
November 2019: Foster care. Read about how civil legal aid works to keep families together and help children access safety.
December 2019: Special edition foster care factsheet. This 2-pager summarizes the research on how civil legal aid can assist parents and children in contact with the foster care system. We also highlight funding opportunities.
January 2020: Human trafficking. Read about studies that explain how legal aid can help survivors of human trafficking for National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention month.
February 2020: Elder justice. Read about research that demonstrates how legal aid providers can help intervene and prevent elder abuse from occurring, protect a survivor after they’ve been victimized, and seek redress against the abuser.

Making the case for legal aid:

NLADA’s companion site, LegalAidResearch. NLADA’s online database hosts more than 400 reports, evaluations, peer-reviewed, studies, needs assessments, and more related to how legal aid helps improve lives.
The Justice in Government Project’s Toolkit. The Toolkit helps bridge the gap between what researchers can tell us and what policymakers need to know about how legal aid can both help individuals and make existing programs more effective. Module 1 features 14 research briefs that show the evidence base for how legal aid can help children, individuals with disabilities, domestic violence survivors, law enforcement, and returning citizens among others.
Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable’s Toolkit. Learn how legal aid protects consumers, keeps America working, prevents elder abuse, supports tribes and tribal members, serves veterans, prevents domestic violence, keeps children in school, helps people exit homelessness and stay housed, improves access to health care, and assists reentry efforts.
The National Center for Access to Justice’s Justice Index. This Index scores and ranks the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico on their adoption of selected best practices for ensuring access to justice, creating incentives for state officials to replicate those practices.
The Self-Represented Litigation Network’s (SRLN) map gallery. This gallery has several interactive maps and data on pro se litigants in civil courts.
The Collateral Consequences Resource Center (CCRC). This site has reports how many laws states have enacted that reduce barriers to reentry for individuals with a criminal record. CCRC also provides recommendations and research.
Voices for Civil Justice’s Toolkit, All Rise for Civil Justice. This site provides stories about the civil justice system, the justice gap, the people it hurts and helps, and those working to make it better.

Looking for data?

Check out the Justice in Government Project’s Toolkit module. When you sign up for our co-branded newsletter, Just Research, you will get curated research and helpful data sources in your inbox each month.