California JusticeCorps Program News

• JusticeCorps members in Oakland and Los Angeles support community service on Martin Luther King, Jr., Day (2007)
• JusticeCorps second-year accomplishments in Los Angeles (2005–2006)

The importance of community service is emphasized in all AmeriCorps programs. The JusticeCorps program features civic engagement in its member training and also provides members with opportunities to serve their communities in a variety of ways.

Below are two examples of JusticeCorps members performing community service on Martin Luther King, Jr., Day

JusticeCorps accomplishments in the second year (2005-2006)
JusticeCorps has brought new vitality to legal access self-help programs in Los Angeles and Bay Area courts. JusticeCorps members recruited from universities are helping people correctly complete forms and documents to resolve legal matters involving marriage dissolution, child custody, and landlord tenant issues, among others. Below are highlights of the programs' accomplishments in Los Angeles in year two.

Community needs and services: performance measures

• Goal 1: Facilitate focus groups consisting of litigants served by JusticeCorps members in order to document self-help center successes by using qualitative data.
  Result: Research analysts from the Administrative Office of the Courts, Center for Families, Children & the Courts brought together six focus groups of litigants served by JusticeCorps. Focus groups captured litigants' stories, their appreciation of JusticeCorps, and progress made toward resolving legal matters. Focus groups added qualitative information to the program's existing quantitative data.
• Goal #2: Strengthen communities by participating in community service days and building the capacity of partner agencies.
  Result: JusticeCorps members participated in several community service activities throughout the year, including the Martin Luther King Legacy Civil Rights Teach-In, the Sixth Annual Homeless Symposium, Youth Law Day, and the Compton School District Holiday Toy Drive. In addition, JusticeCorps members built the capacity of partner agencies throughout the year by translating resource materials from English to other languages and by converting tip sheets to more understandable language.
• Goal #3: Create membership development by addressing the personal and professional goals of our members.
  Result: JusticeCorps members had the opportunity to participate in Shadow Day and spent the day following bench officers in their duties. Throughout the day, JusticeCorps members visited civil courts, where they were invited into chambers and had discussions about career planning with the judges and commissioners. Additionally in April 2006, members attended a career development workshop where they heard from and spoke with a panel of professionals (judges, lawyers, and court, county, and state administrators) regarding career options.

Year two accomplishment highlights

• In May 2006, JusticeCorps was showcased as a model program that successfully meets the needs of court users with limited English proficiency, being so recognized at the Statewide Conference on Language Access to the California Courts. Indeed, JusticeCorps actively recruits bilingual members. More than half the members are bilingual, allowing the program to enhance and reach more self-represented litigants, many of whom have limited English skills and are in need of services.
• In June 2006, JusticeCorps received two achievement awards from the National Association of Counties. One award specifically honored the service that JusticeCorps members provided at the Los Angeles Department of Consumer Affairs Small Claims Advisor program, while the other honored the entire JusticeCorps program created by the Los Angeles Superior Court.
• The JusticeCorps staff is very proud to announce that it has met its target of graduating a minimum of 80 percent of the members in the program. Eighty-one members from the class of 2005-2006 successfully completed 300 hours of service, earning educational awards of $1,000.

JusticeCorps also has successfully met key performance measures. Analysis of prelegal and postlegal knowledge and civic engagement surveys reveal that JusticeCorps members made great strides in their knowledge of the judicial system, knowledge of local government, and knowledge of specific legal issues, and they developed a greater sense of commitment to helping low-income individuals in their community.

After the program, 97 percent expressed an increased sense of responsibility to the community, including the need to participate in civic affairs and to perform lifelong community service.