The Access to Justice Initiative is a Promise Worth Keeping

In my 12 years at the DC Bar Foundation, we’ve never faced a moment like this one. The Mayor has proposed an 86% budget cut to the District’s Access to Justice Initiative. Eighty-six percent! That is by far the largest cut ever proposed and one that abandons the values of fairness and equal justice that the District has long championed.

If this cut goes through, tens of thousands of vulnerable families will suddenly have nowhere to turn when basic legal problems threaten to escalate and turn their lives—and our community—upside down.    

I think about what this cut means for people like Hosanna*, who was beaten severely by her husband and faced a complicated legal system when seeking protection to stay safe and alive. Fortunately, Hosanna found Volunteer Legal Advocates at her community walk-in clinic, and their attorneys helped her secure a protection order. But her nightmare was far from over.

Hosanna then discovered her abuser had also harmed their children. After she reported the incidents, he was charged with those crimes, but Hosanna didn't have the legal means to keep him away from her children. Volunteer Legal Advocates then helped her extend and modify her protection order to keep her children safe, ensured that she could attend court hearings virtually—so she need not face her tormentor in person—and helped her secure full custody of her children.

Today, Hosanna’s family no longer has to live in fear. 

This is only possible because 19 years ago, the DC Council made a commitment to protect DC residents’ basic rights to safety and justice—regardless of income or power—by creating the Access to Justice Initiative and designating the DC Bar Foundation as its administrator. What began as a modest but visionary investment in civil legal aid has evolved into a powerful force for change in the lives of DC residents.

Last year, the Initiative served more of our neighbors than ever: more than 44,000 people and families didn’t have to face often crushing legal problems alone. But this lifeline could be abruptly yanked away if the DC Council doesn’t reaffirm its longstanding commitment to access to justice in the District.

If the Council doesn’t act, the proposed cut would reduce the Access to Justice Initiative budget from $31.785 million to $4.487 million. Incredibly, when taking inflation into account, this represents a lower value than the $3.2 million the Council invested in the Initiative in its very first year, almost two decades ago.

Today, the Initiative is able to serve tens of thousands more DC residents annually than it did in 2007, although legal services providers still must turn people away to prioritize the most urgent cases. If the Council doesn’t restore funding, DC residents in greatest need will pay a heavy price. 

Families denied legal help will lose their homes, ailing veterans and seniors will be denied dignity and care, survivors of domestic violence will live in fear, and children will struggle to reach their potential because their parents have to navigate the upheaval of a legal crisis alone. In all, 37,893 of our neighbors stand to lose life-changing services under the Mayor’s cuts.

The latest annual evaluation of the Civil Legal Counsel Projects Program, our publicly funded eviction defense program, shows that nearly half of the 8,178 household members served under this program lived in Wards 7 and 8, two of DC's most economically stressed communities. It also finds that when tenants had an attorney by their side, 86% of families who wanted to stay in their homes were able to do so.

Slashing the Access to Justice Initiative would not only undo all of this work—it would be far more costly for the District. Urgent needs would not disappear; they would only shift to emergency shelters, courts, and social services programs that are already stretched thin and far more expensive to operate. Studies show that every $1 invested in civil legal aid saves communities an average of $7.

TAKE ACTION

I am asking each of you who believes in equal access to justice to raise your voice. Write to your Councilmember, forward this newsletter, share stories of people who owe their lives and wellbeing to DC's Access to Justice Initiative, and plan to attend the May 6 budget hearing where legal services providers, advocates, and DC residents will testify before the DC Council about the Initiative’s life-changing impact. 

Visit the Access to Justice Commission's advocacy page for more resources, and please, take action today. The DC families who are one legal problem away from a spiraling crisis are counting on all of us.

Sincerely,

Kirra L. Jarratt

Chief Executive Officer

*Hosanna’s name has been changed to protect her family’s privacy.