1. Provide Remote Services
November 2012

2. Introductions…

4. Introductions
• Laura Quinn, Idealware
• Elizabeth Pope, Idealware
• Tony Lu, Pro Bono Net
• Ed Higgins, Montana Legal Services Association

5. We Often Cover Large Geographic Areas
Many legal aid organizations
have large service areas, and
only a few actual offices.

6. What Works to Provide Long-Distance Services?

7. Research Methodology
We spoke to twelve organizations
to find out
• Four legal aid consultants or
experts
• Another three legal aid
organizations
• Five other organizations in the
human sector realm
We gathered case studies, advice,
and lessons learned

8. We Found Three Core Possibilities
Taking Services On the Road
Helping People From Afar
Providing Compelling On-Demand Resources

9. Taking Services On
the Road

10. Technology Offers Interesting Options

11. MLSA Kiosks for Free Legal Help
Montana Legal
Services Association
provides kiosks in
courtrooms with
access to free online
legal help and forms
for those who choose
to self-represent

12. Kiosks for Free Legal Help
• Kiosks located in three
points in Montana
• In addition to online
resources, litigants can
also use the computer to
link to a “live chat” with a
staff member of Montana
Legal Services Association

13. Kiosks for Free Legal Help
Entry page

14. Barriers and Key Success Factors
Barriers:
• Courthouses are not open all the time
• Building relationships with partners like
libraries and town offices
Keys to Success:
• Inexpensive to roll-out more
• They don’t require a lot of upkeep

15. NYLAG’s Mobile Legal Help Center
• 41-foot custom vehicle donated
by the David Berg Foundation
• Video link with NYC court
system for emergency
hearings
• 4 separate private consultation
areas for clients to meet with
attorneys and law student
volunteers
• Travels to the 5 boroughs and
Long Island

16. NYLAG’s Mobile Legal Help Center
• A designated attorney and driver
travels on the bus
• Other staff and volunteers rotate

17. Barriers and Key Success Factors
Barriers:
• Physically navigating vehicle around the city
• Finding areas of need and setting up
appointments
• Unreliable data signals
Keys to Success:
• Traveling familiar routes
• Connecting with representatives and
community centers to schedule visits
• Internet technologies are improving

18. Maine Sea Coast Mission
Founded in 1905 to
provide religious
services to remote
Maine islands.
In 2002, started
providing Island
Health Services via
a boat-based clinic.

19. Maine Sea Coast Mission Telemed Unit

20. Maine Sea Coast Mission Telemed Unit
Google Calendar
shows boat schedule

21. Barriers and Key Success Factors
Barriers:
• Availability of health providers
• Reluctance of population to seek health care
• Intrusiveness of technology
Keys to Success:
• Choosing providers with ties to the area
• Publicizing schedule
• Repeat exposure to technological
assistance
• Integration into the community

22. Providing Live Help
At a Distance

23. Many of the Core Technologies Aren’t New

24. Video Conferencing Is Becoming Easier
But is it available to your community?

25. Our Kids: Video Conferencing
Private foster care and
adoption agency partnered
with ATT&T to provide
broadband internet services
to foster care families – and
uses it for informal check-ins
with children.
Video conferencing does not
fill official visitation
requirements, but they use it
to check-in in between visits.

26. Video Conferencing in the Legal Aid Sector
ProBonoNet is experimenting with
various models:
• Video chat replacing phone calls
• Allowing people to click a “Video
Chat” button after filling out an
A2J form to get a consultation
• Setting up pro-bono attorneys
with video conferencing from
courthouses – as they’re there
already

27. Help Via SMS Text Messaging is Unproven
• TXT4LIFE - Suicide
Prevention through
text messages
• How is it working?
We can’t find out.

28. MobileCred
MobileCred’s Loan View
• SMS Text-to-loan microfinance program that allows borrowers to
be approved by a remote loan officer
• A “proof of concept” developed by HiDef, not yet in the field

29. Providing Compelling On-
Demand Online Resources

30. The Sector is Already Doing a Lot in This Area

31. But Can We Boost Usability and Appeal?
How can we provide information in
way that’s compelling and usable to
diverse audiences?

32. We Own the Dream / Únete al Sueño
Joint Venture of Immigration
Advocates Network (IAN) and Pro
Bono Net to provide a screening
tool and information for the
Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals (DACA)

33. We Own the Dream / Únete al Sueño
Eligibility Screening Tool
• Walks through a DACA
screening interview
• Provides a printable pdf
• Soon will link to e-file
• More than 13,000
individuals have already
accessed the tool.
• Tool is currently in
English only

34. We Own the Dream / Únete al Sueño
Mobile Text Alerts

35. Barriers and Key Success Factors
Barriers:
• Tenuous situation of the DACA law
• A2J is limited on Apple phones; better on
Android or other phones
Keys to Success:
• Strong publicity campaign and pre-existing
lists
• Leveraging mobile platform to outreach to
younger generation

36. Illinois Legal Aid Videos

37. Idealware eLearning
• On-demand trainings that
bring together
powerpoint, screencasts, au
dio, video, and interactive
elements, likes polls and
quizzes.
• Requires, at a
minimum, multimedia
software (like Camtasia or
Adobe Premier). Interactive
elements require eLearning
software, like Articulate or
Adobe Captivate.

38. CitizenshipWorks.org Mobile App
• The app provides information, calculators, and
checklists about the naturalization process.
• Q&A to test user’s familiarity with civics
questions
• Not just flashcards; incorporating audio for the
reading and writing sections
• Closer approximation to actual test
• English and Spanish versions

39. iCivics (http://www.icivics.org/)
• Founded in 2009 by
Supreme Court Justice
Sandra Day O’Connor “to
educate young people about
civic rights and
responsibilities and
understand how the
government works.”
• 7 million game plays and
over an estimated 1 million
kids reached.

40. iCivics
• Originally planned to
reach young people
directly by releasing the
game for free online.
• Under this distribution
model, kids were not
finding and playing the
game.
• Now, iCivics targets its
games to teachers, in
order to reach kids
through school.
• Currently have 17 games.
Each cost an estimated
low six-figures

41. Barriers and Key Success Factors
Barriers:
• Creating a game that kids will want to play.
• Does the gameplay make sense for your
message?
Keys to Success:
• Striking the balance between mission and
fun.
• Delivery – seeing far greater success
distributing the game through schools than
targeting the kids directly.

42. Mindblown Life
• Combating financial illiteracy by
creating an iPhone game that
teaches personal finance.
• “Players create an avatar,
choose a career, and live their
own virtual lives…”
• Geared around a “Sims” like
experience that kids will really
want to play, with content that
matches the game play
• Budget in the low six figures.

43. What Have We Learned?

44. Some Key Themes Emerged
Through all of our interviews, some
recurring themes became apparent

45. Remote Options Aren’t Cheap
It generally costs more to
support people outside the
office… at least in terms of
start-up costs.
But remote options can
sometimes scale better
than office visits.

46. Outreach is a Key Step
It’s not enough to just
show up in a new
community with services.
You need to figure out
how you’ll spread the
word and build trust.
Consider partnering with
those who already have
the relationship

47. Scheduling Is Still An Issue
Any live interaction will
require scheduling, and
bring with it scheduling
woes. These can be
worse when it’s hard to
just reschedule (i.e. the
Justice Bus is moving on).

48. Weigh Quality vs. Reach
It’s harder to ensure remote
services are always top quality and
exactly what’s needed.
When is quality paramount? When
is some help better than no help?

49. Define Your Technology Plan B
If you’re going to rely on technology, you always need a Plan B, in
case things don’t work as you thought they were going to.

50. What’s Most Compelling To You?