Project Description

1. Attorney Emeritus Program - Website Improvements
I would like to thank Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Fern Fisher and
Advisory Board Chair Fern Schair for giving my staff and I the opportunity to assist with
this project. They are pioneers and visionaries in using and leveraging technology to help
ensure equal access to justice for everyone. It is an honor and a privilege to work with
them and to help the program to fulfill its mission.
Several months ago AEP was evaluating several volunteer management software
packages in order to better accomplish the following objectives:
■ Track volunteer skills, qualifications and training
■ Create schedules & scheduling rules that engage volunteers in the process
■ Schedule groups of volunteers and the right number of placements
■ Record volunteer hours and report on them
■ Track and celebrate volunteer outputs or achievements
■ Keep volunteers up to date through email
It became clear during these evaluations that the first step was to improve the
current website. We needed to provide more information and prequalify prospective
volunteers to assure that they were being matched with an appropriate volunteer
opportunity. We also needed to capture the information submitted on their application for
subsequent interactions. This would allow the information to be exported to a future
online volunteer management solution.
The current AEP website is an excellent resource for providing information about
the Attorney Emeritus Program. It also allows prospective volunteers to submit their
initial application. The new website offers the following improvements:
Searching for Appropriate Opportunities
The current site provides a listing of Legal Service Providers (LSPs) but the
format currently used limits the the amount of information that can be provided. There is
no direct listing of an LSP’s specific volunteer opportunities. Volunteer Opportunities
throughout the state are listed alphabetically but once again the format limits the the
amount of information provided. Searching for an appropriate volunteer opportunity by
County or geographical location and then discovering the full list of available LSPs and
their corresponding opportunities can be challenging.
Marcello Ritondo - NYC Civil Court Page 1 of 2 November 11, 2001

2. Attorney Emeritus Program - Website Improvements
The design of the new site lists and links detailed information regarding LSP’s
and their specific volunteer opportunities by County and geographical location.
Prospective volunteers are able to search for opportunities using an interactive map of
New York State or a listing by County. This provides a faster and more intuitive way to
find a listing of available LSP’s and their specific programs.
The design of the new site allows us to provide much more information regarding
available opportunities including specific requirements. This will help prospective
volunteers to match themselves with the most appropriate opportunity. LSP’s will receive
applications from volunteers that have made a more informed decision.
Online VolunteerApplication
The current online application requests basic information and sends an email to
the UCS AEP coordinator. She then forwards the application to the corresponding Legal
Services Provider.
The new revised online application captures additional information and is
interactive. The applicant is presented the option (but is not required) to review specific
information regarding the available LSP’s and opportunities based on their choice of
location. This again helps prospective volunteers to match themselves with the most
appropriate opportunity. Once again, LSP’s will receive applications from volunteers that
have made a more informed decision. An email can now be generated and sent to both the
UCS coordinator and directly to the corresponding LSP.
The information provided by the volunteer while completing the online
application is captured into a FileMaker database. We will now have the option to create
additional web based (password protected) front end web pages allowing the UCS
coordinator and program directors to enter follow-up information. Items such as key
dates, training completion, hours served and completion of the service commitment can
be more easily captured and reported. The information can be exported to an online
application such as Microsoft SharePoint or a custom Volunteer Management application
such as Volunteer Impact.
Conclusion
These improvements will help the Attorney Emeritus Program to better manage
future growth and expansion. The improvements will increase the future options available
for improving awareness, interaction, communication and collaboration between the
program, the legal service providers and volunteers.
Marcello Ritondo - NYC Civil Court Page 2 of 2 November 11, 2001