D9 supporting clients dealing with legal issues
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D9 supporting clients dealing with legal issues
- 1. SUPPORTING CLIENTS DEALING WITH LEGAL ISSUES: An Introduction to CLEO’s Your Rights. Your Language. Project OCASI SPRING 2010: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE
- 6. Your Rights. Your Language.
- 28. Print Materials
- 39. Workshops
- 40. Resource center
- 45. Report Back & Idea Sharing
- 48. www.cleonet.ca
Editor's Notes
- Welcome and thank you for coming, etc., etc.. My name is Lisa, I’m a lawyer and project coordinator at CLEO, Community Legal Education Ontario. My co-facilitator this afternoon is Shankari Belendra – let Shankari introduce herself. [Go around room, everyone introduces self, agency, work they do, and BRIEFLY, there goals/objectives in signing up for the session.] I’m not an expert on these 8 legal areas, I’m a facilitator, presenting and facilitating and many of you have a background in these areas. In some cases I have the answers, but these are very specialized areas.
- Guidelines: this is not forum to seek individual legal advice for yourself or your client due to time constraints, we will have to keep discussion at high level – no time to probe details and niceties One person speaks at once This is “safe” place for discussion – no question is stupid, don’t criticize
- For example, in Toronto alone, over 100 languages are spoken. There are 14 languages other than English or French with low-income populations of over 10,000 people in Ontario
- These materials were developed by CLEO in close collaboration with our Community Advisory Group, comprised of representatives from 10 community agencies with expertise and day-to-day knowledge garnered from assisting new Canadians in their settlement process. Our advisory group includes members who speak each of the target languages, as well as membership from outside the GTA.
- This was a pilot project, and we started with six languages, so that we could learn as much as we could before moving into more multilingual projects. The six target languages are Arabic, Mandarin, Somali, Spanish, Tamil and Urdu. Also all the materials are available in English and French.
- Originally, project had funding for 6 topics. We didn’t do family law topics, because there is another project ple project that is funded to produce materials on family law – Family Law Education for Women – FLEW (will say more about FLEW later when we talk about places to go for legal information). These are the 6 topics chosen by our advisory group.
- As noted above, we later secured extension funding to produce two new resources in the area of housing law. Didn’t do housing law originally because the legislation was in the process of being revised.
- Audio materials. PSAs and longer pieces. Describe how to access these. Play audio demo, discuss ways to use the audio materials, other ideas? Play sample, either Somali or Arabic or Spanish
- Intended to be user-friendly for workers to distribute copies; Intent to cover topic in one page. Show special section where they can insert local contact and referral info prior to photocopying. We’ll be giving you a package of materials at the end of the workshop, but for the moment, we’d like to take some time to introduce the project and the topics to you, and discuss appropriate referrals when clients come to you with the problems raised in these materials.
- Provincial toll-free number for multilingual legal referrals offered by Findhelp on a pilot basis to support Your Rights. Your Language. Project.
- Some agencies use their phone lines for recorded messages
- Accessing materials-get them and use them Go to http://www.cleo.on.ca/ Select “English” or “Français”
- You will see list of languages in side menu Select language you want and click to enter page for that language
- List of topics will appear Click on “PDF” beside title for text version or “Audio” to play piece Audio is similar to text, but not exactly the same, more conversational
- Click the YRYL page and it will take you to a listing of the full library of YRYL materials, including postcards, posters and display rack. You can complete your order online.
- Hello my name is shankari Balendra and I work as a settlement worker for Access alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services.I am also a member of CLEO’s Your rights Your language Advisory committee member.As you all have heard from Lisa the materials are produced inorder to educate community members of legal information and where to get legal advice.When we prepared these materials the advisory committee consisted of mainly front line workers who are direct service providers to community members and also who work with communities of different languages.Specially all of us in the advisory committee speak one of the language of translated materials.As direct service providers we were able to share our experience working with these communities and also to share the dilema of a community member who was confused or misinformed about legal matters.We all know how people who speak English as a second language specially newcomers face problems with legal matters.A visit by a police officer asking about your son or daughter,a knock on the daughter by Children’s Aid Society will bring fear,confusion or to our lives.So these materials are produced to provide information,education and connect to referral sources to get help. When someone comes to our office asking for guidance in dealing with an issue which might need legal services,they want to know the basics of the legal process .Let’s say a refugee claimant wants to know what steps he can take in case if his refugee claim was rejected.Am I eligible to do something,what is an appeal,What is a Humanitarion and compasionate application ?will I be able to get legal aid? How long it will take? Can I represent myself for the hearing..Imagine a newcomer family’s dilema dealing with Children’s Aid Society..as frontline workers if we can make these materials available for our clients,if we can give information in their own language or if we can make these materials available for our clients we will be providing effective services for our clients.
- We all do workshops or information sessions for our clients.At Access Alliance we do health education workshops in LINC classes.You all may have information sessions.These materials can be placed at a location visible for the clients,or the presenter can introduce the brochures,audio pieces,and inform to clients that these are available in many different languages.
- If you have a resource centre in our organization these materials can be ordered and arranged on the stand which also can be ordered.
- If your organization is having a community event like a community BBQ, a open house,youth night,cooking program,support group,conversation circle we can arrange the materials to be available for clients.A service provider can use a table with these legal information materials and be there to answer any questions. Usually these programs are planned to have each topic for every sessions.For one session the presenter can arrange for this FLEW materials or Your Rights Your language materials and discuss and share information with group participants. Specially for those who have English conversation circle can select a session to talk about legal information and share their experience dealing with legal information and later the information materials can be shared with the group.
- Think about how you might use these materials in your work. What other resources are you aware of where you clients can go to get information about their legal rights, and possibly legal assistance? What topics have we missed? Share ideas within your small group and appoint someone to report back to the larger group.
- Re immigration and criminal : Not lots of info sharing between criminal and immigration. If not citizen call immigration lawyer immediately You need to see a lawyer, complicated and high stakes, quick bad decision can have huge implications Be proactive in telling criminal lawyer that not citizen Discharge – not convicted even though found guilty; any other sentence, even if not jailed, is a conviction, can impact status If there was probation doesn’t tell you whether there was a discharge or conviction, could be either Specific punishment is not determinative of the question of whether there was a discharge or conviction If stopped by police, check, can access status info, set process in motion [If investigated by police for some other reason, they can find out if there is an immigration warrant for arrest or if there are grounds to arrest or detain person under immigration law. For example, if pulled over while driving, police could check immigration status and arrest/detain you for CBSA.Police can ask to see license, registration, insurance, can be charged with prov’l offence if don’t show these documents.] If convicted but under appeal, doesn’t stop removals, process can continue Crim Law Office: Criminal Law Offices are funded by Legal Aid Ontario and are staffed by lawyers who are experienced in all criminal matters. If you qualify for legal aid and need help with a criminal matter you can choose to go to a private lawyer, or to the Criminal Law Office to receive service.You must first apply for a legal aid certificate at an area office before visiting a Criminal Law Office. There are three Criminal Law Offices, which are located in Barrie, Brampton, and Ottawa.
- JCY: Criminal: can help for criminal court in Toronto; give advice for outside Toronto Education law: can help with suspensions and expulsions from school No funding for education law outside Toronto but may be able to help arrange lawyer through Child Advocacy Project Community clinics: Civil recovery letters; Some may help with filling out pardons forms; Some Student Legal Aid Service Societies may take minor criminal cases
- Note: More multilingual materials by other agencies and legal clinics available on CLEONet at www.cleonet.ca