Eastern and central region

community legal clinic

transformation project
Client Focus Group Summary
Presented at:
Oversight Committee meeting, May 12th, 2015

General Areas of Discussion

Needs
Barriers & Challenges
Accessing the clinic
Expectations & Experiences
Non-lawyer Staff
Thoughts on technology
Suggestions

Client Needs
Top legal needs include:

ODSP
Landlord/Tenant
Employment
Housing
WSIB
Human Rights
CPP

Legal areas where some

clients arent getting the help
they need:
Family law
Immigration
Criminal

Some clients were able to get

help from their clinics in the
areas of law above

Barriers & Challenges

Barriers and challenges clients are facing

Poverty
Difficulty paying for utilities (internet, phone, electricity)
Lack of affordable, accessible transportation options
Inaccessible office spaces
Lack of awareness of services
Lack of community supports (for mental health, housing, employment,
from their doctors)
Stigma
Complicated and confounding systems (ODSP, OW, Legal Aid)
Difficulty obtaining, maintaining, and keeping housing
Difficulty finding employment

Linguistic barriers were only mentioned by Francophone clients

Barriers are complex and compounding

Barriers & Challenges

Client suggestions on how to overcome these barriers

Enabling evidence to be submitted by post or electronically

Let clients know about how to fill out forms
Let clients know about other services and programs that could help
Satellites or mobile clinics closer to where they live
Video-conferencing at other agencies
Clients acknowledged that representation is key to addressing the
barriers of complex and intimidating systems, and to success

Clients expressed concern that clinics do not have the funding

or resources to do anything more than they already do

Accessing the Clinic

How do most clients find out about their local legal clinic?
Word of mouth
Referrals
Doctors
LAO/Court House
OW/ODSP workers

How do most clients know they have a legal problem in the first
place?
Some clients claimed they just knew they their rights were being
violated, or that they had better get legal help when fighting a
government agency
Most clients discovered they had a legal issue at the same time they
found out about the clinic, i.e. through word of mouth through others
who have used the clinic, or referral from another agency

Accessing the Clinic

Most clients access the clinic by phone, or in-person
Most clients prefer in-person, but are satisfied using the phone when
in-person isnt likely
Some clients who experience anxiety, PTSD, felt more comfortable
using the phone

Location
Where clinics were closely located to bus routes or other services,
clients were generally happy with their current location
Some clients were unhappy with locations that are inaccessible to
people with injuries, people who use wheelchairs, walkers
Lack of parking was mentioned by clients in more rural areas
Clients were generally satisfied with satellite locations
Opinions on proximity to other services, or co-location with other
services, were quite mixed

Client Expectations & Experiences

What do clients generally expect from their legal clinic?
A lot of clients didnt know what to expect
Some expected to experience the same frustration and dismissiveness
they experienced with other service and government agencies
Some expressed that they simply expected help, though they had no
expectations as to what that would look like

Most clients were pleasantly surprised and said the clinic staff
exceeded their expectations
Clients often expressed feeling hopeless, giving up
Felt they were finally heard at their legal clinic
Clinics stand out from other service agencies in staff willingness to
listen and advocate
Many people got help from the clinic after a long frustrating road of
not getting what they needed

Getting the Word Out

Clients had a lot of suggestions about how to get the word out
about clinic services. Top suggestions include:
Advertisements in public spaces and service agencies Better
coordination with other agencies and networks
Ads and information in local papers
TV and Radio: ads or providing legal information
Social media

Some clients mentioned that broader advocacy initiatives need

to happen, as a way of getting the word out but also making
impactful changes
Some clients expressed concern that clinics do not have the
resources to do many of the things suggested

Non-lawyer Staff
Clients had mixed opinions on having more non-lawyer staff at
clinics
Mental health, housing, and social workers came up the most, but
opinions about these were mixed.

Most clients found the non-lawyer staff they had encountered

to be courteous, professional, knowledgeable, and very helpful
(especially receptionists)
Most clients felt that clinics need more lawyers or that nonlawyer staff should be used to free up lawyers time serving
clients one-on-one

Technology
Cannot replace front-line services
Opinions were quite mixed for all options discussed
Video-conferencing
Pro: some saw it as a good way of addressing transportation, time, and
anxiety barriers, and connecting with experts and services in urban
centres
Con: some saw it as awkward, confusing, inaccessible, unreliable
Both supporters and opponents were mixed between people who had
used video-conferencing with other service providers and those who
had never used it before
For video-conferencing to be truly accessible, it needs to be available in
private rooms at community access points outside the home

Technology
Enhanced website, more work online
Some people never used the website and were ambivalent
Others felt the website would be a great resource for information,
especially for people who have trouble getting to clinic location(s)
Others felt an enhanced website would detract from core services
Clients mentioned accessibility issues, especially for rural clients:
access to internet, computers

Social media presence

Some found this to be a good way of getting the word out
Some considered this to be a good alternative for people who are
uncomfortable phoning or walking in (via direct message)
Some found this to detract from the seriousness of legal issues
Some rarely used social media and were ambivalent

Suggestions for Improving Services

Increasing awareness came up frequently
More consistent outreach and PLE

Providing updates to clients

Improving coordination with other agencies
Clients frequently mentioned that clinics are over-burdened
and underfunded, and that they need more money so they can
expand capacity
Addressing transportation/distance barriers
Provide subsidies
Satellites/mobile services

Improve wait-times for ODSP, WSIB, etc.

Some disagreement on whether or not clinics have a role to play here