Evaluation of the Legal Aid Program
Appendix B: Examples of Innovations
General service enhancements (n=67) include improvements in service delivery processes or staff capacity to promote greater access to services, improved quality of service, or greater efficiency. Several examples are provided below.
- Legal Aid BC noted that the Criminal Early Resolution Contract (CERC) was the innovation that was most attributable to the innovations funding. The CERC provides individuals who are within $1,000 of the financial eligibility guidelines the opportunity to have their case reviewed early in the process by a lawyer to determine if a resolution with the Crown might be reached. Early indications show that the CERC has supported earlier resolution of cases, increased access to legal aid services by expanding eligibility, and reduced the number of court appearances.Footnote 75
- Several legal aid plans enhanced their duty counsel services particularly related to bail hearings. In general, these programs are intended to reduce the number of remand hearings and obtain earlier client releases from detention in appropriate cases.
- In Saskatchewan, the funding has helped Legal Aid Saskatchewan provide the extra duty counsel support needed to support the province’s Early Case Resolution Program and the Rapid Remand Response Program. The Early Case Resolution Program has admissions cases for those remanded over the weekend reviewed by a Crown prosecutor and legal aid weekend duty counsel on Sunday so that agreements can be reached, if possible, ahead of the bail hearing. The Rapid Remand Response Program is the same as the Early Case Resolution Program, but on weekdays, where legal aid lawyers and Crown prosecutors choose cases that can be quickly (“more easily”) resolved ahead of bail proceedings to get them done on the same day instead of adjourning the case for two days, as was often done previously.
- Legal Aid Manitoba offers duty counsel support for the Manitoba’s 24-hour and weekend bail hearing program. Staffed by both private bar and staff lawyers, duty counsel services include providing legal advice, developing a bail plan (as required), and assisting in filling out a legal aid application if it has not already been done. Counsel will also provide assistance to anyone who is unrepresented at the hearing. While these programs began during the coronavirus pandemic, they are expected to continue. According to Legal Aid Manitoba, early results demonstrate that the programs have contributed to reducing delay and lowering the volume of bail hearings province-wide, particularly in Winnipeg.
- Legal Aid BC also reported enhancing its duty counsel services for after-hours and weekend bail hearings.
- Legal Aid Saskatchewan created a new legal aid call centre which has extended hours to facilitate applying for legal aid.
- The Northwest Territories Legal Aid Commission established an outreach legal aid clinic, which is primarily for family and civil matters and serves the communities outside of Yellowknife. It is staffed with a family law lawyer (or someone with sufficient background in family law) who provides legal advice for family law questions. For other areas of the law, the lawyer provides legal information. There is also a dedicated courtworker. The Legal Aid Commission partners with the communities as the outreach clinic is community driven and the purpose is to provide legal advice but also to make community connections.
Services for vulnerable populations (n=31) include changes in service delivery to improve access to services or the quality of services, and service outcomes for specific vulnerable populations.
- In Quebec, the Protocole d’intervention lavallois en santé mentale was implemented in Laval to reduce mental health stigma and encourage a quicker service response by legal system stakeholders to assist people with mental health issues. Also, a full-time lawyer is provided at the City of Montréal municipal court to assist those with mental health issues who are charged with summary offences.
- In Ontario, Legal Aid Ontario undertook a project to review its programming from the perspective of vulnerable client groups (Indigenous, racialized groups, mental health issues, etc.). Project Rosemary collected and analyzed information about the race of applicants and clients of legal aid to support evidence-based service planning.
- Legal Aid Manitoba implemented several projects to improve services for Indigenous people, including: providing Indigenous, Inuit, and Métis cultural-competency training to staff; directly engaging with Indigenous Nations to organize educational retreats and events respecting issues of reconciliation, Indigenous legal systems, and calls for justice for murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls. Legal Aid Manitoba also implemented the Journey to Reconciliation, in accordance with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommendations 27 and 28, to provide staff education and participation in Indigenous-led justice innovations.
- Legal Aid Saskatchewan collaborated with the Law Foundation of Saskatchewan and the University of Saskatchewan History Department to create a Gladue database that is open to all legal aid and defence lawyers in the province to assist with writing Gladue reports. The database includes the history of any First Nation in Saskatchewan from the time of first contact up to the 1980s that is based on research conducted by university students and professors. According to the key informants, this has substantially reduced the time and expense of producing quality Gladue reports.
- Nova Scotia Legal Aid enhanced their ability to capture data on clients related to whether they are Indigenous or African Nova Scotian, provided cultural-competency training to their staff, and provided funding for cultural impact assessments in criminal and youth matters and dedicated lawyers to the First Nations Court.
IT/IM (n=28) includes modernization of infrastructure or information management to increase access to information (for the public or for service providers), online access to services, or to improve digital data collection.
- Yukon Legal Services Society used the innovation funding, along with other territorial funding, to upgrade its database and update its website. The new database should improve the administration of the program (including gathering demographic data on clients) and create efficiencies in operations.
- Saskatchewan Legal Aid reported that it upgraded its database, which has led to operational efficiencies and the ability to track additional types of information (e.g., hours spent on files) in order to better allocate resources to types of cases.
- New Brunswick Legal Aid Services Commission implemented new processes to modernize the application process and streamline it. Instead of having a means test, they moved to a grid system based on income and number of dependents, which is more in line with the approach of other legal aid plans. This new system has made it easier for clients to know if they qualify for legal aid as well as for duty counsel to assess if they should apply.
- Nova Scotia Legal Aid improved their technology in several ways. They now have an online application form, which improves accessibility of its services and enables them to direct more quickly the application to the appropriate legal aid office. In addition, they have introduced text notifications of appointments and court dates and have provided laptops/tablets to lawyers, which allows them to work more efficiently at the courthouse, which they believe has reduced the number of adjournments, thereby saving court time.
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