The Illinois Equal Justice Foundation (IEJF) makes grants to provide Illinois residents using the court system with legal advice and brief legal assistance to help them effectively navigate the legal system.
Donor Name: Illinois Equal Justice Foundation
State: Illinois
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/28/2023
Size of the Grant: $4.8 million
Grant Duration: 1 year
Details:
In the Self-Help Legal Assistance Project category, the IEJF will consider support for projects that meet the following definition:
Self-help Legal Assistance Project: Self-Help Legal Assistance Projects are programs based at or near courthouses or in other appropriate community spaces that provide legal advice and assistance about particular substantive areas of the law to litigants or potential litigants in noncriminal or traffic matters who are unable to obtain or do not have legal representation for a dispute involving one of those particular substantive areas of the law. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, virtual projects in this category will be considered.
Funding Information
- The budget for 2024 grants will be approximately $4.8 million
- Grant Period: September 1, 2023 – August 31, 2024.
Uses of funds
In the Self-Help Legal Assistance category, the IEJF will make grants to support operating costs for self-help legal assistance projects, including personnel costs.
Eligibility Criteria
In the Self-Help Legal Assistance Project category, the IEJF will only consider applications from Illinois-based not-for-profit organizations that:
- Provide self-help legal assistance free of charge
- Provide legal advice or self-help assistance in areas of the law that include problems commonly faced by members of the public (e.g., family law, housing, consumer and credit issues, immigration), specifically areas of the law that affect lower-income Illinois residents
- Provide legal advice or self-help assistance in a location that is accessible to the public, like a courthouse, library or community organization. Due to COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings, proposals that include virtual projects are permitted
- Use licensed attorneys to provide services, who can be supplemented by law-students or other non-attorneys acting under the supervision of licensed attorneys, or for legal matters where accredited non-attorney representatives are permitted to provide services (e.g., immigration and tax matters), a representative accredited by the appropriate administrative agency to provide services in matters pending before that agency.
Ineligibility
In the Self-Help Legal Assistance category, the IEJF will not consider proposals for:
- Telephone-based services;
- Civil legal services programs’ efforts to provide legal information and self-help assistance as part of their screening and intake systems;
- General efforts to inform the public about the law, such as Law Day activities; the development and dissemination of law-related curricula to schools; essay contests; or other community legal education initiatives that are not designed to help people address specific legal problems; and
- Legal information and self-help projects involving issues of criminal law.
For more information, visit IEJF.
