The DC Bar Foundation is seeking applications from nonprofit legal services providers located in the District of Columbia to fund civil legal services in the categories of underserved areas, housing, and shared legal services interpreter bank through the 2025 Access to Justice (ATJ) Grants Program.
Donor Name: DC Bar Foundation
State: District of Columbia
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 08/30/2024
Size of the Grant: Not Available
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
The primary purpose of the ATJ Grants Program is to fund civil legal services to District residents with low income and/or who live in underserved areas. Thus, funding will be provided:
- ONLY for free civil legal services;
- ONLY for services to District residents with low income; and
- ONLY for projects that address underserved areas, housing, or support a shared legal services interpreter bank in the District.
DCBF defines the following terms for the purpose of determining eligibility for the ATJ Grants Program:
- “Civil legal services” must include the individual representation of District residents. It may also include the following:
- Supervision of such representation;
- Appellate advocacy on behalf of District residents; and
- Policy advocacy in the District that is associated with the representation of individual clients.
- “Low-income” is calculated by using the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) income limits that determine the eligibility for District residents for HUD’s assisted housing programs.
- “Underserved” is defined as those residents of the District of Columbia who share a common neighborhood, geographic area, language, culture, ethnicity, religion, life situation, or lack of adequate and affordable access to legal services.
- “District resident” is defined as any individual with a residential address in the District of Columbia. DCBF may accept an organization’s reasonable functional alternatives to this definition if DCBF determines such functional alternatives are consistent with the goal of increasing access to justice in the District for special populations, including but not limited to individuals in correctional facilities, individuals living in or fleeing from violence, and unhoused individuals.
The Foundation’s Standards for Funding
- Standards for Organizations
- Funding will be provided to organizations that have systems in place that align with widely accepted industry standards for promoting quality, efficiency, and effectiveness in the delivery of civil legal aid and/or legal aid adjacent services, including methods for self-assessment to provide feedback regarding the extent to which those systems are achieving their desired purpose.
- A strong proposal will demonstrate the applying organization:
- Seeks to identify and respond to one or more of the most pressing civil legal needs of District residents with low income or who are underserved, and make legal services accessible to this population;
- Has systems in place to ensure appropriate supervision, training, and development of its staff, applies feedback obtained from stakeholders and clients to evaluate and improve organization effectiveness and quality;
- Integrates pro bono attorneys and others to supplement and increase the effectiveness of its representation and other services;
- Provides other services designed to increase accessibility of legal services to DC residents with low income or underserved, such as assistance with self-help strategies, legal information through its website or other channels, community legal education; and
- Engages with other important stakeholders working on behalf of or serving its targeted client population, such as the judiciary, government agencies, social services agencies, and community groups.
- Standards for Projects
- Funding will be provided only to projects that measure and report to DCBF their performance against stated goals with respect to legal services to be delivered, outreach and training, pro bono development, and any other activities to be funded under the requested grant.
- A strong proposal will demonstrate that the project:
- Has ambitious yet realistic goals for delivering significant amounts of legal services, as measured by the volume and type of legal services to be provided, the number of DC residents to be assisted, the number of cases to be accepted, the DC wards from which the majority of clients are anticipated, and other measures.
- Seeks to increase access to services to residents in underserved areas of the District, as measured by the percentage of the total proposed legal services that will be provided in areas containing the greatest concentrations of residents with low income or who are underserved.
- Has high goals for providing significant amounts of outreach and training, as measured by the number of outreach efforts and/or trainings that will be conducted, the number of individuals to whom outreach will be conducted, the number of trainings to be held, the number of DC residents who will attend, the volume of materials distributed (literature, website accesses, etc.), and other relevant measures.
- Seeks to increase engagement of pro bono attorneys and law firms in the provision of legal services to DC residents who are low income or underserved, as measured by the number of pro bono attorneys recruited, the number of attorneys trained, growth in the total number of attorneys and firms participating, and other relevant measures.
- Has adequate capacity for delivering the services that are proposed, as indicated by experience in providing services similar to those being proposed, related current work that will be supported or enhanced by the proposed services, and other factors.
- Has a high likelihood of sustainability, taking into account such factors as potential funding sources beyond DCBF, a longer-term service delivery strategy, and other factors.
The Foundation’s Priorities for Funding
- Additionally, in allocating available funding, the Foundation will give priority to proposals that seek to address the most pressing legal needs of District residents with low income or who are underserved and make legal services accessible to this population.
- Proposals that address one or more of the following criteria will be given priority (all other factors being equal):
- Addresses underserved areas in the District, OR addresses housing-related matters, OR supports a shared legal services interpreter bank.
- Is likely to expand the number of DC residents who are provided legal assistance.
- Seeks to avoid duplication of services being provided in the District, in the same issue area, or to the same special population segments as those being proposed.
- Is likely to make legal assistance more accessible to DC residents.
- Is likely to expand pro bono participation by recruiting, training, and supervising law firm attorneys to help deliver free legal assistance to DC residents.
- Is likely to leverage DCBF resources by applying them strategically to expand efforts by other service providers and/or provide services that could NOT potentially be supported by other funding sources.
- Will test innovative approaches for achieving the above priorities.
Grant Period
January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025.
Eligibility Criteria
Qualified recipients must:
- Be a not-for-profit DC corporation;
- Have tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code;
- Operate primarily within the District of Columbia;
- Be located within the District of Columbia; and
- Deliver civil legal services to DC residents with low income or who are underserved; or
- Be a nonprofit organization that meets the requirements above and supports the provision of civil legal services to DC residents with low income or who are under-served.
For more information, visit DC Bar Foundation.
