JusticeCorps

The JusticeCorps program is an innovative approach to solving one of the more pressing issues faced by courts around the country today: providing equal access to justice. JusticeCorps recruits and trains 250 diverse university students annually to serve in overburdened legal self-help centers throughout California. First launched as a pilot program in Los Angeles County in 2004, JusticeCorps expanded to the Bay Area in fall 2006, to San Diego in fall 2007, and to the Sacramento Capitol Region in fall 2010. Minimum-time members commit to serving a minimum of 300 hours during an academic year in self-help centers. In return, they receive approximately 30 hours of training as well as a $1,132 education award when they complete the program. The program also offers a select number of full-time service opportunities in Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and San Diego. Full-time members serve 1,700 hours and receive a $20,000 living allowance dispensed throughout their one-year term of service, as well as a $5,350 education award.

• JusticeCorps Fact Sheet
• JusticeCorps Program Brochure

The JusticeCorps program serves 48% of the state of California, with members serving in the locations shown on the left. Click to enlarge.

Funded through an AmeriCorps grant, JusticeCorps is a collaborative project of the California Administrative Office of the Courts; the Superior Courts of California, Counties of Alameda, Los Angeles, Placer, Yolo, San Diego, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Sacramento; select University of California and California State University campuses; and many community-based service providers. JusticeCorps members receive intensive training throughout the year so they can provide in-depth and individualized legal services to self-represented litigants, often in their own languages, under the supervision of an attorney.

• Learn about JusticeCorps at San Francisco State University

Impacts

The JusticeCorps program aims to assist California courts in meeting the needs of self-represented litigants by recruiting and training college students to work in legal self-help centers. Some of the services that JusticeCorps members provide at the centers include:

• Assisting with legal workshops
• Helping complete legal forms
• Providing information and referrals
• Conducting front desk triaging

JusticeCorps members work under the supervision of court attorneys. Since the program began in 2004, 700 members have successfully completed the program and have had the following impact:

• Provided 258,000 instances of assistance in up to 24 different languages
• Filed 160,250 legal documents
• Provided over 159,450 referrals
• Completed more than 331,000 hours of service

For more information:

• Read about bridging the language gap in self-help centers
• Read about self-represented litigants in Family Law
• Read about the JusticeCorps Grant
• Read about how the economic downturn is affecting the courts