AJE’s Senior Staff Attorney Stacey submitted testimony to the DC Council about the importance of Civil Legal Services and the impact AJE has on the families we serve. Some of the highlights of her testimony are below, and you can read all of her comments here.
The COVID-19 pandemic has unearthed for many of us our dependence on certain agencies and institutions functioning to access critical support.
When all residents have access to justice through legal services, we can identify and address dysfunction in a system and gaps in services. For example, in March AJE provided critical assistance to a limited English proficient mother and primary caregiver of a non-verbal, autistic adult child with cognitive disabilities after we learned they were essentially trapped in their home without access to food or necessary supplies. Although this mother qualified to receive free meals DCPS was distributing at different sites around the city and potentially other disability services, she had no way to travel safely and access those meals and she was unable to get assistance on her own despite calling the relevant government agencies. On March 30th, two weeks into “stay-home” conditions, I received written confirmation from DCPS that there was not yet a delivery option, and therefore no current plan to get meals to D.C.’s home-bound students. With the help of a Georgetown Law student volunteer, we assisted this parent by connecting her to volunteer-led community resources to ensure she got groceries delivered to her house by the end of the week.
Access to civil justice in a community means that no one is left behind or unheard, and therefore we serve as both a check and a balance to ensure that the government is working for everyone both in the short-term and the long-term.
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