Talk Justice, an LSC Podcast: Legal Aid Struggles to Meet the Needs of Domestic Violence Survivors
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Carl Rauscher
Director of Communications and Media Relations
rauscherc@lsc.gov
202-295-1615
WASHINGTON–Legal aid lawyers discuss the challenges to meeting clients’ needs for domestic violence-related legal services as cases rise on the latest episode of LSC's “Talk Justice” podcast, released yesterday. Talk Justice Co-host Molly McDonough is joined by Susan Pearlstein, senior attorney and violence prevention and policy strategist in the Family Law Unit at Philadelphia Legal Assistance, and Emily Riley, senior supervisory attorney and Victim of Crime Act (VOCA) coordinator at Land of Lincoln Legal Aid in Illinois.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. LSC recently released its annual publication “By the Numbers: The Data Underlying Legal Aid Programs,” which provides national and state-level trend data. The report shows a 9% increase in cases involving domestic violence between 2021 and 2022. This continues a concerning trend of increasing domestic violence cases over the past decade.
Pearlstein says there are many survivors in need of help with the kinds of cases she handles in Philadelphia such as child custody, child and spousal support, divorce, and protections from abuse or restraining orders.
“We try and represent as many survivors of family violence that we can, but we can only represent a small minority of those going to family court,” says Pearlstein. “So we represent survivors in those cases in a holistic way as best as we can, and for all the many litigants that we cannot represent due to lack of resources in our organization and throughout the city, we try and give as much self-represented litigation assistance as we possibly can to those folks.”
Riley explains that domestic violence cases often overlap with housing issues. Survivors may need help breaking their leases, maintaining ownership of their homes, or accessing public benefits that will allow them some support after experiencing financial abuse.
Navigating these complex court processes is often overwhelming for survivors and requires a lot of time and resources from legal aid providers and from courts. Pearlstein and Riley say that having the additional support of professionals like social workers at legal aid offices or paralegals at court help centers is vital to providing people access to justice. However, these positions are often supported by grant funds. When the grant’s term ends, there may not be another funding source available.
“It means that sometimes we have to lay off staff,” Riley says. “That funding is crucial—and additionally, it’s important to point out that dealing with survivors of domestic violence can lead to burnout and secondary trauma, and so it is really difficult to retain staff, as well.”
Riley explains that not only is funding for adequate staffing needed, but it is equally important to fund the types of training and support that will help staff manage their well-being in a difficult atmosphere so that they can continue to serve survivors.
Future episodes of the podcast will focus on new trends in pro bono representation and legal services for veterans experiencing housing insecurity.
Talk Justice episodes are available online and on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple and other popular podcast apps. The podcast is sponsored by LSC’s Leaders Council.