As an evidence-informed organization, we use two metrics to measure our success and evidence our impact: the increased legal capability of the justice workers we train, and the impact of the justice workers’ support on clients’ poverty-related outcomes.
Training Impact
To date, we have trained over 1,500 partners across Northern California. Over 90% of justice workers certified in Legal First Aid evidence an increase in legal capability – an emerging concept that refers to the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to deal effectively with the law – including being able to mobilize to resolve legal problems, obtain relevant advice, and achieve better outcomes.
Case Impact
Our case data demonstrates that justice worker interventions can have a powerful, positive effect on clients’ legal issues and family and housing stability. Of available data from 74 justice worker cases:
- 82% of non-lawyer support had a positive or very positive effect on client’s economic, family, and/or housing stability (the remaining 18% had a neutral impact, and none had a negative impact).
- In 62% of cases, justice workers identified an issue for which the client received non-lawyer support only (38% received limited or full scope attorney representation).
- Of issues resolved, 80% resulted in a win (27% were legal wins, 53% were non-legal wins), 18% neutrally, and 2% were legal losses.
We will continue to test intensive justice worker interventions by tracking legal issue outcome data and effects on poverty-related stability areas.
Impact Across the Country
A Three-State Study on Legal Capability + Legal First A.I.D.
Legal Link supports programs across the country that want to build justice worker programs – visit Training Design + Technical Assistance to learn more. In these programs, data and evaluation remain a priority.
In 2023, Legal Link undertook a year-long three-state evaluation with the help of an Access to Justice expert, and in partnership with our teams from the Oklahoma Access to Justice Foundation and Georgetown Law. In Oklahoma and South Carolina, Legal Link supported program design and implementation, modified its existing Legal First Aid® curriculum for the new states, and trained local staff to deliver the Legal First Aid training to community partners. Training consisted of five hours of Legal First Aid curriculum, with a pre and post assessment. The evaluation team followed-up at 90 days after the training to gather further data. You can read more by downloading the full report.
In total, 464 Oklahoman and 122 South Carolinians were certified in Legal First Aid. Across the three states, 93% of justice workers certified in Legal First Aid evidence an increase in legal capability. We look forward to continuing to replicate our model and share our learnings to add more Legal First Aid responders to the legal ecosystem nationwide.
