Asian Language Legal Intake Project

A Project of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, Neighborhood Legal Services, and Legal Aid Society of Orange County - 020036

Abstract Number: 020036

July 2002

The Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) partnered with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA), Neighborhood Legal Services (NLS) and Legal Aid Society of Orange County (LASOC) to form the Asian Language Legal Intake Program (ALLIP). This partnership developed in order to provide legal services, advice, and community education to monolingual Asian Pacific Islanders (APIs) who live in Los Angeles County and Orange County in southern California. Despite the large API community in Los Angeles County (13%) and Orange County (15%), linguistic and cultural barriers present formidable barriers for eligible monolingual APIs to receive free legal services available to them, which is evident by the disproportionately low percentage (5%) of APIs who currently receive free legal services in these counties.

To ensure that the legal needs of the API community are met, this partnership devised an intake system where an individual can call a central, toll-free number and receive culturally sensitive legal assistance and advice in their own language. If needed, referrals are then made to the appropriate agency in order to provide more extended services. Initially, intake will occur in Mandarin and Vietnamese but they have intentions to branch out and provide services in additional Asian languages. In addition, these four organizations are connected by a common database thereby facilitating efficient and effective client information exchange. Plans exist to expand services by using videoconferencing during intake as well as upon referral for further representation.

To learn more about the Asian Language Legal Intake Program, download the article below and visit LASOC's webpage at: http://www.legal-aid.com/, LAFLA's webpage at: http://www.lafla.org/, APALC's webapge at http://www.apalc.org/, and NLS' webpage at: http://www.nls-la.org/.

Contact Information:

Juliet Stone
Supervising Attorney
Asian Pacific American Legal Center
1145 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90017
(213) 241-0281
Email

Additional Information:

• Joann H. Lee, A Case Study: Lawyering to Meet the Needs of Monolingual Asian and Pacific Islander Communities in Los Angeles, Clearinghouse Rev. (May-June 2002) 172-184 (358kb, PDF)

• "Expanding Legal Services: Serving Limited English Proficient Asians and Pacific Islanders" by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (040002)

• ALLIP Hotline Concept Handout (89kb, PDF)

• ALLIP Hotline Concept Flowchart (106kb, PDF)

• ALLIP Hotline Work Plan (131kb, PDF)

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