Quality Assurance Program & Quality Support Project
Legal Aid Ontario - 030005
Abstract Number: 030005
July 2003
Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) created the Quality Assurance Program in 1996 to provide information and support to community legal services providers and law school clinics to encourage and facilitate continuous program improvement and quality assurance. To achieve this goal, the Quality Assurance Program performs two primary functions: 1) evaluates whether legal services providers under their aegis are meeting the quality standards developed by LAO; and 2) supports program efforts to make qualitative improvements in the delivery of legal services by sharing better practices, information, resources, and advice. In addition to sharing information, the Quality Assurance Program conducts site visits to evaluate whether legal services providers are meeting LAO's quality criteria. LAO staff follow up on site visits through questionnaires regarding the status of recommended changes to the program. In 2002, following the completion of site visits to all of the Ontario's community legal clinics, the Quality Assurance Program underwent a program review, known as QAP 2002, to determine its future direction. A parallel process, the Quality Support Project, was established in 2001 to develop a proposal for expanding quality assurance to all of LAO's service providers. The Quality Support Project also established a number of specific quality initiatives with non-clinic legal aid service providers. In late 2002, the QAP 2002 review and the Quality Support Project culminated in the creation of a new office, known as the Quality Service Office (QSO). The QSO now has an expanded mandate to promote and support quality service for all of LAO's service providers. To learn more about these projects, review the attached documents below.
Background Information on Legal Aid Ontario:
In 1998, the Ontario government created Legal Aid Ontario, a publicly funded non-profit corporation to administer the province's legal aid program. LAO funds a network of 78 independent, community-based legal aid clinics that deliver legal services to low-income people. Contact Information: To learn more about LAO, visit their website at: http://www.legalaid.on.ca/.
Contact Information:
Janet Budgell
Legal Aid Ontario
375 University Avenue, Suite 404
Toronto, Ontario M5G 2G1
Phone: (416) 204-7131
Fax: (416) 204-4704
budgellj@lao.on.ca
Additional Information:
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