Wayne Pressel, Executive Director
Nevada Legal Services
701 E. Bridger Ave., Suite 101
Las Vegas, NV 89101

Dear Mr. Pressel,

Thank you for the timely submission of the State Planning Report for the State of Nevada. We at the Office of Program Performance have had an opportunity to review the Report and would like to provide a few comments at this time.

Your Report provides a general description of the state planning process in Nevada, formally begun in 1995 and continuing into the present. We commend you for engaging in a process that has been inclusive and participatory, and for recognizing that planning is a long-term, continuous, and forward-looking process. While focusing primarily on activities within Nevada Legal Services (NLS), the Report describes various activities and strategies that have been implemented in Nevada. It is apparent that NLS has played a leadership role in securing the involvement of other legal services providers, the courts, and the State Bar as participants in examining legal needs, coordinating current efforts, and developing new resources to expand the delivery of legal services to low-income Nevadans.

Contrary to our request in Program Letter 98-6, the Report fails to set forth some of the basic components of successful planning: assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the current approach; established and measurable goals which seek to strengthen and expand services to clients; determination of the major steps and a timetable necessary to achieve those goals. We trust that your planning process does take these considerations into account, and that future reports will describe these elements of your planning process.

We commend NLS for developing and expanding its use of centralized telephone intake systems and moving forward with technology. We note that some states served by a single LSC-funded program, e.g., Hawaii and Washington, have also moved to increase coordination of intake functions and sharing of technology among providers, consistent of course with maintaining program integrity, thus facilitating communication among the providers and increasing the ability to refer clients and to work jointly with others across program boundaries.

The Report describes efforts to increase access to the courts and opportunities for self-help in partnership with the State Bar. There is no mention of coordination concerning training and sharing of information. While we recognize that NLS is the major provider of legal services in Nevada, strategic coordination which allows for the identification and use of all available resources may lead to more efficient use of scarce resources in these areas as well. It does appear that coordination with the Bar has led to such results regarding private attorney involvement activities. The Report also reflects the success that has been achieved through collaborative resource development efforts.

The Corporation congratulates Nevada Legal Services on its achievements over many years and on your leadership in advancing planning efforts as part of a statewide process. We look forward to working with you over the next year as you continue to expand access and provide high quality legal services to low-income Nevadans. We would appreciate your keeping us posted on your achievements, successes, obstacles encountered, new strategies, and the like, and request that you submit a status report on your efforts and progress on or before March 1, 2000.