John Ebbott, Executive Director
Legal Action of Wisconsin
230 West Wells Street, Room 800
Milwaukee, WI 53203-1866
RE: 1998 Wisconsin State Plan

Dear Mr. Ebbott:

Thank you for the timely submission of the 1998 Wisconsin Legal Services State Planning Report. The staff of the Legal Services Corporation Office of Program Operations has reviewed and discussed your plan in substantial detail. It is apparent that Wisconsin's delivery system has many strengths -- its partnerships between programs and the bar, its resource development efforts, its coordination of legal work, the Skilton Commission. We applaud these accomplishments and encourage you to continue to build upon these strengths. At the same time, we also encourage you to work on certain areas described below where we think further collaborative effort will produce an even stronger delivery system for Wisconsin's poor. We request that you provide a supplemental report by April 1, 1999 addressing the items noted below.

A.        Planning Process

At the outset, we wish to acknowledge the leadership of the Skilton Commission and the positive working relationships LSC programs have with the Commission. We applaud and respect the goals and projects launched by the Commission and believe bringing its plans to fruition will do much to increase the availability and accessibility of legal services to low-income persons in Wisconsin. We believe the Commission's work is integral to your planning and hope that you will continue your close partnership with and participation in its efforts. The Commission report, however, is not a strategy paper for planning a statewide integrated delivery system. While we have the utmost respect for the Commission's work, our Program Letters 98-1 and 98-6 call upon LSC recipients to look at additional issues and develop further plans for improving and expanding services to clients throughout the state.

As stated in those Letters, a state plan should seek to develop a comprehensive, integrated statewide service delivery system which is Aresponsive to the most compelling needs of eligible clients, ensures the highest and most strategic use of all available resources, and maximizes the opportunity for clients throughout the state to receive timely, effective, and appropriate services." No eligible client should be left out of the justice system or receive less effective assistance because of geography or other factors. It is against these overarching goals that we offer below our observations of the strengths and weaknesses of the Wisconsin Plan.

B.        General Observations

We believe your future planning efforts would be strengthened by development of specific goals and time frames, assignment or assumption of responsibility for actions needed to achieve those goals, and development of accountability mechanisms that would help ensure success of state planning initiatives. For the most part, Wisconsin's report does not present a vision of where you want to go, either in general, or in particular areas, such as technology or intake, or include an action plan for getting there. Your supplemental report should include goals, objectives, and time-lines, i.e., the who's, what's, how's and when's of the next steps of the process. Your report should also address the question of overall responsibility for plan implementation.

Finally, consideration should also be given to more active involvement of other stakeholders in this effort. While the report indicates one meeting was held this past summer with Bar and Bar foundation leaders, increased and continuous involvement of such stakeholders may help in your efforts to build stronger capacities to serve clients statewide. Areas that may be of particular interest to stakeholders include systems for client intake, advice and referral that could improve access for clients, and be more effective for legal services programs and other client service organizations in the state. Stakeholders may also be interested in discussing the state's current judicare delivery system.

I.        Intake, Advice and Referral

Each program's individual intake system is discussed without reference to plans for a statewide integrated system. While it is encouraging to note that there is a reciprocal arrangement for inter-program referrals, the planning report falls short in addressing measurable objectives needed in moving to a more integrated system. The report provides no discussion of standard practices for intake procedures between programs, streamlining referral procedures with other client service organizations in the state, or expanding the use of technology to enhance client intake, advice and referral services.

From the plan, we found that:

1. Telephone intake, advice and referral has proven successful at Wisconsin programs in addressing the needs of special population groups, such as the disabled and the elderly. Additionally, the state Bar's legal information and referral service appears successful on a statewide basis. As a result, clients in need of emergency assistance, advice, or referrals have an additional and immediate access avenue.

2. The Wisconsin judicare program uses 'card-issuing' agencies across the northern half of the state to conduct client intake. The card-issuing agencies determine client financial eligibility, and serve as the gateway to the judicare panel. There appears to be several steps in this process that unnecessarily add time before client issues can be addressed.⁽¹⁾

We request that the state planners reexamine the benefit of expanding telephone intake, advice, and referral systems beyond their current use for non-judicare programs, and examine whether an automated intake, advice and referral system would result in a more efficient process for the judicare program. As part of the reexamination, state planners are requested to:

1. Analyze the pros and cons of the current intake systems in Wisconsin.
   
2. Evaluate the pros and cons of an automated intake, advice, and referral system in at least one other state that has population and geographic considerations comparable to Wisconsin.
   
3. Determine if greater use of telephone intake, advice, and referral systems would improve client access and foster a more integrated delivery system

II.         Technology

A statewide plan is needed to address statewide acquisition, usage, and integration of technology within the legal services community. Information exchange, manipulation, and analysis are each enhanced through technology. As a result, technology has the potential for improving the legal services delivery system. LSC commends the many investments in technology that Wisconsin has made to date, and recognizes that resources invested in technology may initially result in fewer available resources for direct client services. However, current technology is essential for providing efficient, high quality services to clients.

From the plan, we found that:

1. Each program has established its own hardware and software platforms.
   
2. There are current discussions about expanding the use of the state bar website to incorporate information specific to legal services programs, but there is no substantive discussion about the impact of this on the delivery system.
   
3. There is $100,000 available for technology grants from the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation.

In view of these findings, we request that the state planners develop a technology plan that addresses:

1. Technological compatibility and integration between programs and other client service organizations in the state.
   
2. The capacity for technology to improve program activities and services.
   
3. The capacity for technology to help clients exercise their legal prerogatives without the assistance of an attorney.
   
4. Technology upgrades and training.
   
5. A budget, time-line, and cost/benefit analysis for technology acquisitions.

III.         Access to the Courts, Self-Help, and Preventive Education

We are impressed with Wisconsin's accomplishments and continued commitment to address barriers to justice in the state, to provide preventive legal education and advice, and to enhance self-help opportunities for low-income persons. No supplemental information is requested on this topic at this time.

IV.      Coordination of Legal Work, Training, Information and                            Expert Assistance

We commend Wisconsin for its ongoing commitment to legal work coordination, providing statewide advocate training, information sharing, and expert assistance necessary for the delivery of high quality legal services. No supplemental information is requested on this topic at this time.

V.        Private Attorney Involvement

We commend the Wisconsin delivery system on its recruitment, retention, and extensive use of volunteer, pro bono, and judicare attorneys. It is especially gratifying to note that volunteer and pro bono attorneys are used for training, co-counseling, resource development, and staffing hotlines, in addition to the more typical direct client services. We are also impressed by the number of participating judicare attorneys and their accomplishments. However, we have some concern about:

1. The dependency on judicare attorneys as the primary service provider for the entire northern half of the state. Currently, judicare attorneys close about 80% of all cases in the northern half of the state and receive about 23% of all LSC funding for Wisconsin.
   
2. The judicare panel's capacity to respond to the most critical legal needs of the client community.
   
3. The interest and commitment of judicare attorneys to invest in significant components of a statewide integrated delivery system, such as technology, resource development, pro se, client education, and advocate training

In view of these concerns, we request the state planners to examine:

1. The role of judicare attorneys in the development and maintenance of a statewide, integrated delivery system.
2. The potential benefit of expanding the program's staff attorney component.

VI.         Resource Development

We commend the Wisconsin legal services delivery system for its resource development initiatives including the establishment of the Equal Justice Coalition. LSC applauds the coalition's mission to raise funds for civil legal services statewide, and as an initial goal, to raise $5 million in three years. No supplemental information is requested on this topic at this time.

VII.       Configuration of a Comprehensive, Integrated Statewide                           Delivery System

The report describes several instances of statewide collaboration among the four LSC funded programs to improve the delivery system in the state. The executive directors meet regularly throughout the year to address resource development, pro bono efforts, advocate training, and client education. The report points out that the programs are of moderate size, and are split into four distinct regions. A 1993 LSC-funded study concluded that there were no overwhelming reasons for mergers in Wisconsin.

Reconfiguration of LSC-funded programs in Wisconsin is not viewed by LSC as a current priority nor as a necessary outcome of the state planning process. LSC recognizes the many strengths within the Wisconsin delivery system, including its long history and commitment to planning, the delivery of quality legal services to clients, the strong relationships with state and local bar associations, the work of the Skilton commission, and ongoing collaborative efforts in resource development, client access, and advocate training.

Additional innovative work and progress on the items noted in this letter, however, are required to further develop a statewide, comprehensive, integrated delivery system. We operate from the presumption that such progress can occur without change in the current number of LSC-funded programs. Should the configuration of programs present an impediment to such progress, LSC's presumption will change.

We hope these comments will help Wisconsin continue to move forward to strengthen and expand services to clients. We look forward to a successful partnership with you in this endeavor, and to reviewing your supplemental report in April 1999. Please contact me at 202.336.8827 if you have any questions.