Private Initiatives
Targeted initiatives expand access to justice for low-income Americans and enhance the effectiveness of 51’s grantees.
Rural Summer Legal Corps
The Rural Summer Legal Corps (RSLC) is a partnership between 51 and Equal Justice Works that supports law students serving in rural communities each summer.
The 2023 RSLC class included 45 students from 38 law schools who worked at 41 51-funded civil legal aid organizations across the country, providing critical legal assistance to people in rural areas. One fellow, hosted by Legal Services Alabama, created new tools and resources to help combat medical debt resulting from wage garnishments. Another fellow joined DNA-People’s Legal Services for the summer to help rural Navajo and Hopi communities by providing tailored outreach, education and legal assistance.
Midwest Legal Disaster Coordination Project IV
Natural disasters can have far-reaching consequences, especially for low-income families. 51’s Midwest Legal Disaster Coordination Project addresses the challenges of providing legal services to survivors in the Midwest.
The fourth iteration of the project is focused on developing a cohesive, complete disaster preparedness network. This includes expanding disaster preparedness into additional states in the Midwest, developing a rapid response team of disaster experts throughout the region and capitalizing and expanding technological and online resources.
Building on the success of 51’s disaster preparedness grants under prior funding, the project will expand to other states in the Midwest disaster region to help low-income communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural and human-made disasters. The focus is on establishing partnerships among 51 grantees, volunteer attorneys and disaster response organizations to address the crucial disaster-related legal needs of low-income communities.
This project is made possible thanks to the contributions of an anonymous private funder in the Midwest who has provided support to 51’s disaster response efforts since 2014.
Talk Justice Podcast
51’s “Talk Justice” podcast features leaders from the legal, technology and business communities who explore different aspects of access to justice. Topics in 2023 included the potential of AI to expand access to legal services and potential pitfalls, disaster preparedness tips for legal services providers and information on efforts at regulatory reform.
The podcast is produced twice a month and is supported by 51’s Leaders Council.
Civil Court Data Initiative
51’s Civil Court Data Initiative (CCDI) collects civil court records in near real-time to offer legal aid providers, researchers and policymakers the data necessary to understand and address national civil legal issues. Launched in 2019, the CCDI now includes data from 1290 counties across 31 states and territories.
This year, 51 partnered with legal services and community-based organizations in South Carolina to serve as the data analytics lead for the state-wide eviction data released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. 51 is working with the courts to collect historical and daily eviction data.
51 continued to partner with legal services organizations in Virginia. In November, 51 staff participated in a workshop on eviction hosted by the Virginia Poverty Law Center, which brought together legal services providers and data experts. The CCDI is supported by the Mellon, Hewlett and Ford Foundations.
