Funding

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Funding for SRL services comes from a variety of sources, including:

Getting involved in the SRLN will connect you with colleagues who have developed successful programs using a variety of these funding strategies to create sustainable SRL services. 

Study: AmeriCorps Court-Based Navigator Programs (Justice in Government Project 2020)
The Justice in Government Project (JGP) at American University, with support from Pew Charitable Trusts, seeks to support funding for legal aid and improve initiatives that address the access to justice gap.
Year published: 2020
Document Author: Justice in Government Project, American University
100% Access to Justice Starting a Self-Help Center Research about Court Navigators Funding
Resource: Title IV-D Funding Resource Guide (SRLN 2014, revised 2017)
Many state court systems and individual courts take advantage of federal funding under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act to obtain reimbursement for the costs of adjudicating child support and paternity matters when hearings are handled by persons other than “judges” under state law.
Year published: 2014; 2017
Document Author: Self-Represented Litigation Network, Richard Zorza, Lee Morhar, John Greacen, Karen Lash, Katherine Alteneder, Renee Danser
Courts Reports Self-Help Centers Funding Funding Strategies
News: Child Support Federal Grant Matchmaking Expands Access to Justice by Promoting Strategic Collaborations (OCSE 2016)
The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) continues to be a driving force in ATJ through a variety of funding strategies that support innovations benefiting self-represented litigants (SRLs) including:
Year published: 2016
Document Author: Self-Represented Litigation Network
ATJ Commissions Legal Aid Allied Professionals Funding Funding Strategies
Guide: Systems Grant Making Resource Guide (GEO 2016)
Guide for strategic grant making from Grant Makers for Effective Organizations (GEO). Solving today’s pressing problems requires impacting the bigger picture — the systems we live and work in. Management Assistance Group and Grantmakers for Effective Organizations have assembled this guide of powerful tools and resources to help you make real change. Available here: http://www.geofunders.org/resource-library/all/record/a066000000KkYmsAAF. 
Year published: 2016
Document Author: GEO
Reports Funding Funding Strategies
Resource: Pro Bono Innovation Fund (LSC 2015)
In March 2011, the LSC Board of Directors formed the Pro Bono Task Force to address the current crisis in legal services, where at least 50 percent of eligible low-income individuals seeking help from our grantees are turned away due to insufficient resources and 80 percent of civil legal needs are unmet. After a year of research, the Task Force released the Report of the Pro Bono Task Force.
Year published: 2015
Document Author: Legal Services Corporation
Legal Aid Private Bar Funding
Resource: Technology Initiative Grants (LSC 2015)
Since 2000, when Congress first appropriated special funds for the Technology Initiative Grants (TIG) program, the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) has been a leader in the development and use of technology to more effectively meet the legal needs of low-income Americans.  
Year published: 2015
Document Author: Legal Services Corporation
Legal Aid Forms Technology Funding
SRLN Brief: Funding (SRLN 2015)
Funding for SRL services comes from a variety of sources, including: state and local government appropriations;
Year published: 2015
Document Author: Self-Represented Litigation Network
Funding Funding Strategies
Resource: Equal Access Unit of the California Center for Families, Children & the Courts (Judicial Council of California 2015)
The Equal Access Unit of the Center for Families, Children & the Courts has materials available for courts, court-­based self-­help programs, and other nonprofit providers of legal self­-help services. The materials include sample instructional handouts developed by local courts, translations, brochures, program models, evaluation tools, and ideas for setting up a self­-help center. Background
Year published: 2015
Document Author: California Judicial Council Center for Families Children & the Courts
Strategic Planning Research Ethics Education Self-Help Centers Libraries Unbundling Plain Language & LEP Forms Conferences & Summits Funding
Paper: Court Simplification In New York State: Budgetary Savings And Economic Efficiencies (Modern Courts 2013)
This paper by the Committee for Modern Courts offers an analysis of the impact of simplification and concludes that in addition to the many substantive advantages of court simplification, including making our courts more understandable to the public and improving access to justice, the budgetary and economic savings to the court system and to those who use it are real and substantial. Also see, The Fund for Modern Court's simplification project.
Year published: 2013
Document Author: Committee for Modern Courts
Simplification Strategic Planning Funding
Presentation: Securing Highly Competitive Grant Funds Through Collaborative Efforts and Effective Marketing (Reinhart, Herman 2011)
These are the power point presentation slides used by Don Reinhart, PhD and Madelynn Herman, MA during their presentation at the 2011 ABA/NLADA Equal Justice Conference (for more conference/preconference materials, please click here). They cover grant writing techniques, as well as strategic planning principles.
Year published: 2011
Document Author: Don Reinhart, Madelynn Herman
General Non-Profit Resources for Planning and Evaluation Funding Funding Strategies