social work practice and the law - Springer Publishing

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1. Identifying the Legal Needs and Realizing the Rights of Social Work Clients 3 duty in seeing that the needs and rights of their clients on every level are linked together, met, and achieved. The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is the institution charged by Congress with the administration of a federally funded civil legal assistance program for those who would otherwise not be able to afford legal counsel. As part of this responsibility, LSC collects data from states to determine the legal needs of low-income individuals and the level of legal assistance available to meet the need. LSC has identified the difference between the level of legal assistance available and the level needed to meet the needs of low-income Americans as the “justice gap” (Legal Services Corporation, 2009). Findings summarizing data collected from surveys conducted by different states consistently report that nationwide, low-income individuals have a significant number of legal needs, from 2 to 5 per year and that significant numbers (80%) of these needs go unaddressed (Committee on Civil Justice—Supreme Court of Georgia Equal Justice Commission, 2009; District of Columbia Access to Justice Commission, 2008; Indiana State Bar Association, 2008; Massachusetts Legal Needs Advisory Committee, 2003). State surveys consistently find less than one in five of the legal problems identified by individuals are actually handled by an attorney (Legal Services Corporation, 2009). Research also reports that certain groups have more legal concerns than other groups, for example: single mothers, elders, immigrants, those for whom English is not their first language, African American and Hispanic households, households comprised of five or more people and those with children (Massachusetts Legal Needs Advisory Committee, 2003). Civil legal problems cover a range of issues and fall into the following categories: family, consumer, housing, employment, education, benefits and income, health, and immigration needs (Legal Services Corporation, 2009). Table 1.1 illustrates the types of legal problems reported by the respondents from various states in each of the categories. As a social worker you have probably been educated to identify and to think about many of the examples listed in Table 1.1 as social service needs. Regardless of how they are defined, solving these kinds of problems and addressing client needs are essential to fulfilling social work values and ethics such as; the practice of achieving a good fit between the person and the environment, upholding and fostering human rights, and the achievement of social justice (Witkin, 1998). Legal needs and rights can be addressed in civil courts such as Family Court or in administrative proceedings such as impartial hearings that assess a claim of unfair denial of government benefits. In Chapter 4, you will learn much more about the way in which civil and administrative proceedings operate. However, it is important for social workers to also know that there is a body of research documenting that certain groups, such as African American children and families, receive disparate treatment when compared with Whites during all the decisionmaking points that occur in civil proceedings related to child welfare and juvenile justice (Hartley & Silva, 2007; Hill, 2007). This disparity will be important to be aware of when listening to clients’ concerns about the
4 Social Work Practice and the Law Table 1.1 Types of Civil Legal Problems Family Consumer Housing Employment Education Income Benefits Child support Foreclosure Failure to provide heat, hot water, and electricity Custody and visitation Abusive collection procedures Discrimination based on age, disability, criminal record, and race (obtaining employment, being disciplined) Rats, cockroaches, mice Unsafe working conditions Discipline problems Difficulty in applying and being discouraged from applying Dangerous conditions Unfair denial and unfair cutting of benefits Domestic violence Child welfare involvement Oppressive contract terms Utility shut-offs Elder abuse Lack of/ loss of insurance Eviction threats and conflict with landlord Poor security such as broken locks Adoption Bankruptcy Public service needs such as dangerous sidewalks, abandoned buildings, hazardous and toxic waste disposal Wills Difficulty collecting pay, overtime, and unemployment compensation Denial of enrollment and transfer Sexual harassment Denial of special education and misclassification Housing discrimination Being paid less than the minimum wage Language difficulties Repayment demanded Unfair treatment, no information on how to appeal Health Immigration Access to health and mental health care Problems getting a green card Inability to obtain insurance and insurance disputes Refusal to accept Medicare/ Medicaid Obtaining advance directives for elders Nursing home problems Problems bringing a family member to the United States legally Difficulty dealing with government agencies because of language problems Getting political asylum Being threatened with deportation
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