Reminder: Jan. 15 deadline approaching for legal clinics and community partners to apply for new LAO funds

TORONTO, Jan. 6, 2014 /CNW/ - Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) will continue to accept applications from legal aid clinics and community partners for new funding from LAO's $1 million Clinic Transformation Fund and/or its $2 million Fund to Strengthen the Capacity of Community and Legal Clinics until Jan. 15, 2014.

Clinic Transformation Fund

The Clinic Transformation Fund supports clinic transformation and future savings in context with the clinic modernization strategy outlined in LAO's Clinic Law Services Strategic Directions paper. Those eligible to apply include:

• all LAO-funded legal aid clinics with proposals to promote innovation and strengthen clinics' abilities to provide consistent, accountable services to clients
• a single clinic, several clinics or a clinic in conjunction with community partners. Joint proposals from two or more clinics are encouraged and will be given preference.
• applicants with one to three year time-limited projects.

Fund to Strengthen the Capacity of Community and Legal Clinics

The Fund to Strengthen the Capacity of Community and Legal Clinics supports innovative and enhanced services that increase the number of clients served in a cost-effective manner. This fund will support:

• initiatives expected to become self-funding within three years, with a program impact that continues into the future
• the development of pilots for the delivery of legal services at sites within a community, in partnership and collaboration with student legal aid services and existing legal clinics.

Those eligible to apply include:

• all community legal clinics, student legal aid service societies (SLASS) and other community organizations which provide or could provide poverty law services
• a single community legal clinic, community organization or SLASS or joint proposals from several parties
• applicants with one- to three-year projects or initiatives.

The $3 million for these funds is 30 per cent of the $10 million in additional funding LAO has received from the government for 2013/14, as announced in the May 2013 budget.

SOURCE: Legal Aid Ontario

Questions

Kristian Justesen 
Director, Communications and Stakeholder Relations Group 
Phone: [phone], ext.4782 
Email: [email protected] and/or [email protected]