Civil Legal Aid: Where the Law Meets Social Work

Background

I am an Intake Improvement Consultant here at A2J Tech. I hold my Bachelor’s and Master’s in Social Work. I also have my JD. I have worked in various positions in both the legal and social work fields. This includes over 5 years as a lawyer at a civil legal aid group, with a focus on intake. This post will look at how social work relates to the law. It will also cover the roles social workers can play in civil legal aid groups, especially during intake.

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Civil Legal Aid

In considering the intersection of law and social work, civil legal aid jumps right to the front of mind. Social work is complex and can appear in a wide variety of forms depending on the setting. But at its most broad, “[t]he primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs of those who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty.” Civil legal aids offer free legal advice and representation to qualifying, vulnerable individuals who are often low-income. The Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable identified the types of legal help offered by civil legal aid organizations as accessing basic necessities, ensuring safety and stability, and supporting individuals' economic security.

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While pursuing my Bachelor’s in Social Work, I interned at a civil legal aid organization. Before I began my work, I wondered what my role as a social work intern might look like. I remember the first time I saw one of our attorneys successfully get an eviction dismissed. I thought, “Wow. Now that is helping someone.” But, anyone who has worked on these cases knows this is rarely the end of the problem. The landlord will give another notice. That client is going to have to come up with rent. This is a perfect example of where a lawyer and a social worker can become a dream team.

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Many civil legal aid organizations use social workers in different ways. In 2021, the Legal Aid Association of California found that 26% of civil legal aid organizations in the state had a social work practice. Some organizations combined their social work teams with different practice areas. Others had their teams focus on a specific area or program. In Pennsylvania, Neighborhood Legal Services has social workers who assist clients with housing, mental health, and substance abuse issues, as well as general communication, benefit applications, medical care, transportation, and utility assistance.

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Social Workers and Intake

After law school, I began working for that same civil legal aid organization, but now as an intake attorney. The intake process at any civil legal aid holds great significance. Many people who contact their local legal aid office won’t get full representation due to limited resources. For many clients, the advice received through the intake process will be the extent of the service provided. As an intake attorney, I had this thought on my mind at all times. It was a challenge to provide thorough and meaningful advice to each intake while keeping up with the constant stream of new clients with pressing legal issues.

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In trying to meet these demands, I often felt that there was a tension between my JD and MSW. Consider a case like the one mentioned earlier. If assigned a client facing an eviction for nonpayment of rent, my JD evaluated the legal merits of the client’s case while my MSW considered why this client was unable to pay rent. My obligation and duty was to advise the client of their legal rights, but in the pursuit of providing more holistic services, there was a desire to ensure this client didn’t find themselves back in this situation next month.

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This is where a social worker can play a vital role. In this case, the social worker can investigate why the client was unable to pay the rent. The social worker can take the time to identify the unique set of barriers that are impeding this client’s ability to pay rent. This will help the social worker give the client useful community referrals. It may also uncover more legal issues.

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There are many ways that social workers can support the intake process at a civil legal aid organization. I see great value in having social workers conduct basic needs assessments for clients. These assessments look at many different areas of a client’s life to identify potential barriers and issues, and potentially spot additional legal issues. The social work team can work with the intake team to create a process for identifying clients that would benefit from a basic needs assessment, which they can then conduct and give helpful community referrals.

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The advantage of having a social worker conduct this assessment lies in their professional expertise. Social workers are trained to recognize both personal and systemic challenges faced by vulnerable individuals, provide effective support, and identify underlying causes of a client’s hardships.

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To be most effective, social workers should have strong relationships with local resource organizations and be able to provide a warm handoff to the organization. By making direct referrals, social workers help remove barriers for the client. If there are many steps in a referral or application process, the social worker can support the client through these steps.

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Ethical Considerations

The most difficult part of moving between positions as a social worker and an attorney is the ethical discrepancies. In a nutshell, attorneys are bound by attorney/client privilege. Conversely, social workers are often mandatory reporters. When employing social workers in a legal setting this is something that must be considered very carefully. There are different ways that this can and has been addressed. There are many resources available on this topic, such as the article “Social Work and Legal Services Integrating Disciplines: Lessons from the Field” by Thea Zajac, MSW, for the Legal Aid Association of California.

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Gratitude

Civil legal aid organizations do such incredibly important work in communities across the country. I hope that these organizations will continue to look for ways to collaborate with social workers. In 2012, President Obama described the availability of civil legal aid as “central to our notion of equal justice under the law.” It’s simple, but it’s profound. And I think that is a perfect fit for civil legal aid. Civil legal aid staff, if this post reaches any of you, thank you for the brilliant work you do.