ITC 2025: Creating a Coordinated Intake System for 50+ Legal Service Organizations

Phoenix, AZ
January 13, 2025
Event Poster

With over fifty distinct legal service organizations, residents of the District of Columbia (DC) face numerous challenges in finding help. Enter the idea for a Coordinated Intake and Referral system (CIR). Armed with data from thirteen focus groups with more than 100 residents, including individuals with specific vulnerabilities, and input from more than half of the legal aid providers, the DC community got to work. Led by the DC Bar Foundation and the DC Social Justice Transformations Network, various stakeholders, from legal service organizations to community organizers to social service workers, came together in an intentionally collaborative approach over a four-year period, using tools including monthly chats, focus groups, and regular community convenings.  Efforts were underway to design a blueprint not only for a user-centered CIR system but for an entire ecosystem designed to engage all aspects of the community. This blueprint was put to the test through a pilot program. Come learn about the plans, implementation, successes, challenges, and lessons learned from a Coordinated Intake and Referral pilot system.

Joseph Schieffer