City of Lawrence
Outside Agency Funding
APPLICATION
General Information: Each year, the City Commission considers requests for the allocation of dollars to a number of agencies that provide services benefiting the Lawrence community. The decision on funding a request will be made during the City’s annual budgeting process. The decision will be based upon the availability of funds, the need demonstrated through the agency’s application, the stated objectives of the applicant’s program, past performance by the agency in adhering to funding guidelines (as appropriate), and the ability to measure progress toward the program objectives.
Instructions: Applications for 2008 funding must be complete and submitted electronically to the City Manager’s Office at cliebst@ci.lawrence.ks.us by the deadline of 5:00 pm on Wednesday, May 2, 2007.
Questions? Contact Casey Liebst, Budget Manager at cliebst@ci.lawrence.ks.us or at 785-832-3409.
Section I. Applicant Information
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Legal Name of Agency: |
Douglas County Legal Aid Society, Inc. |
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Name of Program for Which Funding is Requested: |
Legal services for indigent defendants |
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Primary Contact Person: |
Charles A. Briscoe |
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Address: |
1535 W. 15th Street, Lawrence, KS 66045 |
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Telephone: |
785-864-5564 |
Fax: |
785-864-5399 |
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Email: |
cbriscoe@ku.edu |
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Section 2. Request Information
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A. |
Amount of funds requested from the City for this program for calendar year 2008: |
$40,000 |
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B. |
Will these funds be used for capital outlay (equipment or facilities) in 2008? If so, please describe: No. |
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C. |
Will these funds be used to leverage other funds in 2008? If so, how: No. |
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D. |
Did you receive City funding for this program in 2007? If so, list the amount and source for funding (i.e. General Fund, Alcohol Fund, etc.): $40,000, general fund. |
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E. |
If you are requesting an increase in funding over 2007, please explain exactly how the additional funds will be used: N/A. |
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Section 3. Agency and Program Budget information
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A. |
How many paid full time employees work for your agency? |
4 |
Volunteers? |
No |
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B. |
What percent of your total 2007 budget goes to employee salaries and benefits? |
84% |
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C. |
What percent of your total 2007 budget is used for operating expenses? |
16% |
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D. |
What is the total estimated cost to provide the program in 2008? |
$123,931 |
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E. |
What percent of 2008 program costs are being requested from the City? |
32% |
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F. |
List other anticipated sources of funding and funding amount for this program in 2008: |
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Anticipated Funding Source |
Dollar Amount |
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United Way of Douglas County |
$12,996 |
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Rice Foundation |
$5,000 |
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Douglas County, Kansas |
$29,828 |
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City of Lawrence |
$40,000 |
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Kansas Legal Services, Inc. |
$30,000 |
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From reserves |
$5,000 |
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TOTAL 2008 PROGRAM BUDGET |
$125,724 |
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Section 4. Statement of Problem/Need to Be Addressed By Program
A. Provide a brief statement of the problem or need your agency proposes to address with the requested funding and/or the impact of not funding this program. The statement should include characteristics of the client population that will be served by this program. If possible, include statistical data to document this need.
DCLAS provides legal services for indigent defendants in the municipal court who are charged with crimes which have penalties which could result in incarceration. The right of these defendants to court-appointed counsel is guaranteed by the United States Constitution.
Most of our municipal court clients are referred to us by the municipal court judge. All municipal court clients must go through our intake process to ensure they meet our financial guidelines. Our agreement with the City of Lawrence requires us to accept any municipal court client who is financially eligible for our services, unless the representation would create a conflict of interest. Therefore, we accept most of the clients who meet our financial guidelines.
The chart below indicates the number of new files for municipal court clients which were opened in the past eight years. The chart also shows the percentage of our total case load which is devoted to municipal court defendants. Since 1999 we have seen a steady increase of this portion of our client base.
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1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
7-yr Average |
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1st Quarter |
35 |
41 |
38 |
31 |
33 |
40 |
43 |
44 |
37.29 |
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2nd Quarter |
20 |
36 |
29 |
41 |
29 |
34 |
33 |
40 |
31.71 |
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3rd Quarter |
27 |
31 |
15 |
36 |
33 |
37 |
36 |
42 |
30.71 |
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4th Quarter |
19 |
27 |
26 |
27 |
27 |
33 |
31 |
42 |
27.14 |
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TOTAL |
101 |
135 |
108 |
135 |
122 |
144 |
143 |
168 |
126.86 |
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26.51% |
33.42% |
31.40% |
39.47% |
39.23% |
40.45% |
44.41% |
46.03% |
36.41% |
B. How was the need for this program determined? See response to 3.B.
C. Why should this problem/need be addressed by the City? See response to 3.B.
Section 4. Description of Program Services
A. Provide a brief description of the service you will provide and explain how it will respond to the need you identified in Section 3. The description should include how many clients will be served, and should describe as specifically as possible the interaction that will take place between the provider and the user of the service.
The School of Law’s Legal Aid Clinic offers student interns the opportunity to practice civil and criminal law for two consecutive semesters, under the direction of licensed, practicing attorneys. The Legal Aid Clinic was first offered as a course in the School of Law in the fall of 1967, as a joint venture between the School of Law and Douglas County Legal Aid Society, Incorporated (DCLAS).
Through the Legal Aid Clinic, student interns provide legal assistance for low-income clients in the Municipal Court of the City of Lawrence, and the District Court of Douglas County. The Legal Aid Clinic’s case load is divided into three general areas: a civil practice that includes divorce, paternity, protection from abuse, child support, landlord and tenant matters and consumer matters; a criminal practice for adults who are charged with crimes in the Municipal Court of the City of Lawrence; and a criminal practice for juveniles who are charged with crimes in the District Court of Douglas County.
Each intern is assigned to a supervising attorney. Barring unusual circumstances, an intern will have the same supervising attorney for both of the semesters the intern is enrolled in the clinic. We instituted that policy to give more continuity for the clients and the interns.
An intern receives several open case files on his or her first day in the clinic. During the semester, an intern will receive additional files when new clients are accepted during our intake process. We try to limit the number of active files for any intern between 10-12. The table below indicates the average weekly case load for the office in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
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CIVIL |
MUNICIPAL |
JUVENILE |
YEARLY TOTAL |
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2004 |
43 |
48 |
59 |
150 |
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% total case load |
28.60% |
32.14% |
39.26% |
100% |
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2005 |
51 |
46 |
39 |
136 |
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% total case load |
37.67% |
33.94% |
28.39% |
100% |
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2006 |
78 |
53 |
36 |
168 |
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% total case load |
45.99% |
30.39% |
23.62% |
100% |
B. Describe any efforts your agency has made to explore the community to determine if there are any other agencies providing similar types of services. What efforts have you made to coordination services? There is no other agency in the City of Lawrence which provides similar services.
Section 5. Program Objectives
Please provide three specific program objectives for 2008. Objectives should demonstrate the purpose of the program and measure the amount of service delivered or the effectiveness of the services delivered. A time frame and numerical goal should also be included. Examples include, “75% of clients receiving job training will retain their job one year after being hired,” “increased fundraising efforts will result in a 15% increase in donations in 2008,” “credit counseling services will be provided to 600 clients in 2008,” “new digital arts program will serve 275 students in 2008” etc. Applicants will be expected to report their progress toward meeting these objectives in their six month and annual reports to the City.
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Program Objectives |
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1. |
Our only program objective is to provide excellent legal services for any municipal court client who qualifies for our services. In 2006, we opened new case files for 365 new clients. Of the 365 new clients, 168 were municipal court clients. Our municipal court clients comprised 46.03% of all new filed opened in 2006. As of May 2, 2007, we have opened 73 municipal court files. We anticipate the total number of new files municipal court files in 2007 will exceed 150.
As of May 2, 2007, we have closed all but 7 of the municipal court files we opened in 2006. For the clients whose case files were closed, we provided 1,304.68 hours of legal services. Had we billed these clients (supervising attorneys at $125 per hour and legal interns at $85 per hour), our services would be valued at $126,560. We do not post the total number of hours for a client’s file until the file is to be closed. Therefore, the total number of hours of legal services to clients whose files were opened in 2006 is incomplete.
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2. |
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3. |
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Please return completed application electronically to cliebst@ci.lawrence.ks.us by
5:00 pm on Wednesday, May 2, 2007.
Office Use Only