To many of us, it is a common sense notion that civil litigants appearing in courtrooms or administrative hearings fare better with legal counsel than without. Unfor-tunately, indigent individuals across the country are left without guaranteed counsel in civil cases, even when cases af-fect their basic human needs.

A dedicated group of advocates, known as the Committee for Indigent Rep-resentation and Civil Legal Equality (CIRCLE), has been working to establish a civil right to counsel in Washington State for nearly a decade.

CIRCLE suggests that collecting empirical evidence that af�rms the economic and social impacts of providing legal counsel as a matter of right in critical needs cases is necessary to gain large-scale traction in the debate.

Washington Appleseed is proud to be taking a leadership role with the CIRCLE

coalition. We will be assisting the group to examine the successes and pitfalls of pilot projects in other states and to explore early blueprints for a Washington State Pilot.

The recent edition of the Seattle Journal for Social Justice (Vol 9, Iss 1, Fall/Winter 2010) offers a primer on the history of the civil right to counsel move-ment (www.law.seattleu.edu/x9204.xml). Stay tuned with Appleseed to see what’s next in the �ght for justice.

Washington Appleseed 1st Quarter Newsletter, 2011

Increasing Access to Justice in WashingtonWe believe that access to justice, not just access to the courts, is a fundamental right of all residents in our state, especially when basic human needs are at stake.

sowing the seeds of social change since 2004

In this issue:

Helping Homeless Students p2

Bar Bench Partnerships p3

Remote Legal Services p3

Nearly one year ago Washington Appleseed, Foster Pepper and the Craniofacial Center at Seattle Children’s Hospital unveiled our free, self-help legal guide titled Cranio-facial Conditions and Your Insurance. Since its release, the guide has helped hundreds of parents across Washington answer

continues on page 3

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Student Act helped revise the de�nition of homelessness in the American educa-tional system to mean “individuals who lack a �xed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.” With this broad de�nition in place, the McKinney Act affords stabilizing services like free transportation to and from school to students experiencing homelessness.

Washington Appleseed, Riddell Williams and Columbia Legal Services have been working to evaluate the success of local schools in implementing the McKinney Act. When the project began in 2007, targeted school districts had identi�ed 71 homeless students.

Helping Homeless StudentsWashington Appleseed is working to increase stability and social services for our state’s homeless students

After close attention from the project team, these same districts increased their reporting to 205 students—a 389% increase and 24 times the rate of the statewide increase norm—during the last school year.

We are pleased that our legal strategy has helped nearly 200 students receive education and services that would otherwise have been lacking. The project team has now turned their attention to determining how to expand the results achieved in the targeted districts to additional areas in Washington and how to help additional students gain access to important services.

The McKinney-Vento

Homeless Student Act

is part of the No Child

Left Behind policy. It

provides funding for

social services to students

experiencing

homelessness.

(continued from cover)Volunteer with Washington Appleseed

Appleseed strives to craft meaninful, real-world

solutions that impact underserved individuals in

our community, and to provide opportunities for

transactional attorneys and litigators to engage

in expansive pro bono projects.

Get involved today!

No one feels the effects of our current economy more than indigent individuals. Unfortunately, many of the legal aide providers that offer much needed services to poor communities are also suffering cut-backs and program closures. The result, is a perilous imbal-ance of increased need and decreased capacity in non-urban environments.

Washington Appleseed is working with pioneers in the legal services com-munity to investigate how new technologies can help connect Seattle attorneys with those needing legal assistance outside of the metro area. Our goal is to evaluate existing pilot programs and create a manual that other localities can use to replicate success-ful outcomes and increase access to justice for indi-gent individuals.

Remote Legal Services

New Resources for Washington Judges

One of the most signi�cant effects of the recession on Washington State Courts is the rise in home foreclosures. The nature of the economic crisis has generated many new legal issues, and judges have requested a deskbook to address these matters in depth.

Washington Appleseed is working with a panel of respected experts from a variety of backgrounds to steer this effort and and will provide guidance on more than �fteen discrete topics.

Washington Appleseed is helping to remedy the complexities caused by a shifting economy

Lock Out to Drop OutOver the last few years, there have been increasing numbers of school discipline incidents and more children than ever before are dropping out of K-12 education.

Washington Appleseed, the ACLU of Washington, TeamChild and Garvey Schubert & Barer are exam-ining how school discipline effects enrollment and striving to develop positive solutions to mediate the impact of long-term suspensions and expulsions on a child’s overall education.

Expanding Access to Health Careimportant questions about their cov-erage, their claims and their child’s rights. Pro bono attorneys at Foster Pepper are now working to update the guide to include new provisions granted under the Affordable Care

Act of 2010 and create a special sister guide for families in Oregon. The social work team at the

Craniofacial Center is also presenting the toolkit at the annual American Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Association meeting this month, helping families across the country better access medical care for their children.

Read or download a copy of this educai-tonal guide at www.WaAppleseed.org.

David TarshesBoard PresidentDavis Wright Tremaine

Alice OstdiekBoard Vice-PresidentFoster Pepper PLLC

Bob WagnerBoard TreasurerMRW Advisory, LLC

Paula LittlewoodImmediate PastBoard PresidentWA State Bar Association

Michael AllenMicrosoft

Fred CorbitNW Justice Project

Bart FreedmanK & L Gates

Barbara FrostSeattle University School of Law

Ronald J. KnoxGarvey Schubert & Barer

Michael PiersonRiddell Williams P.S.

Sumeer SinglaSenate Democratic Caucus

Suzanne SkinnerAttorney

Louie WuFTI Consulting

Katie MosehauerExecutive Director, Washington Appleseed

Board of Directors

Washington AppleseedP.O. Box 1111Seattle, WA 98111

(206) 632-7197Katie@WaAppleseed.org

www.WaAppleseed.org

Washington Appleseed

advances social justice by

bringing together volunteer

lawyers and community

partners to develop

systemic solutions to

community needs.