Agenda & CLE

• Growing our Own: Addressing the Civil Access to Justice Crisis through Community Justice Workers 

• Legal Challenges and Solutions for Youth Experiencing Homelessness 

• Enhanced Services Under One Roof: Improving Housing Stability Through In-House Social Work Services 

• Roundtable Discussion on Implementation of Tenant Right to Counsel 

• Tackling high volume civil legal needs (debt collection, housing) through advocacy, empowering tools, litigation through collaboration 

• Health Care Access for the Aging; Barriers and How to Improve Access 

• Coercive Control: Pathways to Expanding Legal Protections for Domestic Violence Survivors 

• Meeting the Civil Legal Needs of the Opioid Crisis: Community Partnerships, Program Initiatives and Staff Practices 

• Civil Rights and Remedies for Persons who are Deaf, Deafblind, or Hard-of-Hearing 

• Post Pandemic: The Pressing Need for Interdisciplinary Services for the API Community 

• Civil Asset Forfeiture and Indigent Defense 

• Co-Imagining a Chimera: The "Just" Use of Public Benefits Technology 

• Into Their Pockets: Defeating Qualified Immunity and Changing Unjust Systems 

• LSC and the Client Voice 

• Advocacy and challenges for Paid Family and Medical Leave benefits 

• Empowering the Client 

• Family Policing and the NYC Shelter System: Unlearning “Collateral” Consequences and the Unique Role of Non-Attorney Advocates 

• "Right to Shelter" Laws: Case Studies in Seeking Agency Reform through Litigation and Legislative Advocacy 

• Learning from the Rural Justice Task Force 

• Holistic Defense Case Study: Fighting Murder Charges While Safeguarding Housing and Employment 

• Project Rehabilitate - Clearing Warrants and Defender Services for Clients in Treatment 

• Empowering Public Defense 

• Ins and Outs of the California Discretionary Parole Process for Defense Attorneys and Advocates 

• Undoing the damage of mass incarceration and systemic racism in the criminal justice system 

• Transitional Justice; The Case of Reparations for Mass Incarceration 

• Punished for Poverty: Defending Welfare Fraud Cases Using a Collaborative Criminal/Civil Approach 

• Quantifying the Scale of Indigent Defense Underfunding 

• Why It's Called the Practice of Law - Embracing Learning When We Fail 

•  

• The IMPACT of Holistic Legal Services and Government Agency Collaborations 

• The role of technology to expand services in legal deserts/rural America 

• Why It's Called the Practice of Law - Embracing Learning When We Fail 

Racial Equity Workshops  

• Still Doing the Work: Creating, Implementing, and Updating a Race Equity Plan in Real Life 

• Preserving "Public Housing" Through Redevelopment: Empowering Marginalized Communities through Collaboration between Public Housing Authorities, Legal Aid, and Community Organizers 

• Racism, Complex Trauma & Mental Health Residuals of Military Service 

• Improving Standards and Resources to Achieve Language Justice 

• Native American Section 

• Undoing the damage of mass incarceration and systemic racism in the criminal justice system 

• Transitional Justice; The Case of Reparations for Mass Incarceration 

• Punished for Poverty: Defending Welfare Fraud Cases Using a Collaborative Criminal/Civil Approach 

Leadership workshops  

• The Grey Area - Capacity, Supported Decision-Making, and Autonomy (Ethics) 

• The New Executive Director Perspective on Succession Planning 

• MIE Roundtable for Legal Services Executive Directors and Managers 

• Mission Based Recruitment and Retention 

• Building Effective Programs to Represent Older Adults and Adults with Disabilities in Guardianship Proceedings 

• State Legislative Funding Roundtable 

• Small But Mighty: The Joys and Challenges of a Small Legal Services Agency 

• Elevating Pro Bono Through Assessment and Planning 

• Succession Planning 101 for Legal Aid Staff 

• Practical Ways to Improve Your Communications Strategy and Amplify Your Message 

• LSC Compliance Oversight – Looking Backwards and Forwards - Common Compliance Concerns and Changes to Oversight 

• Educating Legislators About Legal Aid 2.0 

• Advocacy Advisory Council - Building a Brain Trust & Engaging Board Members 

• How do you know if you're doing right by your clients? Using Experience Surveys to Advance Client-Centered Representation 

• Holistic Defense Case Study: Fighting Murder Charges While Safeguarding Housing and Employment 

• Making Every Client Count 

• Civil consequences of criminal and family policing

• The IMPACT of Holistic Legal Services and Government Agency Collaborations 

• The role of technology to expand services in legal deserts/rural America 

• Why It's Called the Practice of Law - Embracing Learning When We Fail 

• Still Doing the Work: Creating, Implementing, and Updating a Race Equity Plan in Real Life 

• Preserving "Public Housing" Through Redevelopment: Empowering Marginalized Communities through Collaboration between Public Housing Authorities, Legal Aid, and Community Organizers 

• Racism, Complex Trauma & Mental Health Residuals of Military Service 

• Improving Standards and Resources to Achieve Language Justice 

• Native American Section 

• Undoing the damage of mass incarceration and systemic racism in the criminal justice system 

• Transitional Justice; The Case of Reparations for Mass Incarceration 

• Punished for Poverty: Defending Welfare Fraud Cases Using a Collaborative Criminal/Civil Approach 

• The Grey Area - Capacity, Supported Decision-Making, and Autonomy (Ethics) 

• The New Executive Director Perspective on Succession Planning 

• MIE Roundtable for Legal Services Executive Directors and Managers 

• Mission Based Recruitment and Retention 

• Building Effective Programs to Represent Older Adults and Adults with Disabilities in Guardianship Proceedings 

• State Legislative Funding Roundtable 

• Small But Mighty: The Joys and Challenges of a Small Legal Services Agency 

• Elevating Pro Bono Through Assessment and Planning 

• Succession Planning 101 for Legal Aid Staff 

• Practical Ways to Improve Your Communications Strategy and Amplify Your Message 

• LSC Compliance Oversight – Looking Backwards and Forwards - Common Compliance Concerns and Changes to Oversight 

• Educating Legislators About Legal Aid 2.0 

• Advocacy Advisory Council - Building a Brain Trust & Engaging Board Members 

Agenda

November 8th, 2023 

This Summit brings together attorneys, social workers, community advocates and impacted voices from rural jurisdictions across the country. We will share ideas and innovations and work together to solve shared and recurring challenges.  

8:30  Welcome, Introductions & Grounding Exercise – Aisha McWeay, Anna Ladd, and Israel Villa  
 

9:00  Reflections on ACCD’s Tuesday Discussions – Aisha McWeay 

9:15 Rural & Diversity Fellowships in Colorado – Kristin Ladd & Kevin Bishop: Kristin Ladd & Kevin Bishop of the Colorado Office of Alternate Defense Counsel will share early work on their new grant-funded fellowship program designed to establish contract counsel in rural jurisdictions in Colorado and increase the diversity of the state’s assigned counsel defense bar.  

10:15  Break 

10:30 Staffing Rural Legal Deserts – Malia Brink: This October, the Deason Center at SMU convened a national group of practitioners and experts to tackle the challenges of recruiting in legal deserts. Malia Brink will share the results of that convening and the group’s subsequent white paper.  

11:30  “Grand Rounds” Participants are invited to share the challenges and solutions they are tackling in their jurisdictions for peer feedback and Q&A. We will discuss how the innovations we are hearing about could be applied. 

12:00 Lunch (on your own) 

1:15 Hearing from the Communities we Serve: The people closest to the problems are also closest to the solutions. In our second working session we will hear from community advocates on how best to partner with local organizations to enhance client services and outcomes.  

• Claudia Gonzalez from Root and Rebound will share how they develop creative partnerships and collaboration opportunities to enhance services in CA Central Valley 

• Israel Villa, Deputy Director, California Alliance for Youth & Community Justice, will share about how “credible messengers” have impacted youth outcomes in gang cases, and how partnerships have led to better client outcomes. 

3:00 Break 

3:15 “Grand Rounds” continued & Next Steps 

4:00 Adjourn

American Council of Chief Defenders Pre-Conference 

Tuesday 9 – 4, Reception 4-6:00, and Wednesday 9 – 12:00pm 

$200 ($275 for both ACCD and Rural Summit) 

The American Council of Chief Defenders (ACCD) is a national community of public defense leaders dedicated to securing a fair justice system and ensuring high quality legal representation for people facing loss of life, freedom, or family.  A practice section of NLADA, ACCD draws from NLADA’s network of defenders to bring together chief and deputy chiefs of diverse indigent defense programs, including public defender offices, assigned counsel systems, and contract systems. The ACCD pre-conference event will offer chief public defenders the chance to discuss new issues facing public defenders nationwide and exchange ideas on effective approaches to public defense leadership. Attendance at ACCD is restricted to Chief Public Defenders and Deputy Chief Public Defenders. If you are not certain about your eligibility to participate, please email Alison Bloomquist, [email protected].  

Rural Defense Summit  

Wednesday 8:30 am - 4:00 pm   

Rate: $150 ($275 for both Rural Summit and ACCD)  

In rural areas, where remote population centers are scattered across large geographic expanses, public defenders often face challenges of access to their clients, courts, jails, and social services.  There is often a scarcity of attorneys, and limited funding sources. Approaches used in larger, more populous jurisdictions are simply not transferable.  This summit is designed to bring together defenders working in and managing rural public defender systems to discuss and strategize some of these challenges.  We will share innovative ideas that are taking shape in rural spaces across the country and talk with experts about how to leverage the strategies, data and resources we have in order to best serve our clients.  

Train the Trainers: Creating Training Programs and Culture in Defender and Civil Organizations.   

Tuesday & Wednesday 8:30 – 5pm, with a pre-event gathering on Monday evening!  

Rates:  $275 member/$325 non-member 

During this time of civil unrest and a global pandemic, defender and legal services agencies are exploring ways to help their staff be innovative and effective in serving their clients. Trainers are being asked to train in new ways, and to be purposeful about including principles of racial justice and cultural humility. NLADA and NAIDE are offering Train the Trainer to provide tools, tips, and guidance to meet both old and new demands of training. 

This program is specifically designed for new and experienced trainers as well as managers and upcoming leaders responsible for planning and providing training in their organizations. This program is conducted by a team of training professionals from a variety of perspectives and cultures, representing different regions of the country and with experience in training within statewide, county, and nonprofit systems. The format of the program will include both plenary sessions and breakout groups for participants to focus on individual goals for themselves and their agencies. Learn how to deliver engaging and effective training using the latest concepts in adult learning methods, all through a race-equity lens. 

Topics include: 

• Training with cultural humility and through a racial justice lens. 

• Applying adult learning principles and learning objectives. 

• Facilitating large and small groups. 

• Exploring how training can deliver and shape the agency culture. 

• Cultural humility for trainers. 

MIE New Executive Director Training  

Tuesday & Wednesday 8:30 – 5pm  

This MIE New Executive Director Training will help you thrive as a new legal aid Executive Director. Multiple challenges of this moment (e.g. pandemic, racism, remote work, and economy) require us to evaluate and adjust the ways we advance our mission and develop new leadership approaches. At the same time, the ongoing demands of funding and running a complex program require skills and attention. In this training, you will engage with peers, hear from experienced leaders, and gain diverse perspectives from colleagues who also face these challenges. Given all the demands on your time right now, this training is a worthwhile investment, providing assistance with specific issues you will be dealing with for the short term and relationship building with other new executive directors who can form a support base for the long term. 
 
MIE New Executive Director Training is designed for the challenges facing the legal aid executive director today. Join us if you are a new director of an LSC-funded, IOLTA-funded, elder law, pro bono, or protection and advocacy program. 

https://mielegalaid.org/civicrm/event/info%3Fid%3D90%26reset%3D1  

Community Advocate Leadership Summit  

Tuesday, November 7th, 12– 5pm and Wednesday, November 8th, 8:30 am – 12:30 pm 

Rates: $0 members / $100 Non-members 

Details Coming Soon! 

(Schedule is subject to change!) 

Monday November 6 

5:00 p.m. Train the Trainer Pre-Con Kickoff (optional) 

Tuesday, November 7  

12:00 – 5:00 pm: Client/Community Advocates Leadership Training Pre-Con  

8:30 am – 5:00 pm: Train the Trainer Pre-Con 

8:30 am – 5:00 pm: MIE New Executive Director Training Pre-Con 

9:00 am – 4:00 pm: American Council of Chief Defenders Pre-Con 

Wednesday, November 8  

8:30 am – 12:30 pm: Client/Community Advocates Leadership Training Pre-Con  

8: 30am – 5:00 pm: Train the Trainer Pre-Con 

8:30 am – 5:00 pm: MIE New Executive Director Training Pre-Con 

8:30 am – 4:00 pm: Rural Defense Summit 

2:00 – 7:00 pm: Registration & Exhibits 

4:00 – 5:00 pm: Orientation for New Attendees  

5:00 – 7:00 pm: Annual Meeting of the Members 

7:00 – 8:30 pm: Welcome Reception 

Thursday, November 9 

7: 30am – 5:00 pm: Registration & Exhibits 

8:30 – 10:00 am: Opening Plenary Session 

10:30 am –12:00 pm: Civil, Defender, and Client/Community Advocates Caucuses 

12:00 – 2:00 pm: Affiliate and Section Meetings 

2:00 – 6:00 pm: 90-Minute Concurrent Workshops 

6:00 – 7:00 pm: Selected NLADA Section & Affiliate Meetings (details forthcoming) 

7:00 – 9:00 pm: Client/Community Advocates Reception and Dance 

Friday, November 10 

8:30 am – 12:00 pm: 90-Minute Concurrent Workshops 

12:00 – 2:00 pm: Awards Luncheon 

2:30 – 6:00 pm: 90-Minute Concurrent Workshops 

6:00 – 8:00 pm: NLADA Section & Affiliate Meetings (details forthcoming) 

Saturday, November 11 

8:30 – 10:00 am: Concurrent Workshops 

10:30 am – 12:00 pm: Closing Plenary 

Conference Ends