Grants to Illinois nonprofit organizations to provide free legal advice and support to residents regarding non-criminal or traffic violations. Funding is intended to serve those who do not have or cannot obtain legal representation. Eligible uses of funding include operating and personnel costs related to legal assistance projects.
In the Self-Help Legal Assistance Project category, the IEJF will consider support for projects that meet the following definition:
Self‑Help Legal Assistance Project: Self-Help Legal Assistance Projects are programs based at or near courthouses or in other appropriate community spaces that provide legal advice and assistance about particular substantive areas of the law to litigants or potential litigants in noncriminal or traffic matters who are unable to obtain or do not have legal representation for a dispute involving one of those particular substantive areas of the law. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, virtual projects in this category will be considered.
Applications in the Self-Help Legal Assistance category will be evaluated based on:
Demonstrated need for the proposed services, as reflected by factors such as the number of pro se filings in the applicant’s service area, and evidence of support for the project from judges, court clerks, legal services providers, bar leaders, librarians, local government officials and others who deal with members of the public who are seeking legal assistance.
Efficient service delivery, which takes into consideration factors such as the relative costs of the applicant’s services; the use of volunteers; the availability of appropriate client self-help materials; and the use of technology to increase client access and streamline case-handling procedures.
Preference will be given for efforts to establish new self-help assistance projects in counties, or divisions of the court within larger counties, where no self-help legal assistance projects currently exist.
Preference will be given to projects that are developing materials or models that can be replicated by other self-help legal assistance projects in Illinois.
In the Self-Help Legal Assistance Project category, the IEJF will only consider applications from Illinois-based not-for-profit organizations that:
- Provide self-help legal assistance free of charge.
- Provide legal advice or self-help assistance as described in the Purpose section of the guidelines.
- Provide legal advice or self-help assistance in areas of the law that include problems commonly faced by members of the public (e.g., family law, housing, consumer and credit issues, immigration), specifically areas of the law that affect lower-income Illinois residents.
- Provide legal advice or self-help assistance in a location that is accessible to the public, like a courthouse, library or community organization. Due to COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings, proposals that include virtual projects are permitted.
- Use licensed attorneys to provide services, who can be supplemented by law-students or other non-attorneys acting under the supervision of licensed attorneys, or for legal matters where accredited non-attorney representatives are permitted to provide services (e.g., immigration and tax matters), a representative accredited by the appropriate administrative agency to provide services in matters pending before that agency.
Organizations are eligible to apply for a grant from the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation if they:
- Are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code;
- Provide services to low-income people free of charge or on a sliding scale based on income. Low-income is defined as a household income of up to 150% of the federal poverty guidelines. Applicants who charge fees for their legal services are required to provide the IEJF with a copy of their fee schedule. However, legal information for the public, self-help legal assistance and mediation services must be provided free of charge.
Ineligible
In the Self-Help Legal Assistance category, the IEJF will not consider proposals for:
- Telephone-based services;
- Civil legal services programs’ efforts to provide legal information and self-help assistance as part of their screening and intake systems;
- General efforts to inform the public about the law, such as Law Day activities; the development and dissemination of law-related curricula to schools; essay contests; or other community legal education initiatives that are not designed to help people address specific legal problems; and
- Legal information and self-help projects involving issues of criminal law.
Limitations:
- Funds appropriated by the Illinois General Assembly, including funds distributed by the IEJF, may not be spent on a sectarian purpose.
- Said funds may not be used for the purpose of lobbying; encouraging political activities, labor or anti-labor activities, boycotts, picketing, strikes or demonstrations; or investigative or legal compliance activities related to a pending dispute.
- A recipient may not use funds received under the Illinois Equal Justice Act to file an individual action or class action under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act or other labor laws.
- No more than 10% of grants awarded by the IEJF can be used for overhead costs. Failure to abide by this may jeopardize future funding from the IEJF.
Pre-Application Information
Timeline:
- June 30, 2023 – Applications are available
- July 28, 2023 – Completed applications & proposals due
- July/August 2023 – Grant review & site visits
- September 2023 – Board decisions announced
Applications must be submitted electronically by the due date indicated above.
Application procedures and forms will be available by June 30, 2023 at www.iejf.org under the Civil Legal Aid Grants tab. From there you can login to the grant portal.
Grant payments will be disbursed in December, April and June.
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