Education Law Advocacy Project (ELAP) Publishes New and Updated Resources

The Education Law Advocacy Project (ELAP) of Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (SMRLS) recently updated its landmark handbook on student education rights to reflect new laws passed at the legislature this year. Children's Education Rights: A Handbook for Professionals Working with Minnesota Students was published last September and covers topics such as school choice, early childhood family education and learning, the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974, students with a disability, students experiencing homelessness, students’ right to be free of discrimination, student discipline, and more. The book was written and organized by Lilian Ejebe, ELAP lead attorney, and Cierra Johnson, certified student attorney, and supported by a grant from Proof Alliance and the Legal Services Corporation.

Brand new this year are fact sheets on Gifted and Talented Programs and Services, which covers identification and development of the talent of gifted students, and American Indian Education, which discusses additional education programs for Indigenous children. These fact sheets will be available soon on LawHelpMN.org.

ELAP was started at SMRLS in 1995 to help families enforce the educational rights of students through a collaborative approach. ELAP has represented thousands of students and their families in obtaining educational services, empowering families in navigating the school system, and in some cases, improving educational policies at the school district level. You can follow the project’s latest work and training opportunities on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.

LSC's Model Practices & Innovations Report Features LSNM Contributions

The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) recently featured data and best practices from Legal Services of Northwest Minnesota (LSNM) in its Model Practices & Innovations series. In the report, LSNM shares how Legal Kiosks and Justice Buses helped the program bridge the digital divide and reach clients without reliable internet access.

LSNM’s executive director, Anne Hoefgen, and communications and outreach coordinator, Kelly Wencl, contributed to the publication, which covers challenges of the pre-existing digital divide in greater Minnesota. That divide was exacerbated when Minnesota courts shifted from in-person hearings to remote civil proceedings in March 2020 in compliance with public health orders.

In 2020 LSNM received LSC-provided COVID-19 funding to increase reach in their service area while awaiting CARES Act funding. Then, working with the Minnesota Legal Services Coalition (MLSC), Reach Justice Minnesota was formed to leverage technology and staffing during the pandemic. Four legal aid organizations primarily comprise Reach Justice and collectively cover all 87 Minnesota counties. Legal Aid Service of Northeastern Minnesota (LASNEM), Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid (MMLA), Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (SMRLS), and Legal Services of Northwest Minnesota (LSNM) serve as the four regional hubs for the project’s initiatives. For more about the resulting innovations and current practices, read Dialing Up: How Legal Services of Northwest Minnesota Expanded Its Services to Bridge the Digital Divide.

SMRLS' Justice Bus Tours Communities in Southern Minnesota

Spring is finally here, and Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (SMRLS) is on the road bringing legal services access and resources directly to the people with its Justice Bus. Beginning this week, the Justice Bus is traveling through communities in southern Minnesota like Rushford, Preston, Le Roy, Red Wing, Cannon Falls, Owatonna, and Faribault. The bus is a mobile legal aid office, so instead of people coming to a SMRLS office to get legal services, the program comes to them.

First launched in summer 2021, the Justice Bus project, along with Legal Kiosks, are part of Reach Justice Minnesota, a series of initiatives created to leverage technology in response to the unprecedented challenges of Covid-19 and to meet clients in their communities.

Jocylyn Poehler, lead family law attorney of SMRLS’ southeast region, recently spoke with News 8 Now and KIMT News 3 about the planned stops on this opening Justice Bus tour, what kind of services are offered, and hopes for a meaningful impact in the lives of those who use it.

LSNM and Park Rapids Library Partner to Provide Legal Kiosk Services

For those who visit the Park Rapids Area Library in northern Minnesota, a free legal kiosk station is now available to help them address their legal issues. Originally a partnership between Legal Services of Northwest Minnesota (LSNM) and the MAHUBE-OTWA Community Action Partnership, renovations at the community center’s office prompted the suggestion to relocate at the public library.

The library’s branch manager, Jodi Schultz, agreed it was a great location for a kiosk, which is now located in the library’s upstairs meeting room. Kelly Wencl, communication and outreach coordinator for LSNM, said “These legal kiosks are mini-tech centers that are hosted by community partners, and allow for video access to an attorney or courthouses, along with printers, scanners, etc. The kiosks will provide safe access to legal information and legal aid lawyers across our service area.” Wencl noted that there are over 250 legal kiosks across Minnesota with nearly 60 located in northwest Minnesota, including at the Fergus Falls and Bemidji public libraries.

In addition to such uses as attending a court hearing remotely, meeting with a legal aid attorney, printing and emailing documents, or filling out forms, Wencl explained, “the kiosk can be used by community members for a wide variety of things, such as telehealth appointments or job interviews. It is not limited in capacity to only legal topics, information and resources.”

Reservations for the kiosk are recommended and can be made by calling the Park Rapids Library. Read more in Free, legal ‘mini-tech center’ moves into Park Rapids Library.

ILCM Explains Minnesota's Language Challenges and Recommends LawHelpMN

Sara Karki, staff attorney with the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM), recently spoke with Minnesota Lawyer about language diversity issues in the legal system and what is being done to address them. In Multilingual challenges in law, Karki discusses the ongoing need for interpretation services, even in the smallest communities, as well as how Minnesota is doing with translation services, for example in the state court system.

Karki and Ingrid Christensen, president of INGCO International, a Minnesota-based translation service also explain barriers and misconceptions that make translating legal information difficult. And in Minnesota, language access in the legal system is a right.

“To be honest, not a lot of people know about these rights, and not a lot of people are able to advocate for themselves,” Karki said. She also noted that document translation opens up a new plethora of issues around access. For example, a translated document might be accurate, but some cultures do not rely on a written language, or the written language varies from what the speaker is familiar with.

Both Karki and Christensen acknowledge the efforts being made by the court system and attorneys working with non-English speakers and share ways to improve access. Karki recommends LawHelpMN.org for clear and targeted explanations of legal concepts in English (as well as Hmong, Somali, Spanish, and others), along with Microsoft Word’s reading level feature. Read more in Multilingual challenges in law.