Archives: Grants (page 28)

Law in Action Within Schools (LAWS) will place students in paid four-week jobs with legal aid clinics and public interest organizations as part of their summer job program. The grant benefits high school students involved in the LAWS program, offering them an opportunity to learn about access to justice, observe the legal aid system in action, and interact directly with community members.

Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) will collect, analyze, and report on race-based data in bail and case outcomes by tracking data from all LAO service providers (both duty counsel and the private bar). The objective of this initiative is to improve data collection and facilitate evidence-based inferences on the impact of racial background on bail and case outcomes.

Legal Clinic of Guelph and Wellington County, in collaboration with Halton Community Legal Services, will offer a mobile legal clinic, called Wellington Halton Law Van, to enhance the network of rural supports available to low-income residents of Wellington and Halton Counties. Building on and expanding the original Wellington County Mobile Legal Service pilot project, this three-year project will improve access to justice in the rural portions of the region. It will also foster relationships among health care providers, the local bar association, mental health services, libraries, nonprofit organizations, community groups, and faith organizations.

Migrant Workers Alliance for Change (MWAC) will create and share public legal education (PLE) resources on housing rights to migrant agricultural workers based in Brantford, Hamilton, and the Niagara region. MWAC will raise awareness among migrant workers of basic housing standards and the ways in which they can assert their right to decent housing. The PLE resources will be available in English and Spanish. Partners include the Ontario Employment Education & Research Centre. This initiative will fill a gap in PLE resources that address the needs of migrant agricultural workers experiencing housing issues.

The University of Toronto Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work will develop an online toolkit that will synthesize the legislation, case law, and evidence-based social science research on child protection and its effects on families involved in the system. The toolkit will be accessible online and directed to lawyers, social workers, and others working in child protection, with the goal of leading to more informed decision-making and court orders with a stronger evidentiary basis.

University of Western, Faculty of Law will study the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on family law cases and family law litigants (both those with and without lawyers), including its effects on access to justice, victims of domestic violence, and children whose parents have separated. The team will study family law developments and impacts, and the responsiveness of family justice professionals and courts over the different phases of the pandemic. The objective of this initiative is to use empirical data to understand the effects of the pandemic on access to justice in the family law sector, which may also provide a benefit for future planning.

Windsor Law will create a free, online, accessible, and regularly updated guide to Ontario civil procedure published on CanLII. The guide will include plain-language summaries but will also be designed for legal professionals as an alternative to Westlaw and Quicklaw. By making the publication freely available, the guide will provide a tool for self-represented litigants and social justice practitioners.

The 519 aims to build on its capacity to support individuals through the justice system and provide the legal expertise necessary to increase access to justice. Partners include Pro Bono Students Canada and Community Legal Education Ontario. This grant will benefit members of the LGBTQ2S community, particularly those who are racialized, trans, low-income, under-housed or otherwise marginalized who have difficulty accessing high quality legal services.

Aboriginal Legal Services (ALS) will benefit Indigenous community members across Ontario who are experiencing legal issues. ALS aims to improve its capacity to develop and deliver programs and services that are responsive to the needs of the Indigenous community.

The Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic’s Criminalization of Women Pro-Bono Program seeks to increase access to justice for women in the Greater Toronto Area who have experienced violence and have been charged with and/or convicted of criminal offences. The program provides women with summary legal advice and brief services for their criminal law matters. Program participants with more complex criminal law needs can access a community of pro bono criminal defense lawyers for legal advice. The program is for survivors of violence, particularly those facing multiple forms of discrimination, who come from underserved communities, and who have complex socio-economic and legal needs.