As residents of Los Angeles County continue to recover from the wildfires in the region, staff from the superior court are linking up with other agencies to make self-help services more accessible to those impacted.
Since Jan. 14, staff from the Superior Court of Los Angeles County’s self-help centers have assisted residents on site at local disaster recovery centers at UCLA Research Park West and Altadena. The centers are supported by FEMA and mark a collaboration between various local and state agencies and federal partners, including the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, Los Angeles County, and the City of Los Angeles. There are currently about 65 agencies represented at the sites.
“These disaster recovery centers have been really integral in terms of allowing people to access multiple services all at once,” said Janice Shurlow, a deputy managing attorney for the court’s self-help centers in the central and eastern regions of Los Angeles County.
Court Staff Provide Legal Information, Not Counsel
The court's self-help staff don't represent litigants or act as their attorneys, but rather provide legal information and referrals on housing, family law, probate, and other court matters. They’ve even been able to assist with electronically transmitting documents to court users, like divorce papers and name change decrees.
“We recently helped someone who had to evacuate their elderly mother,” said K.C. Thomas, a principal attorney supervising three self-help centers in the court’s northern region. “The house burned down and then the mom recently passed away, and now this woman is left to be the successor of the trust. She wasn’t sure what to do and where to go, so we were able to give her referrals to our other legal aid partners and our lawyer referral services. This is information that we usually have at our different centers, so we have all of that here.”
Some residents will visit the court’s table to ask about jury service or making remote appearances at proceedings. “We get people coming in because they received their summons, but it got burned in the fire,” continued Thomas. “Our jury service line is generally automated, but they can talk with a live person to let the court know they’ve been affected by the wildfires and can request to postpone jury duty.”
As of Feb. 19, the court had helped 258 court users at the UCLA Research Park West location and 312 court users at the Altadena location. Some visit the court’s table once while others come by repeatedly, as they feel eager to connect with somebody.
“Sometimes I’ll be looking something up for someone and they’ll just tell me what’s been happening, why they’re here, and all the different changes that have happened in their life so drastically,” said Thomas. “They just want to have someone listen to them.”
Court's JusticeCorps Volunteers Also Helping Out
At least two self-help center staff volunteer at the disaster recovery centers every day. The court also deploys local JusticeCorps members to the sites. The statewide JusticeCorps program trains recent college graduates and undergraduates to provide service and neutral assistance (not legal advice) to self-represented litigants who come to court self-help centers in Los Angeles, San Diego, and the Bay Area.
“The staff that have gone to these sites and are there on the frontlines, talking to people who have been through so much devastation, have found this work so meaningful,” added Shurlow.
The Los Angeles County disaster recovery centers are open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday to Saturday. The centers are expected to remain open until sometime in March.
