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Coordinated Advice and Referral Program

Legal Services (CARPLS) -  030034

Abstract Number: 030034

April 2003

Coordinated Advice and Referral Program for Legal Services (CARPLS), is a civil legal advice and referral hotline serving Cook County's low-income residents. CARPLS serves as the central hub of the Cook County legal aid community by providing legal advice and prompt referrals to appropriate legal, government, and social service programs.

Community legal service agencies are the primary point of contact for most of CARPLS' clients. Referring agencies transfer callers to CARPLS via a Centrex phone system. Transferred calls are answered directly by a CARPLS attorney who collects information to determine a caller's eligibility for free legal services and simultaneously enters the data into a computerized case record. After determining a caller's needs, the staff attorney walks the caller through various options, which include:

• Advice and brief services. When the attorney believes that the callers' problem can be resolved short of actual representation, advice and brief services are given. CARPLS resolves more than 65% of its cases without the need for further referral.

• Legal referrals. If a caller is in need of extensive legal representation, the staff attorney matches the caller's data with case acceptance criteria of the affiliated legal services programs, using a specialized computer database. The caller is then referred to the program most suited to his legal need, geographic area, and income level.

• Self-help materials & guidance. The program's Self-help Project prepares clients to represent themselves in court or administrative forums with the aid of written materials and attorney guidance.

• Non-affiliate referrals. Certain legal problems are best resolved outside the legal aid system. CARPLS maintains a list of nearly 200 social services and government agencies to which a staff attorney can provide a referral.

Because CARPLS is not an LSC-funded hotline, it has greater latitude in the clients accepted and the type of services provided. For example, CARPLS accepts fee generating cases. CARPLS provides free legal services for individuals who earn below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines. Individuals with income between 200% and 350% of the poverty guidelines are eligible for CARPLS' services for a $25 fee. While CARPLS provides services on a spectrum of legal issues, roughly 80% of CARPLS' callers need assistance with family law, housing law, or consumer law problems. To learn more about CARPLS, visit their website at: http://www.carpls.org/.

To buttress CARPLS' work, the Illinois Technology Center for Law and the Public Interest developed a legal aid website for clients to help them locate pertinent legal information. Access this website at: http://www.illinoislawhelp.org/.

Contact Information:

Allen Schwartz
Executive Director
CARPLS
17 North State, #1850
Chicago, IL 60602
Phone: (312) 738-9494
Fax: (312) 738-9487
Email

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