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"Developing and Maintaining a Successful Legal Referral Hotline for Immigrant Communities: A How to Handbook"
Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center - 030030
Abstract Number: 030030
February 2003
The Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center (APALRC), a non-profit organization that assists Asian Americans in the Washington DC metropolitan area in accessing legal services, has created "Developing and Maintaining a Successful Legal Referral Hotline for Immigrant Communities: A How to Handbook" to provide information on how to develop a multilingual legal referral hotline. APALRC launched this project, with support from the Open Society Institute and in collaboration with the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium (NAPALC), in response to a study on the legal needs of the Asian American community which revealed the formidable barriers that prevent access by low-income and non-English speakers of Asian descent to legal services. The material for this handbook stems from the APALRC's experiences in establishing a legal referral hotline serving Asian immigrant communities in the Washington DC area. The handbook is organized by illustrating the creation of a model hotline through a ten-step process. The steps are:
Step One: Decide What Issues and Languages to Focus On
Step Two: Establish and Develop Partnerships with Key Legal Service Providers
Step Three: Develop Issue-Specific Intake Forms
Step Four: Recruit Bilingual Individuals or Volunteers to Staff the Hotline
Step Five: Train Staff and Volunteers to Respond to Calls on the Hotline
Step Six: Develop a Companion Legal Interpreter Project
Step Seven: Set Up Hotline Operations
Step Eight: Conduct Targeted Community Outreach
Step Nine: Design a System to Make Appropriate Referrals
Step Ten: Evaluate the Project
To access this handbook online, visit: http://www.apalrc.org/handbook.htm. For hard copies of the handbook or for technical assistance in developing a multilingual legal referral hotline, please contact the APALRC.
Contact Information:
Pauline Poh Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center 733 15th Street, NW, Suite 315 Washington DC 20005 Phone: (202) 367-3098 Fax: (202) 393-0995 Email
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