Self-Help Legal Access Centers

Ventura County Superior Court - 020113

Abstract Number: 020113

December 2002

The Ventura County Superior Court created the Self-Help Legal Access Centers (SHLA) to provide access to the justice system for those who cannot afford to hire an attorney. Ventura County Superior Court established a SHLA Center in the Hall of Justice in Ventura, California as well as in La Colonia, a low-income, predominantly Spanish speaking community in Oxnard, California. In November 1999 the court purchased a custom built 35' motor home for use as a Mobile Self-Help Center that allows staff and volunteers to travel to low-income communities and take a proactive approach to reaching the public. The Mobile Self-Help Center is outfitted with two Internet enabled computer work stations, multiple video stations equipped with self-help videos, and an abundance of Pro Se books and pamphlets. The Mobile Self-Help Center enables staff to serve the public who are unable to visit the other SHLA centers. Besides its regular scheduled route, the Mobile Self-Help Center may open shop anywhere from a county fair to Sunday Spanish Mass in a low-income community.

SHLA Center staff assists individuals by providing them with information on how to research the law pertaining to their case. The primary function of the SHLA Centers is to provide self-represented litigants with the various legal options they may pursue and to provide them with information enabling them to make an educated decision in their case. SHLA Center staff does not provide legal advice to self-represented litigants. Rather, SHLA Center staff seeks to inform self-represented litigants of the choices available to them, and to refer them to resources that can better assist them with a variety of needs.

To learn more about this project, access the documents below. You can also visit the Ventura County, Superior Court of California website at: http://courts.countyofventura.org/.

Contact Information:

Tina Rasnow
Coordinator
Self-Help Legal Access Center
Superior Court, County of Ventura
800 South Victoria Avenue
Ventura, California 93009
Phone: (805) 654-3879
Fax: (805) 654-3560
Email

Additional Information:

• Self-Help Legal Access Centers Project Overview (175kb, PDF)

• Mobile Self-Help Center Project Overview (131kb, PDF)

• Guide for Helping Self-Represented Litigants to Help Themselves: Instruction Manual for Volunteers (325kb, PDF)

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