NCJ Number
81877
Date Published
1980
Length
18 pages
Annotation
A General Accounting Office (GAO) official discusses three GAO studies of the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), which administers a program providing free civil legal services to the poor.
Abstract
The Legal Services Corporation was created in 1975 and took over the 258 existing legal services projects. By 1980, the number of programs had grown to 319 staffed by about 5,300 attorneys and 2,500 paralegals. LSC received a $300 million appropriation for fiscal year 1980 and has requested $353 million for fiscal year 1981. In April 1978, GAO issued a report which discussed LSC's budgetary strategies, project management systems and priorities, and the congressionally mandated alternative service delivery study. The report was based on a review of 19 legal services staff attorney projects, 5 demonstration projects, and 7 support centers in 18 States. A November 1978 GAO report focused on the resources available nationally from all sources for free civil legal services for the poor and the coordination among the various providers. It also examined the extent to which the provided services reflected local needs and the adequacy of community legal education and outreach services by LSC grantees. The report used data from a review of 9 LSC grantees and 58 non-LSC legal services providers in 26 communities in 5 States, from a questionnaire survey of 278 Corporation-funded providers, and from interviews with over 1,200 poor persons in the visited communities. The third report, issued in October 1979, was based on interviews with LSC officials, private attorneys, insurance officials, and others. It discussed the opportunities for LSC to improve productivity and cost effectiveness by systemizing and automating its operations. The report also compared the costs of federally supported civil legal services and the same services under private prepaid plans and discussed the status of the alternative service delivery study. The principal recommendation is for an LSC research and demonstration program using systems analysis and computer technology.