The Community Justice Advocate Program
Location
Price, UT
Start Date
5-12-2025 3:30 PM
Description
"Many Utahns do not meet the income requirements for free legal assistance but remain locked out of the justice system due to the exorbitant fees charged by private attorneys. In April 2020, the Utah Bar Foundation reported that in 62,000 debt collection cases, nearly 100% of plaintiffs had lawyers, compared to only 2% of defendants. Similarly, in 14,000 eviction cases, 90% of plaintiffs had lawyers, compared to only 5% of defendants. The Utah Bar Foundation estimates that 82% of the legal needs of low-income Utahns go unmet.
The Utah Supreme Court has implemented an experimental ""Sandbox"" model to upend traditional legal practice and encourage progressive attempts to innovate in the legal services market. These programs include non-lawyers, such as social workers, providing limited-scope legal services in various practice areas like debt collection, housing, and domestic violence. The Transforming Communities Institute (TCI) and community partners are designing and implementing a statewide initiative to train and certify new and existing social workers and other helping professionals to become Community Justice Advocates through a formalized non-credit university certificate program. Housed in the USU Department of Social Work and managed by TCI staff, the mission of the Community Justice Advocate (CJA) Program is to expand access to justice in Utah by training and certifying social workers and other helping professionals to deliver accessible civil legal services. Participants will be trained to assist clients with legal issues related to consumer debt by providing legal advice and assisting with out-of-court activities within their current agencies.
The primary goal of the CJA Program is to increase access to quality legal services for underserved Utahns. The CJAP aims to train social workers and other human service providers in Utah as alternative legal providers to help close Utah’s access to justice gap. TCI, in partnership with social workers and licensed attorneys, is currently developing a course that will train prospective CJAs to offer limited scope legal services to consumer debtors. This poster presentation will explain the CJA Program’s community-engaged research, planning, and implementation. "
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The Community Justice Advocate Program
Price, UT
"Many Utahns do not meet the income requirements for free legal assistance but remain locked out of the justice system due to the exorbitant fees charged by private attorneys. In April 2020, the Utah Bar Foundation reported that in 62,000 debt collection cases, nearly 100% of plaintiffs had lawyers, compared to only 2% of defendants. Similarly, in 14,000 eviction cases, 90% of plaintiffs had lawyers, compared to only 5% of defendants. The Utah Bar Foundation estimates that 82% of the legal needs of low-income Utahns go unmet.
The Utah Supreme Court has implemented an experimental ""Sandbox"" model to upend traditional legal practice and encourage progressive attempts to innovate in the legal services market. These programs include non-lawyers, such as social workers, providing limited-scope legal services in various practice areas like debt collection, housing, and domestic violence. The Transforming Communities Institute (TCI) and community partners are designing and implementing a statewide initiative to train and certify new and existing social workers and other helping professionals to become Community Justice Advocates through a formalized non-credit university certificate program. Housed in the USU Department of Social Work and managed by TCI staff, the mission of the Community Justice Advocate (CJA) Program is to expand access to justice in Utah by training and certifying social workers and other helping professionals to deliver accessible civil legal services. Participants will be trained to assist clients with legal issues related to consumer debt by providing legal advice and assisting with out-of-court activities within their current agencies.
The primary goal of the CJA Program is to increase access to quality legal services for underserved Utahns. The CJAP aims to train social workers and other human service providers in Utah as alternative legal providers to help close Utah’s access to justice gap. TCI, in partnership with social workers and licensed attorneys, is currently developing a course that will train prospective CJAs to offer limited scope legal services to consumer debtors. This poster presentation will explain the CJA Program’s community-engaged research, planning, and implementation. "