EVENTS
For Immediate Release Contact: Donavon Roberts MARCH 1, 2004 505-256-0417
Legal FACS Department of Justice Rural Grant Recipient
Legal FACS recently received a two-year grant from The Department of Justice as part of their Rural Domestic Violence and Child Victimization Enforcement Grant Program. The program strengthens safety of domestic violence victims, with particular emphasis given to those persons living in the rural areas in New Mexico. This is accomplished by creating and enhancing collaborative partnerships between criminal justice agencies, victim services providers, and community organizations to respond to crimes of domestic violence, dating violence, and child abuse, and to provide services to the victims of such violence. Legal FACS will provide these services to clients in Bernalillo, Sandoval, Torrance, and Valencia counties.
Legal FACS 2004 Annual Report
In 1971 a group of concerned lawyers through the Albuquerque Bar Association recognized an unmet need in our community and created Legal Services Inc. to provide access to justice for poor and disadvantaged people facing serious civil legal problems. While our name has changed over the years to the ABA Volunteer Lawyers and now Legal FACS, our commitment and our mission to address and eliminate legal barriers that oppress the poor, women and children continue. The Courthouse Lawyers Service (CLS), which began in 1993, provides legal assistance to pro se litigants with Family Court and Small Claims issues, using volunteer attorneys to provide free legal forms and instructional materials. Also, our Forms Clinic and Domestic Violence Project (DVP) provide one-on-one assistance to people in need. We served 2734 people in 2004, and anticipate helping over 3500 individuals in 2005.
We served people like David, a divorced man with two young daughters, ages 6 and 8. When his daughters told him that their step-dad had sexually assaulted them, David didn't know where to turn for help, but contacted our office. Our Domestic Violence Advocated worked with David and his daughter over a course of time to develop a safety plan and to instill enough confidence in the girls to ultimately seek a protective order against the step-father. The advocate not only accompanied the family to court on several occasions, but also assisted in admitting the girls into a safe-house/shelter until the legal issues were investigated and resolved. Sometime later, David left this message for the advocate: "I was calling to tell you the girls had done the Safe House interview and the District Attorney's office is pressing [criminal] charges against the creep that bothered them... I was just calling to thank you for being a positive force and giving me the will to move on with this."
2004 has also been a period of tremendous growth and accomplishment for Legal FACS:
- Successfully transitioned our legal services to focus on helping families with children dealing with child support, custody and visitation issues.'
- Secured a $40,000 NMCLS grant for 2005-06 to staff our Forms Clinic for year-round services.
- Increased the total number of people served by 92% (from 1413 to 2734).
- Increased the number of victims served by 302% (from 316 to 735).
- Increased the number of children served by 315% (from 367 to 1475).
- Developed a new website.
- Further expanded our office space.
- Received in-kind contributions of over $10,000 (separate from our volunteer hours).
- Up-graded our phone and computer systems.
- Successfully rewrote/updated our Human Resource Manual.
- Updated/revised Program's Strategic Plan.
- Added a 24-hour call-in service for victims of domestic violence.
- Successfully conducted three Forms Clinics in Valencia County for victims of domestic violence.
- Successfully conducted two attorney training conferences that yielded 12 new attorney volunteers.
- Secured new 2-year funding from the U.S. Department of Justice committed specifically to hire new legal staff to represent victims of domestic violence in Bernalillo, Sandoval, Torrance and Valencia Counties. (Beginning 10/04).
It is important at the outset that self-represented persons recognize that they are required to follow the same rules of procedure and evidence as a party represented by a lawyer. It is the responsibility of every litigant, including self-represented parties, to determine what needs to be done and to take the necessary action.
VOLUNTEER COURTHOUSE LAWYER SERVICES RE-LOCATED
The Courthouse Lawyer Service (CLS) has been re-located from the Bernalillo County District Court at 400 Lomas NW to the Simms Building at 400 Gold Ave. SW; Suite 204, second floor. Entrance to the building is on 4th Street, just south of Gold. The hours Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:00-11:30 a.m. and 1:30-4:00 p.m. To qualify for services, and for available days for a Volunteer Attorney, call 505-256-0417.
“ICE YOUR CELL PHONE - Paramedics will turn to a victim’s cell phone for clues to that person’s identity. You can make their job much easier with a simple idea that they are trying to get everyone to adopt: ICE. ICE stands for In Case of Emergency. If you add an entry in the contacts list in your cell phone under ICE, with the name and phone number of the person that the emergency services should call on your behalf, you can save them a lot of time and have your loved ones contacted quickly. It only takes a few moments of your time to do. Paramedics know what ICE means and they look for it immediately. ICE your cell phone NOW!” Crime Victims Reparation Commission, Volume 12, Number 4, October 2005 Newsletter
FUNDING AND BUDGET INFORMATION
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FINANCIAL REPORT |
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Income |
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Office of Violence Against Women |
166,000.00 |
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Office of Justice Programs |
203,669.00 |
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United Way Income |
40,000.00 |
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CLS Grant |
38,724.65 |
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IOLTA Grant |
12,750.00 |
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State Bar of NM |
10,000.00 |
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Admin. Fees |
7,728.00 |
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Fundraising - Other |
4,910.16 |
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Misc. Donations/Grants/Other |
2,139.95 |
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United Way Donor Designation |
1,114.99 |
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GALA donation |
1,100.00 |
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Total Income |
488,136.75 |
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Expense |
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Advertising |
1,033.49 |
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Consultant Fees |
9,116.80 |
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Contract Attorney |
12,854.92 |
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Dues |
1,450.00 |
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Fees & Penalties |
240.78 |
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Insurance |
4,380.77 |
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Unemployment Insurance |
2,856.06 |
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Interest |
1,907.91 |
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Misc. Expense |
219.26 |
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Payroll Expenses |
344,084.77 |
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Employee Benefits |
33,377.19 |
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Employer Payroll Taxes |
24,358.47 |
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Postage |
912.85 |
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Professional Fees |
17,785.28 |
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Rent |
34,334.66 |
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Supplies |
7,269.86 |
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Telephone |
12,632.59 |
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Training |
1,194.11 |
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Travel |
11,413.89 |
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Website Development |
5,562.06 |
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Total Expense |
526,985.72 |
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