1 of 1

Bridging the Rural Justice Gap: Innovating & Scaling Up Civil Access to Justice in Alaska

Alaska

NSF AWARD ID: 2228588

PI: Michele Statz, University of Minnesota Medical School

2022 Civic Innovation Challenge

Pilot Vision

●

  • Develop a credentialing system for CJWs that will also create an entirely new career path in rural Alaska, allowing more people to stay in their communities rather than leaving to seek employment.
  • Standardize a framework for evaluating CJW training and support, as well as its sustainability and scalability over time.

Civic Partners:

Research Partners:

●

●

Establish a Community Justice Worker Resource Center that leverages the skills, technological capabilities, space, trusted relationships, and regional expertise of diverse partners to advance community justice

The four-pronged approach will result in effective, evidence-based practices that scale and sustain the CJW program.

  • How should the program be structured to effectively recruit advocates and win the support of the public and regulatory bodies?
  • How can CJWs be supported to succeed in their legal practice and within the communities they serve?

What will help CJWs individually and the program as a whole thrive and grow in the long term?

The Community Justice Worker Resource Center will support CJWs statewide. Program sites will eventually expand to all communities with an ALSC office.

What data collection methods will provide the most robust, useful data for program evaluation?

Project Challenge

In the US, 92% of low-income people have limited or no access to legal help with life-altering civil legal issues, like evictions, domestic violence, and illegal debt collections. In Alaska, the rurality of the population, and particularly of Alaska Native communities, only compounds these challenges. Through regulatory, technological, and programmatic innovations, the Community Justice Worker (CJW) Program trains and supervises qualified non-lawyer advocates to scale access to justice throughout rural Alaska.

Research Questions