LEGAL AID SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO
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Mission Statement
The mission of the Legal Aid Society of San Diego Inc. is to improve lives by advancing justice through effective, efficient and vigorous legal advocacy, outreach and education.
About This Cause
WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO: Access to JUSTICE through free legal services is what we offer. Too many Americans face civil legal problems, and cannot afford a lawyer. We help San Diegans in need of a civil lawyer, who cannot afford to hire one because lawyers are so expensive. We are committed to keeping families in their homes, helping families stay healthy, and empowering our clients by guiding them to justice- something they may not be able to achieve without a lawyer. LASSD strengthens our community by fighting for justice. We provide low-income clients with free civil legal assistance, including legal advice and counsel, effective referrals, and legal representation. We are the largest poverty law firm serving San Diego County. We can help with many types of legal problems that individuals face. WHO WE ARE: The Legal Aid Society of San Diego, Inc., is a proud, committed and compassionate group of people dedicated to providing equal access to justice for poor people through aggressive, quality legal services. As legal advocates we will redress our clients’ legal problems, empower our clients to access and effectively participate within the legal, governmental and social systems and encourage self-empowerment in the fight against poverty and injustice. WHAT WE DO: LASSD strengthens our community by fighting for justice. We provide low-income clients with free civil legal assistance, including legal advice and counsel, effective referrals, and legal representation. We are the largest poverty law firm serving San Diego County. We can help with many types of legal problems that individuals face. To thousands of San Diego residents living in poverty, justice is not an abstract ideal. It is food, shelter and protection. It is the difference between staying in poverty and getting out; between dependence and self-reliance. But without help, justice is often denied. Legal Aid Society of San Diego, Inc. (LASSD) is one of California’s leading public interest law offices and has been the primary legal aid program serving San Diego County for more than 60 years. LASSD staff provides legal assistance in the areas of family law and domestic violence, housing, health care, public benefits, immigrant rights, and consumer rights. HEALTHCARE: Our biggest focus areas are healthcare access and housing rights. Out of 12 legal teams, our biggest is our health law team, called the The Consumer Center for Health Education and Advocacy (CCHEA), which is dedicated to improving health care access for low-income health care consumers. The project provides individual assistance to consumers confronting barriers to accessing health care, community outreach and education targeting both staff at community based organizations and low-income consumers, and policy advocacy. HOUSING RIGHTS: Everyone deserves a safe, clean and habitable place to live. Statistically, children do better in school when they have a stable home and workers maintain their employment longer. LASSD provides a wide range of legal services around housing including evictions, and questions about housing, such as being evicted, wanting to know your rights as a tenant, public housing questions or terminations, denied housing or housing access due to discrimination. We provide help with your public housing office and its notices. For instance: • questions about your rights to public housing, • problems with your public housing certificate, • problems with your landlord under public housing, • termination of your public housing benefits, • changes you want to make to your current public housing situation (such as moving to another place or adding another room or another person to your housing). HOUSING DISCRIMINATION: We work to stop housing discrimination, ensuring equal housing opportunities for all people in the City and County of San Diego; through outreach, education, and enforcement of Federal and State Fair Housing Laws. IMMIGRATION: Family-based immigration, including naturalization and citizenship Removal defense (Immigration Court) VAWA U and T Visas Green Card Renewal Waivers CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS: We work with the County of San Diego’s Health and Human Services Agency to provide free legal representation with every aspect of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) process for children who have a qualifying medical condition and meet financial eligibility requirements. A staff attorney will directly represent children and their legal guardians with their initial applications, reconsideration appeals, administrative hearings, administrative reviews, and in certain cases, federal court appeals. The staff attorney will work with children, parents, and legal guardians to gather this information, and will complete all forms and communicate with SSA on behalf of the child. FAMILY LAW: We provide help with family law problems. We may represent people in dissolution (divorce) or paternity cases when there are child custody issues. Our top priority is representation of a parent who has ongoing primary physical custody of their child. We can sometimes represent a parent whose court ordered visitation has been frustrated by the other parent. CONSERVATORSHIPS: We help with: Completing the paperwork for limited and general conservatorships of the person. Completing the paperwork for some conservatorships of the estate. (We may be able to assist with small estates, when the estate is valued at less than $15,000 exclusive of the conservatee’s residence and the conservatee’s income is less than $2,000 a month exclusive of public benefits). Completing the paperwork for a temporary conservatorship. Exploring alternatives to conservatorship and referrals for Estate Planning (wills, trusts, powers of attorney, etc.) Filing objections to a conservatorship petition. Petitioning to terminate a conservatorship. Petitioning to remove a conservator. Completing the paperwork to add a co-conservator or appoint a successor conservator. CONSUMER PROTECTION LAW: The Consumer Protection Division helps low-income people who have disputes with businesses. There are many types of problems. Here are some of the things we can help with: Problems with buying a car or making payments Repossession Bad Auto Repairs Identity Theft Student Loans Harassment by Debt Collectors Lawsuits by Debt Collectors Credit Reporting Issues Medical Debt Solar Power Scams Problems with buying from a door to door salesman Foreclosure or home loan problems Contracts negotiated in another language Other Problems with a Business Bankruptcy PUBLIC BENEFITS: We assist with with General Relief, CalWorks, Welfare to Work, CalFresh (formerly known as Food Stamps), CAPI, KinGap, Foster Care, and Adoptive Assistance. We can advise people and represent them at hearings, if the county is either trying to take benefits back or if someone is having problems getting a benefit. SSSI: We help people with mental or behavioral health conditions who need SSI help, it coud be either a Social Security Disability Insurance or a Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claim. Our specially trained advocates and attorneys help with all aspects of the Social Security Disability and SSI claims process, including: initial applications, reconsiderations, hearings, continued disability reviews and all other appeals. We will prepare applications, file appeals and obtain medical and other evidence to prove our client's claim. Our attorneys will represent clients in Social Security hearings. TAX HELP: The Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (Tax Clinic) can help individuals and their unincorporated businesses with the following kinds of problems: I filed my tax return, but did not get my refund. For instance, if you filed a tax return and claimed certain deductions or credits, such as the EITC, and the IRS has not paid you your refund, contact the Tax Clinic to see if we can help. I have been told that my tax return is being audited: The IRS has told you that they are looking at your income tax return or have told you that they plan on changing your tax return, increasing the tax you owe, or reducing your refund. I have not filed past years tax returns: The Tax Clinic does not prepare tax returns. However, we may be able to assist you with the preparation of a return if it helps you to resolve a probable dispute with the IRS that will happen when you file. For instance, if you have not filed tax returns for one or more years because of what you think the IRS will do, and need some help filing them and paying any tax that might be owed or getting any refund you are entitled to, then we may be able to help. I owe taxes: You have been getting bills from the IRS and want help in finding out what your options are for paying the taxes. Or, after you get a tax return prepared and filed you owe tax, we can counsel you as to your options for paying that tax. I want to petition the Tax Court, I have filed a Tax Court petition, or I am scheduled for a trial at the Tax Court: If you want to file a petition with the United States Tax Court or you have filed a petition, we may be able represent you before the Tax Court. If you have a date of trial, contact the Tax Clinic immediately to see if we can help. I overpaid my taxes and want to get a refund. You want to sue to get back federal taxes you paid but you now wish to dispute. We can represent you before the IRS and the United States District Court in a refund action. If we are helping a client with an IRS tax problem, we can help them with any related California tax problems. #justicebeginshere