Priorities

There are well over 500,000 persons potentially eligible for services in the Prairie State Legal Services area and over 20,000 applicants for services each year.  Due to high demand, Prairie State provides a full range of legal services only for those eligible persons whose legal problem(s) fall within established priorities.   Every three years, PSLS conducts an extensive survey of low income persons and key informants in the community to evaluate the priorities for legal services.

Currently, our first priority is to protect eligible persons from serious risk to health or safety in those situations where a legal solution can remedy the issue. These situations include certain utility shut-offs, abuse cases, denials of essential medical care and similar situations.  Our next priority is to ensure that eligible persons are able to meet basic human needs, such as access to needs-based government benefits and other income benefits including Social Security, and to receive assistance vital to their ability to secure necessary medical care,  affordable and suitable housing, utility services, the safety of their children and similar situations.  The priority is based on the potential impact upon the client so it is important to evaluate the individual situation, the alternatives available in the community, as well as the legal merit of the case.  These priority areas typically require immediate action and are handled by staff or volunteers working in our offices.

Special project funding helps Prairie State to meet the above needs and to expand services for certain vulnerable populations, including persons with disabilities, victims of domestic violence, persons of advanced age, persons with HIV/AIDS, and others.  Volunteer Lawyers Projects further expand services.  Community attorneys will accept certain types of cases from Prairie State and will represent low income persons without charge. The availability of these services vary from county to county.

Prairie State is the only public interest law firm offering legal services without charge in the vast majority of its service area.  In order to assess the nature of applicants’ legal problems, Prairie State has specially trained staff, primarily attorneys, who interview callers by telephone.  After examining the eligibility of callers and the nature of the legal problem, these staff will provide immediate advice to those eligible and will attempt to route priority, special project and potential volunteer Lawyer Project cases to the appropriate office.  To the extent possible, all callers are provided with individualized legal advice, or referral options, and legal information materials.