2019 NLADA Annual Conference-Innovative Justice

Millions of people are released from incarceration with mental illnesses that impede their successful reentry into society. This session describes two innovative legal service projects helping this traditionally underserved population. The DOES Project at Legal Action of Wisconsin goes into prisons to assist clients prerelease, using lawyers to provide advocacy in SSI/SSDI applications and appeals. The DOES Project continues to represent clients through the challenging and vulnerable period following release, aiming for economic security, health care coverage, and overall stability. Likewise, Beacon Law provides legal services to individuals re-stabilizing after homelessness or incarceration by removing barriers to employment, housing, and healthcare. They aid clients obtaining a valid driver’s license and sealing eligible criminal history. They also assist in SSI/SSDI matters, appealing disability denials though the SOAR initiative. We will discuss compelling reasons to focus on the reentering population and the challenges and opportunities inherent in providing legal services centering around reentry.