Law Libraries ’Tis the Season for Giving Legal Aid by Amy Harrison 2019 has been a good year for Virginia legal aid programs thanks to the hard work of state legislators, attorneys, city offi cials, and non-profi ts. New laws are more equitable for tenants, as additional state-sponsored programs help combat evictions. Funding has increased for legal aid programs focused on universal representation and domestic violence. Fortunately, this trend arrives at a time when Virginia’s income inequality is steadily rising – the city of Richmond ranked 28th in the nation for income inequality according to the American Community Survey, and the cities of Norfolk and Roanoke were not far behind. 1 More than ever Virginia needs attorneys willing to volunteer their time for pro bono services. As the calendar year draws to a close, opportunities for attorneys to volunteer their time are abundant. This column highlights sev-eral new programs serving under-repre-sented communities in need of attorney volunteers. The Eviction Diversion Program The Eviction Diversion Pilot Program was signed into law by Governor Ralph Northam on March 14, 2019. This state program was sponsored by Senator Mamie Locke and Delegate Christopher Collins to tackle Virginia’s high rate of evictions. In 2016, the Eviction Lab, a national database that tracks eviction rates, found Virginia home to fi ve of the top ten cities with the highest rates of evictions. 2 This shocking statistic garnered enough national attention to prompt the Virginia legislature and Endnotes 1 See Adam Hamza, Data Show Poverty and Income Trends in Virginia , WHSV-TV3, www.whsv.com/content/news/Data-show -poverty-and-income-trends-in-Virginia -561907531.html. 2 See Top Evicting Large Cities in the United States , Eviction Lab, evictionlab.org/ rankings/#/evictions?r=United%20 States&a=0&d=evictionRate&lang=en (last visited Oct. 15, 2019). 3 See CASA Helps Pass Universal Representation court offi cials into action. Working with Housing Opportunities Made Equal and the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society (CVLAS), the legislature created the Eviction Diversion program to provide local city governments with funding for legal aid to help residents facing eviction. The pilot will start in Danville, Hampton, Petersburg, and Richmond in July 2020. Pro Bono opportunities for this Virginia state-sponsored program will be available starting in the summer of 2020. Boosting Virginia’s Effort The City of Richmond created an additional a voluntary pilot program. The Richmond City Council approved funding for the Eviction Diversion Program to assist city residents fac-ing evictions. Currently, Richmond is calling for pro bono attorneys who can act as volunteer conciliators for individ-ual cases and assist parties in reaching payment plan agreements in order to prevent eviction. The Greater Richmond Bar Association, in conjunction with the CVLAS, has added the available pro bono opportunities for this program to the JusticeServer volunteer database located at www.justiceserver.org. Universal Representation for Immigrants Pilot Program The Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition (CAIR) and We Are CASA currently advises the Universal Representation for Immigrants pilot program that supports individuals fac-ing deportation in Fairfax County. This is the fi rst jurisdiction in Virginia to for Immigrants in Fairfax County , The Center for Popular Democracy, https://populardemocracy.org/blog/ca-sa-helps-pass-universal-representation-im-migrants-fairfax-county (last visited Oct. 15, 2019). See VLAS Creates New Project to Combat Domestic Violence , Virginia Legal Aid Society Justice for All, http://vlas.org/vlas-creates -new-project-to-combat-domestic-violence/ (last visited Oct. 15, 2019). provide legal representation to immi-grants facing deportation proceedings. 3 The pilot is set up for Fairfax County permanent residents, DACA recipients, or Temporary Protected Status holders who are facing deportation proceed-ings and cannot afford an immigration attorney. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted to sponsor the pro-gram for the 2020 fi scal year. CASA has additional plans to focus their efforts on ensuring other jurisdictions around Virginia will approve similar programs. For information on how to volunteer for Universal Representation pro bono work refer to the volunteer webpage at www. caircoalition.org. The Domestic Violence Project The Virginia Legal Aid Society (VLAS) was awarded a two-year grant in 2019 from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services to assist vic-tims of domestic violence. VLAS lawyers routinely help domestic violence victims with issues like housing or divorce but could rarely assist with protective orders due to high costs until now. The goal of the Domestic Violence Project is to help more than 1,300 domestic abuse survi-vors and their family members receive permanent protective orders against their abusers, along with additional civil legal services. 4 For attorneys interest-ed in volunteering their time, please contact Pamela DeCamp, the Managing Attorney, at (434) 392-8108 or pamd@ vlas.org. Additional pro bono opportunities may be found at www.justiceserver.org. 4 Amy Harrison is a law librarian for Williams Mullen. www.vsb.org 42 VIRGINIA LAWYER | December 2019 | Vol. 68