Nonprofits that provide legal assistance receive grants from Iowa lawyer trust funds

Two local nonprofit organizations that help lower income families and individuals facing civil legal issues will be able to provide more assistance after being awarded grants from the Iowa Supreme Court.

The Kids First Law Center, which helps children going through the difficult court process of their parents' divorce and custody issues, received $3,294, and Iowa Legal Aid, including the Cedar Rapids regional office, received more than $166,854 to help provide legal services to residents across the state.

The court approved $240,101 in grants to 14 programs that provide legal assistance to low-income Iowans with civil legal problems. The grants are funded by the Interest on Lawyers' Trust Account program. The court has awarded more than $24.6 million since the program began in 1985.

The grant funds come from the interest earned on pooled trust accounts held by Iowa lawyers, according to the program's website. Lawyers in the state are required by court order to deposit their clients' funds in interest-bearing accounts. When the funds are too small or held for a short time that won't benefit the clients, court rules require lawyers to deposit the funds in pooled interest-bearing trust accounts.

The trust accounts program is managed by a seven-member commission that reviews grant applications and then makes award recommendations to the court. In the 30-year history of the program, the court has awarded most of the grants to organizations that assist low-income Iowans with civil legal issues such as divorce, domestic abuse, unsafe housing, and illegal evictions. The court has also presented grants to law-related education projects. The grants do not support criminal legal defense.

Laura Ebinger, lawyer and acting executive director of Kids First Law Center, said they are a 'relatively small nonprofit, so every dollar counts.” They have been fortunate to receive a grant since 2007. The center almost solely relies on donations and grants.

The center's budget for 2017 is $470,000, which mostly comes from donations and grants, Ebinger said. The parents are charged legal fees based on income and household size but many of the families are not required to pay a fee. Last year, $32,840 was charged in legal fees, she added.  

Ebinger said the goal of the center, which opened in 2005, is to give children a voice, but the staff also works with the parents to lessen any family conflict for the children.

Kids First served about 800 children in Linn and Johnson counties last year, Ebinger said. The center represents these children in court and also conducts educational workshops on divorce which many times are court mandated.   

Jim Kringlen, managing attorney of Iowa Legal Aid in Cedar Rapids, said the organization's grant will enable the attorneys to serve many local residents who would otherwise face serious legal challenges without professional legal assistance and might not have 'favorable outcomes.”

'We are a single, statewide nonprofit law firm serving low-income Iowans and seniors without charge,” Kringlen said. 'Most of the grants we receive are used to pay for our services in all 99 counties.”

Kringlen said they have a unified intake system, which means new clients in the Cedar Rapids area could be initially assisted by staff in any of the 10 offices across the state. The clients who need extensive services, such as going into administrative and court proceedings, will be represented by attorneys working in the Cedar Rapids office.

l Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com