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ELKINS -- Attorney Katheryn Marcum, supervising attorney of the Elkins office, and Paralegal and Administrative Law Advocate Carmen Howell of Legal Aid of West Virginia addressed the Rotary Club of Elkins, giving the group an overview of the services their organization provides to West Virginia citizens.
Legal Aid of West Virginia is a statewide nonprofit organization providing free legal services and advocacy, ensuring that dignity and equal justice is available to all West Virginians, not just those who can afford it. There are 12 Legal Aid offices located around the State staffed by over 100 attorneys with a total of 200+ employees. Funding for the organization is received via state and federal grants and well as from some private sources. The organization does not handle fee-generating cases such as personal injury cases.
The organization is divided into three units: the Legal Unit, the Behavioral Health Advocacy Unit and the Ombudsman Program. Marcum and Howell are employed by the Legal Unit. The Behavior Health Advocacy Unit with advocates placed in various government, state funded mental health facilities and juvenile facilities around the State such as William R. Sharpe Jr. Hospital in Weston and the Potomac Center in Romney. The Ombudsman Program serves residents of nursing home facilities and investigates issues and provides advocacy services for those residents. The organization typically serves 12,000 - 15,000 clients per year, with the Elkins office serving Barbour, Grant, Hardy, Pendleton, Randolph, Tucker and Upshur counties.
Legal Aid does not handle criminal cases. A great number of the group's cases involve family law. "We prioritize cases that involve the safety of individuals or children. Almost exclusively, if it's a family law case, we're going to be focusing on folks who are victims of domestic violence," said Marcum. "We do adoptions and guardianship, kinship caretakers and third-party custody cases."
There is a separate unit within the Legal Unit that deals with Education Law (known as FAST - Family Advocacy, Support and Training). That group works exclusively with education law in schools, advocating for children who have disabilities or exceptionalities. "Those who are in need of an individualized education plan or require some other support from their school to meet their education needs may benefit from speaking with a FAST advocate or attorney," commented Marcum.
Legal Aid also handles benefit cases that involve helping individuals become more stable and self-sufficient. These include cases such as food stamps, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. They also handle expungements to help remove barriers in individuals' criminal histories, when eligible, to help them become more employable, as well as a variety of driver's licenses issues, housing issues such as evictions and tenant/landlord issues, and unemployment cases.
Lawyer in the School is another program of Legal Aid. This program is currently being operated in Huntington, Kanawha County, Marion County and Martinsburg. The program will be initiated in Randolph County this coming fall. "If you have a school-aged child and a legal need, that gets you access to an attorney. It can be a one-time sit down to get some legal information or representation, depending on the case," stated Howell.
There is also funding available for veterans to receive legal services. There is a veteran's attorney in the Clarksburg office and an opening for a veteran's attorney in the Beckley office. Some grant funders require a financial need, but the veteran's program has no such requirement.
Legal Aid has partnerships with various domestic violence shelters across the state. The Elkins office partners with Centers Against Violence and the Family Crisis Center in Grant County. "If there's a victim of domestic violence that goes into those shelters who needs legal services, we have a packet that they can fill-out for referral," state Howell.
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program provides assistance to those who are down on their luck or seeking disability. It is a one-time, five-year maximum benefit provided by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Services. TANF also provides aid to grandparents who are raising grandchildren and other caregivers. Howell works with attorney Ray LaMora on this program.
A new referral program is being developed in Elkins that will assist individuals with substance abuse disorders. This program is currently operating in other areas of the State. "If you are a patient who is receiving medical assisted treatment for substance abuse disorder who needs legal services, such as needing a driver's license or applying for disability, those are the types of cases we can take through that partnership," said Howell.
For cases that don't meet the requirements of grant funders or Legal Aid in general can be addressed through the group's Pro Bono program. Examples of cases handled through this program are wills, power of attorney and small civil matters.
There is also a financial exploitation program. This program operates out of the group's Morgantown and Charleston offices. "They investigate financial exploitation of elders and the disabled to see if family members are taking advantage of them," commented Howell.
"We're trying to help folks become more self-sufficient. We do have some limited capacity but we're trying to help as many folks as we can. Sometimes that means we're only giving advice and information," concluded Marcum.
Elkins Rotarian and Mayor Jerry Marco had kudos for the group. "We have a task force that we set up about three years ago to deal with addiction, homelessness and mental health issues. Legal Aid is one of our community partners. They work very well with our other community partners and do tremendous work for our citizens who are struggling," said Marco.
For more information about Legal Aid of West Virginia, visit its website at https://legalaidwv.org or contact the group's centralized intake unit in Charleston at 1.866.255.4370.
Rotary is a global network of 1.4 million neighbors, friends, leaders and problem-solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change -- across the globe, in their communities, and in themselves. Visit www.Rotary.org to learn more about Rotary International, visit the club's Facebook page -- Rotary Club of Elkins -- or contact club president Kenny George at kenneth.george@blueridgeriskpartners.com for more information about the Rotary Club of Elkins.