Legal Aid won’t halt during virus outbreak
Legal Aid will continue to provide free civil legal aid in Montgomery, Bucks, Chester and Delaware counties.
“While we are taking significant precautions to keep our staff and clients safe and limit contact with the public, our capacity to utilize technology to assist clients enables us to continue to offer services to those in need.”
NORRISTOWN » Knowing that legal needs won’t stop during the coronavirus public health crisis, Legal Aid of Southeastern PA will continue to provide free civil legal aid in Montgomery, Bucks, Chester and Delaware counties, officials said.
“LASP provides essential services to the region, and we will continue to be a resource for the community during this difficult time,” said Shawn Boehringer, executive director of the organization. “There still is need for us in the community.”
The legal aid organization assists people with cases related to domestic violence, public benefits, housing, consumer and bankruptcy, employment, health, wills and powers of attorney and juvenile and elder law issues.
While the legal aid organization has implemented guidelines to protect staff and clients during the COVID-19 outbreak, the nonprofit legal organization will continue to accept applications through its toll-free telephone Helpline (877-4295994) and online application portal (www.lasp.org), according to Boehringer.
Walk-in intake services are temporarily canceled at all seven locations through at least March 27.
But lawyers will continue to represent all current clients and lawyers and staff members are working remotely to assist clients and those facing legal issues.
“While we are taking significant precautions to keep our staff and clients safe and limit contact with the public, our capacity to utilize technology to assist clients enables us to continue to offer services to those in need,” Boehringer said.
The organization has two offices in Montgomery County, in Pottstown and Norristown; two offices in Delaware County, in Media and Chester; one office in Chester County, in West Chester; and two offices in Bucks County, in Doylestown and Bristol.
“We will heed any warnings and guidance from state and local government. If we’re told to curtail the limited operations we do have we’ll have to do that,” Boehringer said.
“Our concern is that our core services, they don’t stop during a crisis like this. We handle protection from abuse petitions. Domestic violence won’t stop during this time period. I suspect it will get worse as stress and anxiety increase,” Boehringer said.
While governments have ordered moratoriums on evictions and foreclosures during the public health crisis, Boehringer said just this week lawyers handled the case of a tenant who was under threat of a lockout by a landlord.
“Custody issues, visitation with children, we suspect that those things will continue. We have had calls this week. It’s not been nearly the volume that we’ve had prior to this. But we’re still seeing a need for our services at this point,” Boehringer explained. “We see people calling when they’re in the middle of a crisis.
“There will be issues with unemployment. There will be issues with hourly workers not getting work, being laid off. Another area of expertise that we have is unemployment benefits and I think there will be some changes in the law to address the crisis and we’ll stay on top of that,” Boehringer added. “Lower wage workers now unable to work will need access to safetynet benefits and advice.”
Last year, the organization handled a total of 9,745 cases from the four counties. Twenty-five percent of the cases were related to housing issues, 18-percent were related to custody matters and 15-percent were domestic violence-related issues, according to Boehringer.
“The largest number of cases come from Delaware County and Montgomery County is second,” Boehringer added.
The organization is funded with a combination of public and private grants and donations, including the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network in Harrisburg.
- Shawn Boehringer