Michigan’s legal aid organizations are working tirelessly amid a flood of calls for help to ensure all Michiganders have access to justice as the COVID-19 pandemic wears on. At the beginning of the crisis, the majority of calls were related to unemployment issues. As the pandemic continues, the number of people looking for help with bankruptcy issues is rising, and will likely keep climbing. There has also been a rise in domestic violence and child custody issues directly related to the current social landscape created by the pandemic.
As courts reopen and moratoriums are lifted, legal aid organizations will see more Michiganders facing evictions and foreclosures, subject to debt collection lawsuits and attempts to garnish wages, and domestic violence survivors and victims of elder abuse needing help.
Despite the unprecedented number of individuals seeking help, with between 12,700 and 18,500 people each day (a 55% to 125% increase) visiting the Michigan Legal Help website, legal aid organizations continue to serve new clients every day and ensure justice is accessible for all Michiganders.
These legal aid programs strive to address inequities in Michiganders’ access to justice, and have consistently demonstrated that a disproportionate number of those looking for legal aid are minorities – in 2018, the most recent year for which data is available, 54% of the cases handled by these programs were for people of color. This trend is expected to continue given the racial disparities in the impact COVID-19 has had on the state.
While needs are rising, the resources to meet the need are under acute stress. For a variety of reasons, legal aid organizations themselves are not immune from the financial reality of COVID-19. The Michigan State Bar Foundation, which provides funding to ten regional and statewide civil legal aid programs throughout Michigan, is expecting over a million-dollar decrease in 2020 grants.
Jennifer Bentley, Executive Director of the Michigan State Bar Foundation, said “The pandemic is generating a wave of needs that threatens to overwhelm our legal aid system. An increased investment is needed to ensure that legal aid is accessible for Michiganders in the weeks and months to come.”
Compared to the same period last year, between March 10 and May 10, Michigan Legal Help reports:
• A 6,548% increase in people looking for information about unemployment legal issues;
• A 168% increase in people seeking help with eviction;
• A 165% increase in views of public assistance materials.
The Counsel and Advocacy Law Line has experienced a more than 3,000% increase in calls for help with unemployment benefits since the beginning of the pandemic. The uptick in calls can also be attributed, in part, to the fact that more people are now eligible for legal aid and are trying to navigate the system for the first time. Individuals are typically eligible for free legal aid if their income is below 125%-200% of the federal poverty level ($32,750 - $52,400 annually for a family of four).
Legal help is available for Michiganders of all income levels, whether their problems are related to the pandemic or not:
• Low-income individuals and older adults can call the Counsel and Advocacy Law Line, an attorney-staffed hotline, at 888-783-8190. CALL attorneys regularly advise on housing, public benefits, consumer, domestic relations, unemployment benefits and other civil matters. CALL provides advice and direct referrals to legal aid organizations.
• Anyone seeking to understand their legal rights should turn to the Michigan Legal Help Program. It offers an online collection of legal information and self-help tools, including resources specific to COVID-19. The Guide to Legal Help provides legal information and referrals to attorneys tailored to an individual’s legal problem.
• Individuals who are able to pay an attorney and have a legal issue related to the pandemic can call the State Bar of Michigan’s COVID-19 Rapid Response Hotline at 800-968-0738. Callers will be referred to a lawyer who has agreed to promptly provide legal services for certain areas of practice, including a 25-minute consultation at no charge. People who would like to hire a lawyer for an issue unrelated to COVID-19 can also call 800-968-0738 to be matched through the State Bar Lawyer Referral Service.
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