By Tanya Wanchena, program manager of KCBA’s Self Help Plus Program
The Self Help Plus Program has been assisting pro se litigants since 1982 by providing guidance through an often overwhelming legal system. The program assists low-income to moderate-income individuals who are representing themselves in obtaining uncontested dissolutions of marriage and legal separations — with or without children — as well as in establishing parenting plans if parentage is already established. In addition, the SHP Program assists low-income immigrant families in obtaining predicate orders to assist abused, abandoned, and/or neglected minors in pursuing Special Immigrant Juvenile classification.
Priority is given to clients who face barriers in accessing legal services: domestic violence survivors and people with language, education, ability, or income barriers. What makes this program special is the one-on-one and continuous assistance each client receives. The SHP Program aids clients from start to finish: drafting documents and filing with the court, helping clients register for all court-mandated seminars, and completing and submitting final orders for signature. Approximately 98.9% of all clients who are accepted into the program complete their legal cases. Those clients who do not complete their legal actions most often reconcile or decide they no longer want to pursue their case due to reasons of their own.
When the program first started, most of the cases were dissolutions with simple parenting plans. Over the years, the legal needs have shifted; most cases now require restrictive parenting plans and include immigrant children seeking SIJ classification. These needs have changed the dynamic of the program, not in the level of care and professional services received, but in the amount of time it takes to complete each case. This program is managed by one full-time staff person and reliant on volunteer assistance to continue serving the large number of clients who need our help.
Imagine how terrifying it would be to leave your home with your two young children and flee to another country in search of safety. This was the story of one mother who left Guatemala because of the escalating abuse and threats by her partner. The mother can remember a time when life seemed joyful, and she was excited to see what the future held for her family. What she did not anticipate was an abusive and violent relationship and the lack of support within her community when she sought assistance. When the abuse started escalating against the young children, the mother knew she needed help.
Finding safety and support was difficult and often resulted in the father being told to leave the house for one day. The mother struggled to find a way to keep her family safe. When the father arrived home one evening, climbed up onto the roof of her house, and started firing gunshots through the ceiling, she knew it was time to leave. She packed a small bag and fled to safety.
Now that she is living in the United States, she has a support system to help herself and her children heal. She is working and her young children are attending school and no longer living in an abusive and violent home. The mother is seeking a restrictive parenting plan, and her young children are seeking SIJ classification. The SHP Program is working collaboratively with one of its immigration partners to assist the mother in obtaining the necessary predicate orders to establish her children’s safety and security.
Although the stories are all different, the underlying issues are often similar. These clients have faced unimaginable situations and are making difficult decisions to protect themselves and their children. The SHP Program provides a service to assist these clients in maneuvering their way through the legal system and supports them by connecting them to other community resources to help provide a more complete wraparound experience. You can help.
The SHP Program offers two volunteer opportunities for experienced family law attorneys:
- Volunteers who draft family law documents and legal declarations: Volunteers meet clients remotely, complete a client questionnaire and use that information to prepare the required legal documents and client declaration.
- Volunteers who review already drafted family law documents: Volunteers receive case information and drafted documents electronically to review and provide edits and feedback, no client interaction.
Working together, we can make a huge difference.
Tanya Wanchena is the program manager of KCBA’s Self Help Plus Program. If you are interested in volunteering or have questions about the SHP Program, please email Tanya at tanyaw@kcba.org.
