Technology at NWLS

In our mission to further the cause of justice for low-income clients with civil legal concerns, NWLS is constantly seeking ways to say "yes" to more individuals and families seeking our services. One of the ways we try to accomplish this goal is through the use of technology that expands our reach to those in need, and that offers the possibility of increased services to potential clients who might otherwise do without the benefit of civil legal aid. While technology will never replace the importance of direct representation and counsel by skilled law workers at NWLS, it is clear that it does offer important advantages for our low-income community.

The use of technology to reach low-income individuals and families was underscored by a survey of client-eligible residents throughout our 10-county region. The survey, administered using statistically-valid conditions, revealed that over 40 percent of client-eligible respondents would be interested in receiving some level of services via the Internet. The fact that low-income individuals are open to computer-based technology as a way to access service points to the potential inherent in this medium.

A powerful example of the way in which technology can expand access to civil legal services is provided in the NWLS presence on the Internet. The NWLS Web site, www.nwls.org, contains a wide variety of community education tools that offer information and insight on substantive areas of the law such as housing, government benefits, unemployment compensation, family law, and consumer issues. There are also a whole host of important links that bring low-income clients in touch with programs and services that can be of great benefit. While the Internet is still an "emerging" technology that has yet to realize its full potential, it is clear that Web-based services are a "wave of the future," and NWLS has been hard at work to lay the foundation for our continued presence in cyberspace.

While technology offers the promise of increased access to our client-eligible community, it also provides for increased efficiency within the NWLS organization itself. While e-mail has become as commonplace as a telephone call for most social service agencies, there are clearly other advantages that technology makes possible at NWLS. Documents that were faxed between our central intake unit and the branch offices are now transferred in "real time" using high speed digital communication links. Our Intranet site has expanded our ability to transfer information and data between staffed legal services offices throughout our entire service area, and it provides immediate access to policies and procedures of importance to all our staff. A Windows-based case management system with built-in connectivity makes time management and case service reports available immediately to staff throughout the organization.

Technology offers the possibility of increased efficiency and outreach. The measure of our success in integrating technology within our mission, however, is the way in which it helps those in need of our services. In that sense, technology at NWLS is a partner in the process of what we do, and how we go about doing it -- and an important tool to be used in the administration of justice for our client community.

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