CSBJ Daily

More people need legal assistance than ever before in Colorado – but there are fewer resources.

That’s the word from a yearlong Colorado Access to Justice Commission study.

The commission reports that Colorado’s vulnerable populations – which include people with disabilities, mental illness, AIDS and the elderly – need more legal assistance at a time when the capacity of civil legal resources is shrinking.

During 2007, the Colorado ATJ Commission held 10 hearings throughout the state to assess the extent of the met and unmet needs of low-income people. The most significant findings from the report include:

• Since 1978, the number of legal aid attorneys has decreased by 50 percent while the number of low-income people has increased by 75 percent.
• There is only one legal aid lawyer for every 16,890 individuals living in poverty, compared with one civil law lawyer for 525 individuals in the general population.
• Without legal representation, domestic violence victims and their children are forced to return to an abusive relationship.