ELIGIBILITY

Applicants must meet the following criteria in order to be eligible to apply:

• Funds are available to 501(c)(3) nonprofits that provide civil legal aid, including (but not limited to) qualified legal services projects and support centers as defined in Sections 6213 to 6215, inclusive, of the Business and Professions Code.

• Applicants must provide civil legal services to indigent persons living at or below 200% FPT; “Indigent” is as defined in Section 6213(d) of the Business and Professions Code.

• Special focus shall be given to:

• projects that provide services to rural or underserved immigrant communities, regardless of citizenship status;

• projects that involve meaningful partnership with community-based nonprofits

AWARD INFORMATION*

• Total Funding: $4,875,000

• Expected Number of Grants: 35-50

• Grants Size: $25,000 - $250,000 per project (1)

• Anticipated Median Range: $75,000 - $125,000

• Grant Period: The grant period is 12 months, beginning April 1, 2025 

(1) Grant awards will generally range between $25,000 - $250,000, however the Commission may consider grants in excess of this amount if they incorporate exceptional innovation or partnerships, or infrastructure projects that serve the legal aid network broadly.

PROJECT REQUIREMENTS

Project funds must be used to support the (1) infrastructure and/or (2) innovation needs of legal services in civil matters for indigent persons as defined by individuals living at or below 200% FPT. Innovation and Infrastructure project examples are available on the CalATJ website.

Infrastructure: Similar to capacity building, infrastructure refers to foundational elements that help a nonprofit reach new levels of operational, programmatic, financial, or organizational maturity, so it may more effectively and efficiently advance its mission into the future. Infrastructure projects may include planning, governance, staffing, evaluation, financial management, legal accountability, communications, administrative functions, and technology. Infrastructure can also include leveraging relationships to access resources, exchange ideas, address shared issues, and collectively problem-solve in an effort to build capacity, both for a nonprofit and for the broader network, with the common goal of addressing pressing social concerns. 

Innovation: Innovation is not necessarily a new project. It could be an expansion project, or improvements to a unique service delivery model. Innovations in legal aid change the affordability, accessibility, or effectiveness of practices or tools used to provide high-quality legal assistance to low-income persons. This can include approaches for using technology or partnerships in legal services delivery; enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of existing technologies or partnerships so that they may be better used to increase the quality and quantity of services to clients; or replicating, adapting, or providing added value to the work of prior technology projects or partnerships. Innovation efforts can be applied to programs, products or devices, partnerships, communications, or operating processes. Innovation results in improvements to service delivery, quality of legal work, and managerial practices. Innovations often incorporate technology, but can also be reflected in partnerships, or service delivery models.

APPLICATION TIMELINE (TENTATIVE)

August 8, 2024: Applications released on SmartSimple

August 15, 2024: Informational webinar:  (View recording here and slide deck here)

September 20, 2024: Applications due

September 23, 2024 - January 10, 2025: Application review; follow-up conducted with grantees as needed; recommendations provided by Selection Committee to Executive Committee 

January 13, 2025: Conditional Grant Awards Announced; Supplemental information open on Smart Simple

February 7, 2025: Supplemental budget and other information due 

Apr 1, 2025: Grant period beginsfunding will support communication efforts for continued funding.

SUBGRANTS

Subgrants to legal aid organizations or community partners are encouraged. Applicants that are applying for a grant and are also a subgrantee of another application must demonstrate that the separate grants will not fund the same activities. 

EVALUATION

Grantees will be required to complete quarterly fiscal reports, quarterly evaluation and status reports, and a final evaluative report, and may be required to participate in site visits. Additional information may be requested based on individual circumstances. Being able to report on accomplishment with this funding, will support communication efforts for continued funding.

KEY FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 

• Q: Do organizations need to be IOLTA or LSC-eligible to apply?  

• A: Organizations need not be either IOLTA or LSC eligible. Organizations need to provide civil legal services to persons at or below 200% of the federal poverty threshold, or to seniors or to persons with certain developmental disabilities pursuant to Business & Professions Code §6213(d).  

• Q: Are non-profit organizations that are not legal services organizations  eligible to apply? 

• A: If you have a dedicated legal services program that provides civil legal  aid to indigent persons, and can demonstrate funds would support that  work, yes.

• Q: Can law school legal clinics apply? 

• A: Provided the law school is a nonprofit, has a dedicated legal services program that provides civil legal aid to indigent persons, and can demonstrate funds would support that work, yes. 

• Q: Can applicants request more than $250,000? 

• A: The Commission may consider grants in excess of this amount if they  incorporate exceptional innovation or partnerships, or would fund infrastructure projects that serve the legal aid network broadly. 

• Q: Can an organization include multiple smaller projects within its  application?  

• A: Strong applications will describe one cohesive project. If the organization  can state a cogent explanation for how smaller components of a project fit together to create a cohesive whole, the Commission may fund all or part of that project. If the Commission determines that the project is not a cohesive whole, it may choose not to fund the project at all, or it may fund only a component of the described project. 

ELIGIBILITY 

• Q: What data does an organization need in order to demonstrate that its  clients are at 200% of the Federal Poverty Threshold or otherwise meet  eligibility requirements?  

• A: Because the information available will depend on the nature of the  project proposed, the Access Commission will rely on organizations to indicate how they are demonstrating that clients meet income eligibility  guidelines.  

• Q: What are “civil legal services”?

• A: In alignment with California State Bar Rule 3.672 B, “‘Legal services’ means work that uses legal knowledge and skills to create, advance, protect, or enforce the legal rights of clients or communities. This encompasses legal representation and non‐representational services for individuals and groups. Examples of non‐representational services include providing legal information, advice, trainings, and self‐help resources. Non‐representational services can also include studying legal needs and outcomes to inform legal aid delivery, investigating legal violations, and advocating directly to government bodies on issues of importance to the legal rights of clients or communities. Representation and non‐representational services must be performed or supervised by an attorney. ‘Legal services’ may also include complementary services provided they advance a legal outcome and serve as an integral part of an attorney’s strategy in a legal matter or case, and the attorney directs the work in that matter or case. Complementary services and other services by non‐attorneys must uphold the attorney‐client relationship and avoid interfering with the attorney carrying out their obligations to the client.” 

Civil legal services can be direct services to clients or policy advocacy. The definition of ‘civil’ is expanded to follow SB211 to include legal services related to expungements and record sealing or clearance proceedings not requiring a finding of factual innocence, and to  infractions.

GENERAL 

• Q: Can an organization submit multiple applications?  

• A: An organization may only submit one application as the lead applicant.  The organization may be an identified partner in additional applications  from other applicants. 

• Q: Is this grant renewable? 

• A: No, this is a one-time, non-renewable grant. It is the Grant Committee’s expectation that all projects are one-year projects. That said, contingent upon continued funding, organizations are not prohibited from applying for funding the following year for a different project. Each new application will be considered as one-year funding only. Grants for the same project will not be funded unless there is significant additional innovation or added components to the original grant project.  

• Q: What happens if a grantee doesn’t spend funds down within the 12- month grant period? 

• A: The Grant Committee strongly encourages programs to plan in advance for the work to be completed before the grant year ends. Carryover of funds may be requested in extenuating circumstances;  carryover must be expended before 9/30/2024.

• Q:  Can an organization that submitted an application in previous years apply this year?  What if the application in previous years was unsuccessful?

• A:  An organization can always submit another application in a new grant year, whether or not an application in previous years was funded. If the organization’s application in previous years was successful, you will need to be sure to clarify how this is a unique project distinct from the project funded last year (since these are truly one year grants). If the organization’s application was unsuccessful, you may wish to evaluate how your proposal measured up to the priorities and the scoring criteria. 

• Q: How are applications scored?

• A: Grant applications are scored on a set of criteria that considers factors such as organizational vision and capacity, need, strength of proposed innovation or infrastructure project, and outcomes and impact. You may view the Application Scoring Guide for details. 

• Q: What does the distribution look like across approved grant amounts? 

• A: In Year 3, 44 grants were approved and grant amounts were as follows: 

$50,000 and under (8)

$51,000-$100,000 (14)

$100,000-$150,000 (11)

$151,000- $200,000 (8)

$200,000-$250,000 (3)

Over $250,000 (0)

PARTNERS, SUBGRANTEES & CONTRACTORS 

• Q: Can grant funding be “passed-through” to non-legal community partners? 

• A: Grant funds can be sub-granted to community-based organizations that are not legal aid providers, provided that it furthers the proposed project’s purpose. The sub-granted funds must help the grantee advance its  proposed innovation or infrastructure project. Sub-granted funds that are passed through purely for the benefit of the subrecipient will not be funded.  

• Q: Can two applicants apply separately for grants where there will be a partnership?  

• A: Two applicants may also apply for separate grants to work together, if that partnership is reported in both applications, and if each project, if funded, would stand alone if the other grant were not funded. 

• Q: What is the difference between a subcontractor (consultant or vendor) and a subgrantee? 

• A: If the partner is not a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, report the partner as a subcontractor. If the partner is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax exempt organization, it is up to the applicant to identify the partner as either a subcontractor or a subgrantee. In addition to having legal and accounting ramifications for your organization, it will affect how you apply and report. If you structure the relationship as a subgrant, the subgrantee is agreeing to help you meet project deliverables. Therefore, you will need  to state the subgrantee’s staff and budget in the application, and report on  its progress toward deliverables during the grant year. The subgrantee will be bound by the terms and conditions of the grant agreement. By contrast, a subcontractor will provide goods or services, and generally is bound by contractual requirements. If you name the partner as a subcontractor (or  consultant, or vendor), you will need to demonstrate that before you  selected the subcontractor, you met all your procurement policy requirements.  

USE OF FUNDS 

• Q: Can grant funds be used for fundraising purposes?  

• A: The funds cannot be used to cover fundraising expenses, such as hiring a development director or hosting a fundraising event. Funds can be used to cover other infrastructure or programmatic needs, such as website  development or a communication campaign that might also support  fundraising efforts. 

• Q: Can grant funds be used for an endowment, e.g., an endowment to retain  fellows after the fellowship ends, and before another source of funding to  maintain the position is identified?  

• A: Because these are State Funds, grant funds cannot be used to fund an  endowment, which may or may not be spent down during the grant term.  However, a grant proposal to build the workforce by creating a cohort of  paid summer fellows (e.g., summer of 2022), including a training  curriculum for that cohort that could be used in future years, could  potentially be funded as either an innovation or infrastructure project.  

• Q: Can grant funds be used for updating a website?  

• A: Yes, updating a website could be an innovation or a project to enhance  infrastructure, depending on the nature of the activity described.  

• Q: Can grant funds be used to hire a consultant evaluator?  

• A: Yes, grant funds could be used to hire a consultant for evaluation. For  example, funds could be proposed to evaluate ways to improve an  organization’s intake process, database management, or program  delivery.

• Q: Can grant funds be used for general operating support?

• A: No, this is not a general operating grant. The Legislature created this funding specifically to fund the infrastructure and innovation efforts that often go unfunded in light of the ongoing need for operational support.  We will be measuring the impact of this new funding.