LA Justice Fund Report
Los Angeles Justice Fund: Lessons and Recommendations from the Pilot Program
Recent research indicates that access to legal services improves case outcomes. Aware of the positive impact of informed legal defense, the County of Los Angeles, the City of Los Angeles, the Weingart Foundation, and the California Community Foundation (CCF) responded to increased immigration enforcement practices by establishing the Los Angeles Justice Fund (LAJF). This pilot grantmaking and capacity-building program was designed to strengthen the capacities of legal service providers to provide critical and timely legal representation for more immigrants in Los Angeles County who are detained by immigration officials or in removal proceedings.
This report was commissioned by the California Community Foundation to surface the financial impact of LAJF on participating organizations. Information for this report was gathered by NFF through two facilitated dialogue sessions with cohort members, 11 one-on-one surveys with organizational leaders and staff, and a multi-year financial trend analysis on a subset of five cohort organizations.
Findings from our work are contained in this report and are meant to:
- Elevate cohort learnings from participation in the pilot
- Reveal priority needs of cohort members to continue and expand services
- Share opportunities to strengthen a potential permanent LAJF program
Join over 24,000 social sector leaders who receive our latest insights and noteworthy stories throughout the year.