National Disaster

RESOURCES FOR LEGAL AID PROFESSIONALS

In 2018, Pro Bono Net and Lone Star Legal Aid developed the National Disaster Legal Aid Advocacy Center for DisasterLegalAid.org to help address a nationwide need to network public interest legal advocates working on disaster legal aid and share advocacy resources and tools across regions. 

The National Disaster Legal Aid Advocacy Center welcomes all advocates and volunteers from nonprofit legal aid organizations, bar associations, pro bono counsel from law firms and corporations, law school students and faculty, and allied nonprofits working on disaster legal aid. To sign up, please click here. 

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The resources listed below are meant to provide legal resources for legal aid attorneys who are assisting people who have been directly affected by a disaster. This section includes general information helpful to disaster relief on housing, insurance claims, insurance, employment, and other vital issues.  Click HERE to learn more about the short-term, medium and long-term legal needs after a disaster. 

Key Resources  

• The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act
• March 2019 - Individual Assistance Program and Policy Guide (IAPPG)
• Disaster Legal Aid 2018 Roundtable: Introduction to Federal Disaster Benefits and the ABA-YLD Disaster Legal Services Program
• LSC’s Program Disaster Checklist, a guide to a legal services provider facing a disaster. This checklist will help focus on the most critical areas that will need immediate attention. See LSC’s Disaster Counseling Videos for an overview of common legal issues post-disaster.
• Open FEMA Data Sets
• New Developments in Climate Disaster Response & Resilience - Pro Bono Net, Equal Justice Works, and Lone Star Legal Aid are pleased to announce a new and comprehensive Practising Law Institute training program  for pro bono managers, volunteers, and nonprofit legal aid professionals responding to the impact of climate disasters around the country. You can find the program materials and segment recordings here. This program is free and will be available on-demand through December 2023. Attorneys seeking CLE credit for their jurisdictions can see CLE details on the page.

Free legal help in your state: LawHelp.org. 

        

EQUAL JUSTICE WORKS DISASTER TRAINING VIDEOS

NEW! (May 2019) Equal Justice Works created a series of training videos for legal aid professionals who are helping disaster-affected communities. Information on Equal Justice Works can be found here.

Legal Services Corporation Program

For information on LSC's program information and other disaster-related resources for your organization, please click on the links below. LSC's gallery of maps provide geographic awareness and information in the mitigation, preparation and response to disasters.

        

FEMA & ABA-YLD 

Information on FEMA Legal Services, including the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the ABA Young Lawyers Division (YLD) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that sets the terms for YLD to provide legal services to low-income disaster victims in the aftermath of a major disaster, can be found here.

The Model Court Rule on Provision of Legal Services Following Determination of Major Disaster, commonly known as the KATRINA RULE, allows for out-of-state attorneys to provide temporary legal services to disaster survivors. See HERE for the full text of the resolution. 

Community Development Block Grants

For info on Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), click here. 

Common Issues After a Disaster 

         

Plain Language Info Sheets

Volunteer Lawyers for Justice New Jersey & Transcend created these interactive plain language info sheets for agencies to use when helping disaster survivors. 

Other Efforts 

To increase the responsiveness of federal disaster housing programs, the Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition has developed an online tool for capturing the individual stories of disaster survivors. These accounts of unmet need will be collected for use with policymakers and media to illustrate the unique housing challenges low income survivors face after a disaster and to build support for solutions. The Coalition is asking legal aid, advocacy, and other organizations serving disaster survivors from the hurricanes and wildfires of 2017 to help them collect these stories by filling out this questionnaire for any client/individual with a compelling need for direct rental assistance.