Page 271 - 2019 Orientation Manual

• The Juvenile Re-Entry Assistance Program (JRAP) in Shreveport, operated in partnership
with the Justice and Accountability Center of Louisiana, provides reentry legal services
to justice-involved youth through pro bono representation and community outreach.

• The Expungement and Re-Entry Court Incubator Project in New Orleans and Jefferson
operated in collaboration with the Justice and Accountability Center of Louisiana to
reduce recidivism and increase job opportunities for people after incarceration.
• Flood Proof Incubator Project in Baton Rouge, operated in partnership with Southeast
Louisiana Legal Services, Southern University Law Center, and Louisiana State
University Law School, addresses the legal needs of disaster victims, such as clear title
and successions, in East Baton Rouge, Ascension, Point Coupee, and Livingston.

Consumer Debt Working Group

In August 2016, the Access to Justice Committee approved a motion to reconvene the Consumer
Debt Working Group after the publishing of a white paper by volunteers of Louisiana Appleseed
that describe the access to justice issues consumers face in cases brought by third party debt buyers.
Debt buyers are companies or firms that purchase delinquent debts for pennies on the dollar and
in many cases pursue collection through the legal system. The authors of the paper identified many
cases in which the plaintiff debt buyer does not have the documentation required to establish a
prima facie case, e.g., chain of title to prove ownership, agreement between original creditor and
debtor, and itemized accounting of the credits and debits on the account. However, most consumers
go unrepresented and are unable to effectively advocate for themselves, and as a result the courts
often issue default judgments against them without the debt-buyer plaintiff meeting their burden
of proof.

Since its re-launch in August 2016, the working group has conducted two CLE trainings – one for
legal aid attorneys and the other for pro bono attorneys – and assisted in the pilot launch of a
consumer law clinic at Tulane law school. Upon the request of a judge, the group has developed
self-help forms to be available online and at self help desks located at the courthouse. The group,
through Southeast Louisiana Legal Services is working to finalize these forms and make them
accessible to those in need.

Louisiana Immigration Working Group (LIWG)
The LIWG is composed of a variety of stakeholders in the United States Immigration legal system
including Department of Homeland Security personnel, legal aid programs, private bar
representatives, and social services providers. Initiatives include securing counsel for
unaccompanied minors and crime victims throughout adjudication of their immigration
proceeding, and for others, initial bond hearings. The program is especially pertinent in Louisiana
where a number of immigrants are held in remote facilities, 87% of which are unrepresented in
detention hearings.

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