What barriers exist for justice-involved populations trying to address their civil legal issues?
Some of the biggest challenges justice-involved individuals face when addressing their civil legal issues include:
- Having difficulty identifying and recognizing when they are experiencing civil legal issues, which can create a lack of awareness that they require legal services, resources and/or information.
- A feeling that being taken advantage of or being neglected by the system is just their lot in life.
- Previous negative experiences with the criminal legal system, which can lead to feelings of distrust and avoidance of the institutions that make up the civil legal system.
- A perception of civil legal issues being less serious than criminal law issues when they do recognize that they are experiencing them, making them less likely to seek out help to address them.
The presence of these barriers, particularly in moments of crisis, might lead to justice-involved populations not receiving prompt access to the necessary resources which could help remedy their civil legal issues.
