IMMIGRANT DEFENDERS LAW CENTER (5)

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EXHIBIT A Ensuring all data is up-to-date and complete for all cases under a contract Our Directing Attorney will in turn be directly supervised by our Director of Legal Services, Joyce Noche, who oversees a large portion of ImmDef's removal defense programs. Joyce is a resident of Orange County. Resumes Attached. 5) How many detained removal defense clients do you anticipate representing with the total public funding described above and Vera's catalyst funding? Please respond based on clientserved, rather than case (i.e. if you represent someone on bond and merits, that is one client represented, not two cases). Please describe how your program plans to pace the initiation of representation for this number of clients to manage staff capacity. Based on ImmDef's proposed budget, ImmDef seeks to serve 24 new clients over a two-year contract period in Santa Ana with these funds. If we have additional capacity, we will do more cases, however, we have currently 33 cases still open from the prior contract year and therefore we don't anticipate being able to do more than 24 additional cases. The 24 cases will include both detained and non -detained depending upon community need. The actual number served will depend on factors beyond our control such as: the number of individuals who have no relief available to them or who seek voluntary departure, the number of individuals whose cases proceed to a trial (merits hearing) while detained versus clients released on bond, and the level of cooperation from EOIR or ICE in assisting with client accessibility and case calendaring. Nevertheless, we expect and understand that many cases will require representation beyond the contract year because of the immigration court backlog for individuals who are released from detention but whose cases are still pending final adjudication. For these clients, ImmDef is committed to continue our representation of them beyond the contract year and until final adjudication. For the 2021- 2023 contract we have adjusted our case cost and budget. In accordance with the reimbursement rates with the State of California, detained cases are reimbursed at a rate of $8,000 and non -detained cases at a rate of $7,000 for full -scope representation. We are also taking into account the realities of COVID-19 and its effect on the backlog in immigration court; some cases are extended until 2024. Within our $200,000 budget we have included $20,000 to go towards litigation costs such as mental health and country condition experts which will provide much needed support on our cases and possibly improve the outcomes. 6) What is start date for providing immigrant legal representation in your jurisdiction? Please describe your program implementation timeline. Please indicate if you have already hired staff to work under this funding. Indicate if you have already started providing legal services. If you have not hired staff, please indicate your expected timeline to staff up and start accepting clients under this funding. Please describe how your program will collaborate and engage with key community stakeholders to educate the community about the program. Since 2017, ImmDef has been the City's LSP to provide immigration legal defense to Santa Ana residents, and has been providing such services consistently ever since —with no gap in the provision of services. The start date of the services as prescribed in this new contract will be upon execution of the contract. Since we will be continuing from a previous grant, the staff who are already employed under this program will continue providing legal representation under this contract. We ask that this contract start date be retroactive to begin on Feb 1, 2021 so there is no gap in payment from our previous contract ending on