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ImmDef identifies prospective detained and non -detained clients through a referral system where partner <br />organizations can refer prospective clients. These partner organizations include current legal service providers <br />conducting Know Your Rights presentations at Adelanto as well as community -based organizations serving the <br />needs of immigrant communities living in Santa Ana. <br />ImmDef has dedicated substantial efforts to outreach and collaboration with various leaders of the Santa Ana <br />community, including Mayor Sarmiento, the Orange County Justice Fund, the Harbor Institute, the Orange <br />County Rapid Response Initiative and Resilience OC. <br />Figure 2. SAFE Initiative Program Description <br />Legal Service Provider: Immigrant Defenders Law Center <br />Populations Served: Residents of Santa Ana (priority) or Orange County with income <br />below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level <br />Detention Centers Served: Adelanto Detention Facility (Adelanto, CA) <br />Method of Identifying Clients: Community referrals; Legal Orientation Programs (LOP) at <br />Adelanto Detention Facility <br />Unmet Need in Santa Ana <br />While ImmDef is committed to representing as many Santa Ana residents as capacity allows though the SAFE <br />Initiative, it reports unmet needs at the current level of funding of $200,000 a year: <br />• The current funding level is not sufficient to serve all Santa Ana residents in need of deportation <br />defense. <br />• Although ImmDef provides zealous representation to each of their clients, they do not have the <br />financial resources to ensure that all clients have what they need to fight their case, such as expert <br />testimony on country conditions and psychiatrists to do mental health evaluations, which are often <br />critical for proving their claims for relief from deportation. At a cost of $1,000 or more, families cannot <br />afford to pay for these types of evidence themselves. <br />• It has been a challenge for ImmDef to build up and maintain their referral, intake, and case opening <br />systems without any funding for administrative work, like what they get from the state of California for <br />other types of cases. The paralegal assigned to the program has been working overtime to cover these <br />administrative tasks on top of her legal duties. <br />• ImmDef employs a privately funded case management associate because there is not public funding for <br />this critical work. To fully support clients and ensure holistic, person -centered representation, social <br />workers or case managers should be integrated into legal teams, to strengthen the client's chance of <br />being granted the desired legal outcome and address the harms they have experienced throughout the <br />detention and court process. <br />• The program's immigration legal services and outreach has not reached Santa Ana's Vietnamese and <br />other Asian communities in the City. <br />Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic <br />The COVID-19 pandemic is having a significant impact on the clients (and potential clients) served by the Fund <br />and representation. From March through September 2020, the Los Angeles non -detained courts shut down, <br />Vera Center on Immigration+Justice <br />