65A - IMMIGRATION DEFENSE OPTIONS

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Immigration Legal Defense Options May 16, 2017 Page 5 County announced a $10 million dollar fund, with half coming from private donations and half from public funds.10 The fund, entitled the L.A. Justice Fund, is a partnership between the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles, the California Community Foundation, the Weingart Foundation and the California Endowment." In San Francisco, the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development funds the San Francisco Immigrant Legal Defense Collaborative. The Collaborative provides free, high quality, culturally competent legal services on behalf of immigrant children and families in the San Francisco area.t2 The collaborative includes API Legal Outreach, La Raza Community Outreach Center, La Raza Centro Legal, Carecen SF, Pangea Legal Services, the Bar Association of San Francisco, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Legal Services for Children, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, Immigration Center for Women and Children, and Kids in Need of Defense (KIND). The Collaborative also works closely with two private law firms which provide pro bono support. e) Pursue Vera Institute Support Grant Several participants in the March 8th meeting lead by the law professors have been working on a Vera Institute grant. The Vera Institute is a non - profit organization with offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and New Orleans. Their website is www.vera.org. The Vera Institute was one of the founding members of the NYFIUP which is a project where the Vera Institute has partnered with several groups including the City of New York to provide public defender services to immigrants in removal proceedings. The goal of the SAFE Network will be to replicate the success of the New York program. The SAFE Network will consist of 10 -12 members with New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago as the core members. The Vera Institute expects to add 6 -8 members through the letter of interest process. The City sent its letter of interest on April 28, 2017 and has already been contacted. If the City is selected to participate further it will have to submit a longer more detailed proposal. Members of the SAFE Network will receive a one -time catalyst grant and in kind support from the Vera Institute. The in kind support will include training for attorneys, assistance with the RFP process, assistance negotiating contracts, information about best practices, conference calls with the 10 http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo- way/ 20 1 6 /1 2/20/5062564 1 7/la- legal- defense -fund- created -to- aid - immigrants - facing- deportation " htt ps:// www.lamayor.org/mayor- garcetti- announces- legal - fund - fight- immigrant- rights "http: / /sfildc.org/ 65A -5