1. Experiments in Promoting Legal Literacy: Rural and Linguistic (Deaf) Communities Michele Leering Executive Director/Lawyer Community Advocacy & Legal Centre 158 George Street Belleville, Ontario K8N 3H2 Leeringm@lao.on.ca (613) 966-8686 ext. 27

2. Vision Statement “Legal and non-legal organizations will work together as a coherent system to improve access to legal information and services for persons who do not speak English or French or who live in rural or remote areas of Ontario.” (p. 60) Connecting Across Language and Distance Report (2008)

3. Legal Education & Advocacy Regional Network (LEARN) Preamble to Vision Statement Low-income people face significant barriers in accessing legal information and services. These barriers are even greater for people living in rural communities and/or who do not speak English or French. As a result, legal problems often go unresolved, which leads to serious detrimental economic, social and both physical and emotional health consequences. More generally, people who have multiple unresolved legal problems face social exclusion and disadvantage.

4. Radio Programming Common and Joint Outreach Community LEARN LAW LEARN Legal Literacy Building a Stronger Community LEARN The Way Forward “Trusted Intermediaries” A2J Toolkit Newspaper Legal Info Column Interactive Referral Tool Legal Awareness Workshops Webinars Innovative use of Technology ASL Resources Public Libraries A Regional Plan

5. Outreach Projects Rural and Small Urban LibrariesRural and Small Urban Libraries LEARN LAW Newspaper ColumnsLEARN LAW Newspaper Columns LEARN LAW Lunch Series: Family LawLEARN LAW Lunch Series: Family Law Linguistic Access (Deaf) – ASL videosLinguistic Access (Deaf) – ASL videos

6. Rural & Small Urban Libraries Invitation 6

7. Sample Agenda 7 Overview

8. How we did it Focus group with librarians for Connecting Region Project (LFO)Focus group with librarians for Connecting Region Project (LFO) Paths to Justice: Navigating with the Wandering Lost report recommends referral training projectPaths to Justice: Navigating with the Wandering Lost report recommends referral training project Series of organizational meetings at CALC with librariesSeries of organizational meetings at CALC with libraries Consulted with BC Courthouse Librarians’ projectConsulted with BC Courthouse Librarians’ project Use of CLEO’s Basecamp software to organizeUse of CLEO’s Basecamp software to organize Use of CALC’s GotoMeeting software to reduce travel time for organizersUse of CALC’s GotoMeeting software to reduce travel time for organizers In-person training events in rural libraries with staff from other rural libraries attending, and one-on-one for most remote libraries - Use of case studiesIn-person training events in rural libraries with staff from other rural libraries attending, and one-on-one for most remote libraries - Use of case studies Resource packages and CLEO materials (display cases)Resource packages and CLEO materials (display cases)

9. Tweed / Centre Hastings November 2011 9

10. Belleville November 2011 10

11. Public Libraries - Resource Materials with free stand 11

12. LEARN LAW Newspaper Columns Jointly produced monthly newspaper columns being published in rural newspapers throughout five counties in Eastern OntarioJointly produced monthly newspaper columns being published in rural newspapers throughout five counties in Eastern Ontario Project of Five County LAO-funded Service Providers NetworkProject of Five County LAO-funded Service Providers Network Rural Access & Increasing legal literacy and capability

13. LEARN LAW Columns: Increasing Distribution (stylized tip sheets for info packets, CALC website posting, additional sharing via yourlegalrights.ca)

14. LEARN LAW Lunches: Family Law

15. Increasing Access for the Deaf: Producing American Sign Language Video Clips

16. Promoting ASL Videos & VRI Equipment Ontario Association for the Deaf Conference, November2, 2011Ontario Association for the Deaf Conference, November2, 2011

17. Promoting ASL Videos & VRI Equipment CALC Open House, May 24, 2012CALC Open House, May 24, 2012

18. Promoting ASL Videos & VRI Equipment Sir James Whitney School for the Deaf and Public Presentations - April 2012Sir James Whitney School for the Deaf and Public Presentations - April 2012 True or False QuestionnaireTrue or False Questionnaire