Battered Women in Valley Can Turn to Support System in Courthouse : Van Nuys clinic established in 1991 and staffed by volunteer attorneys provides help that benefits victims and society. But it always needs more lawyers and money.

You still see them bent over tables in the cafeteria of the Van Nuys Superior Court building--battered women laboriously trying to fill out the forms to ask for protection.

It is not as bad as it used to be. Years of publicity have brought a higher awareness of domestic violence, and 1991 saw the establishment of a program specifically to help its victims. But it operates on a shoestring and, like its parent organization, is chronically understaffed.

These injured women cannot afford lawyers, and by law only lawyers are allowed to provide the legal advice often necessary to complete the paperwork for a restraining order. So unless they can get free legal help, they are left to cope as best they can.

The past few years have seen the creation of a support system staffed by volunteer attorneys from the San Fernando Valley. It often works well.

Take the case of a composite character I will call Susan, the mother of four who has been in an abusive relationship for nine years. Finally, after a death threat by her husband, she goes to the police.

An officer directs her to the Domestic Violence Clinic in a nondescript office in a corner of the courthouse cafeteria. There, if she is lucky, she becomes a client with a lawyer who will later represent her in court.

Until the Domestic Violence Clinics were established by the court and the Pacoima-based Family Law Center, the Susans of the Valley had no place to go for quick, competent legal help. The law has always prohibited non-attorneys from practicing law, so clerks and bailiffs felt unable to help with the legal problems these victims confronted. Often, after a woman painfully filled out the forms to get a restraining order, they were rejected. Many victims gave up and simply returned to the abusive relationship.

The clinics in Van Nuys and the courthouse in San Fernando have assisted about 10,000 victims since they were established.

A staff of trained volunteers and a rotating staff of 13 supervising attorneys are there not only to help with restraining orders but to counsel victims and offer legal alternatives.

The statistics on domestic violence in Los Angeles County are staggering. In 1992, the city attorney’s office prosecuted more than 23,000 cases of domestic violence. It ranked second in the number of cases prosecuted and is the leading cause of injury to women.

But there is still a gap between the need and the available help. The shortage of volunteer lawyers limits the clinics’ hours to the morning, leaving an unknown but significant number of women without help. Most women are not as lucky as Susan and must represent themselves because no lawyers are available to appear in their behalf.

The Domestic Violence Clinics are a significant part of the 9-year-old Family Law Center, a public agency initially created through the joint effort of the San Fernando Valley Neighborhood Legal Services in Pacoima and the San Fernando Bar Assn. It was originally funded by a grant from the Legal Service Corp. in Washington and now is partly supported by Neighborhood Legal Services.

Providing a variety of services to poor people in the Valley, it is the only legal aid clinic in California that assumes full legal representation in tackling the myriad issues involved in child support and family law contests.

The practice of directly representing clients in domestic cases whenever possible sets the center apart from most legal aid clinics, which simply help indigent people fill out forms. Clients then must represent themselves before the court, often against attorneys. They often do not know, or lose sight of, the relevant legal issues. They are often unable to make their cause understood by judicial officers from whom they are seeking relief.

Our hypothetical Susan will have a volunteer Family Law Center attorney to explain the court system, represent her before a judicial officer and negotiate with opposing counsel. Lacking support other than her abusing husband’s salary, she will seek a child and spousal support order. Both she and society will benefit: She will stay off welfare, and child support payments are far more generous than welfare benefits.

Through it all, the Family Law Center will work faster than the overburdened district attorney at obtaining child support and, unlike the district attorney, can also represent Susan on visitation and custody issues.

With its cadre of 99 volunteer lawyers, the Family Law Center provides close to 5,000 hours a year of legal services to the Valley’s indigent population. It does so with an annual cash flow of only $10,000. A small law firm working the same hours would have an operating cost of approximately $280,000.

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Despite its efficiency, only 300 families can be helped at any one time. Every day approximately 20 people are turned away because there are not enough volunteers and resources such as computers available to help them. Annually that means that over 5,200 families go away from the Family Law Center unaided. What happens to them is unknown. With no funds and with no legal support, welfare becomes one of the few remaining viable options for survival.

The Valley legal community must sustain the urgency and commitment to the Family Law Center. Failing to do so will prove terribly costly, both economically and socially.

Volunteers Needed

The Family Law Center is seeking lawyers, psychologists, office workers and translators who can donate two or more hours a week. It also needs donations of computers, office equipment and office supplies. Those wishing to volunteer, make donations or get more information may call the center’s executive director, Sharlie Allen, at (818) 890-9885.