Report: Evaluation of Glen Burnie District Court Self-Help Center (Maryland 2012)

This is a comprehensive evaluation of the Glen Burnie District Court Self-Help Center that helped lay the groundwork for Maryland now completely statewide and all court levels centralized self-help, see more at https://mdcourts.gov/selfhelp.

From the introduction: Building on the success of the state’s Family Law Self-Help Centers, the Maryland Judiciary has developed and implemented a similar demonstration effort aimed at assisting the large numbers of self-represented litigants (SRLs) appearing in the high volume civil dockets of the District Court. The program, which operates out of the District Court in Glen Burnie, a suburban community in Anne Arundel County, is currently under expansion. This report presents process and outcome data of an evaluation of the program done during its pilot phase, roughly coinciding with its first 18 months of operation, from its opening in December 2009 through June 2011. The evaluation was conducted by the Institute for Governmental Service (IGSR) at the University of Maryland, College Park in collaboration with Court Operations at the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC).