State-by-State

One of SRLN's primary roles is keeping abreast of self-help developments in each of the states.

Court Self-Help Centers

In 2006, SRLN released a Directory of Court Self-Help Centers and then in 2014 assisted the ABA with The Self-Help Center Census. These two surveys demonstrated a growing adoption of self-help services throughout the country. In 2018, we initiated a comprehensive survey of self-help in the counties and will begin releasing results in mid-2019.

Law Library Self-Help Services

In 2013, the SRLN Library Working Group National Self-Help in Libraries Survey was released. The 2013 survey and related maps provide a rich and textured view of the significant role libraries play in providing services to the public. In 2019, the SRLN Law Library Group is re-surveying the field in order to evaluate the adoption of the emerging practices identified in 2013.

Self-Help Webpages, Forms & YouTube

Please find state-by-state links to state court self-help webpages and YouTube channels below. State court self-help web pages serve as a backbone to self-help services in the counties, providing access to uniform, comprehensive information that helps litigants, court staff, lawyers and community service providers "stay on the same page" about procedural information and standardized forms. As of 2013, approximately 20% of the states offered full statewide coverage of one-on-one court based self-help services through either county level staffing, or in the the case of Alaska and Utah, through a statewide telephone helpline modeled after the elder law and legal aid hotlines. See legalhotlines.org for more information about hotlines, and lawhelp.org for a directory of legal aid webpages that work in tandem with many of the legal aid hotlines.

The Justice Index

An index that scores and ranks the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico on their adoption of selected best practices for ensuring access to justice. It relies on findings, indicators, indexing and other data-analytics tools to gauge a person’s access regardless of whether a lawyer is used, English is spoken and understood, or that person has a physical or mental disability.

On September 1, 2016, David Udell presented to the SRLN Research Working Group. Notes from that meeting along with links and summaries to other Justice Index coverage can be found in the working group Meeting Notes.

SRLN Research Content

Go to SRLN Research Page

Go to SRLN Brief: Research and Data (SRLN 2015)