Best Practices for Self-Help Centers

News: Tale of Two No-Cost Re-Engineering Projects that Launched Self-Help Centers (SRLN 2015)

Both the Bronx Family Court and the Pittsburgh Court were able to significantly increase quality, speed, and capacity by re-engineering procedures, re-arranging physical layout, some paint, and new benches.
Maryland Judiciary MD Court Help Logo

News: Self-Help Innovations in Maryland (News 2021)

The Maryland Court Help Center 2021 Provider Conference offered a glimpse into some of the cutting edge innovations in self-help in the COVID era.1  

Report: Better _______: Strategies for User-Informed Legal Design (Michigan Advocacy Program and Graphic Advocacy Project 2021)

In 2019, the Michigan Advocacy Program (MAP) received a Technology Initiative Grant (TIG) from the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) to bring UX design and usability testing training to the justice community.
Conference of Chief Justices logo above Conference of State Court Administrators logo

Resolution: In Support of Continuing Efforts to Meet Civil Legal Needs (CCJ/COSCA 2021)

In February of 2021, the Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference of State Court Administrators adopted Resolution 2 In Support of Continuing Efforts to Meet Civil Legal Needs.
SRLN Logo

Survey: SRLN Tiers of Service Survey Tool (SRLN 2015)

The SRLN Tiers Survey was developed for states to conduct a quick tiered inventory of their court based self-help services.

Guide: Guidelines for the Operation of Self-Help Centers in California Trial Courts (California 2011)

The Administrative Office of the Courts, in collaboration with judges, court executive officers, attorneys, and other parties with demonstrated interest in services to self-represented litigants, is charged with the development of

Report: Turning on the Lights: How the Massachusetts Trial Court Could Deploy a Virtual Court Service Center to Assist Self-Represented Litigants (MA Appleseed 2019)

This report was prepared in partnershup with the Mass. Trial Court to inform the development of a virtual self-help center to supplement the work done by its court service centers.

Tool: CA Self-Help Centers' Self-Assessment Tool for Quality Programs (CA Courts 2018)

The California Self-Help Centers’ Self-Assessment Tool for Quality Programs was developed as a strategic and tactical planning template to promote quality Self-Help Center Programs across California.

Survey: SRLN Library Working Group National Self-Help in Libraries Survey (SRLN 2019)

SRLN Report (March 2021) Evaluating Library Services to Self-Represented Litigants: A Story of Two Surveys
National Association of Court Management

Article: Creating a User-Friendly Court Structure and Environment (NACM 2016)

This publication, from the National Association for Court Management (NACM), encourages the reader to this how the court environment - from the building, to the people, to the technology and resources - can be re