SIDEBAR Fall 2018 - 28

MONTGOMERYBAR.ORG

SIDEBAR FEATURE

Renewed and Expanded Civil Legal
Services for Victims of Domestic
Violence in Montgomery County

L

aurel House and Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania
(LASP) were each awarded a competitive grant from
the Victims of Crimes Act (VOCA) program to provide
certain civil legal services for victims of domestic violence.

Front row (from left): Beverly Boyle, LASP Staff Attorney;
Stacy Dougherty, Laurel House Director of Community Outreach;
Rachel Becker, Laurel House Staff Attorney. Back row: Erik Hansen,
Deputy Director for Operations for LASP; Mike Kelley, Managing
Attorney of LASP's Norristown office; Annette Long-Tulio, LASP
Paralegal; Karen Vogel, LASP Staff Attorney; Colleen Coonelly,
Laurel House Director of Legal Services; Ally Echevarria, Laurel
House Paralegal.
LASP has expanded its services to victims of domestic
violence in Montgomery and the other three counties it serves.
Beverly Boyle, Esq., (pictured at left) and Rachel Becker, Esq.
(pictured at right) are the LASP and Laurel House staff attorneys for
the expanded domestic violence programs, respectively.
Each organization has also hired a paralegal for these
programs. The organizations plan to work closely to effectively
and efficiently provide services and to share and leverage the
expertise of the respective organizations.
As part of their partnership on domestic violence issues, staff
from both Laurel House and LASP met on August 22, 2018 at
LASP's Norristown office.

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Laurel House has renewed and expanded civil legal services
for victims of domestic violence in Montgomery County.
Both agencies provide holistic legal services for domestic
violence victims and handle matters like custody, divorce, and
other civil legal issues stemming from domestic abuse. LASP's
usual income eligibility limits do not apply to domestic violence
cases. Laurel House and LASP coordinate so that individuals are
directed to the most appropriate agency or private counsel.
Laurel House's previous legal project provided legal assistance
or direct representation to 170 victims of domestic violence over
a five-year period. The project attorney represented domestic
violence victims at 325 individual hearings in Montgomery,
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SIDEBAR Fall 2018

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