Do your clients have non-legal issues that take time away from your work on their legal matter? Legal aid navigators can help. These LABC staff members guide your clients through the legal aid process and help connect them with the health and social support services they need such as housing, addictions treatment, medical assistance, and more.
Navigators also help your clients gather financial and other documentation and assist with anything else needed to improve their legal outcome, like a bail release plan. In some cases, navigators can provide support in a client’s language (Arabic, French, Hindi, Punjabi, and Spanish).
If you have a legal aid client who needs extra help, please email navigators@legalaid.bc.ca. Include the client’s name and a brief description of what kind of support they’re seeking. A navigator will contact your client and provide you with brief outcome updates.
Legal aid navigators provide support by:
- Assisting clients in finding housing and addictions treatment
- Offering extra support or advocacy for clients with dual diagnosis mental health and addictions when they could benefit from closer connections to appropriate treatment and recovery programs
- Helping clients apply for Income Assistance
- Ensuring clients are at court, on time, to avoid bench warrants
- Providing additional support to clients for adhering to bail or sentencing plans and avoiding specific breach conditions
- Helping clients gather required information to prepare for meetings with you, saving you time
- Supporting clients with electronic document gathering, hard-copy printing or scanning services, and email support, if needed
- Listening to clients for as long as needed and later providing you with a brief update to conserve your contract hours
For more details about how navigators can support your clients, including frequently asked questions, see Additional Client Support on the LABC website’s Practice Resources page. For location information, see Legal aid navigators.
Have questions or feedback about the Legal Aid Navigator program? Email navigators@legalaid.bc.ca and we’ll get back to you.
