The Trump administration’s dismantling of AmeriCorps has shut down a free legal assistance program at the McLean County courthouse that helped self-represented litigants navigate a wide range of court cases.
Illinois JusticeCorps placed fellows and other helpers at courthouses in 17 locations around Illinois, including the Law and Justice Center in Bloomington for the past 12 years. JusticeCorps members helped self-represented litigants find and fill out the right forms and get procedural guidance. Divorce and family cases were about half of the work, one JusticeCorps official said.
That all ended this week. Illinois JusticeCorps was shut down Monday after losing its federal funding, as part of the Trump administration’s broader unraveling of AmeriCorps. The agency canceled almost $400 million in grants on Friday. Illinois and other states have sued to stop it.
“It’s a huge situation,” said Jenna Kearns, program director of Illinois JusticeCorps. “We have 17 locations around the state. And we don’t have any AmeriCorps serving, because we’re not allowed to.”
News of the program’s shutdown is spreading through McLean County’s criminal justice system. Judge Rebecca S. Foley told WGLT about it Tuesday night.
“We just recently learned [Monday night] that that particular funding was cut, and those JusticeCorps students and employees would no longer be reporting to work as a result,” Foley said. “That’s been in place for several years. They’re gone today.”
JusticeCorps is valuable because, unlike in criminal cases, you don’t have a right to an attorney in a civil case. If you can’t afford one and can’t find a legal aid firm to take your case, you’re on your own.
Until this week, JusticeCorps helpers had been stationed in the McLean County Law and Justice Center law library. Each location had at least one “fellow” anchoring the work, plus some additional help from interns, said Kearns. There were 33 JusticeCorps workers around the state.
In McLean County alone, JusticeCorps served over 2,000 people every year.
“We’re there to try and help them feel a little bit more prepared, a little bit more welcomed into the courthouse,” said Kearns, who is also a Bloomington City Council member.
Without JusticeCorps, circuit clerk offices will be taking on additional work that had been delegated to the JusticeCorps helpers, Kearns said. Judges will begin to see self-represented litigants coming into court less prepared than they would have been, she said.
Finding a path forward?
Illinois JusticeCorps is funded in part by a federal grant of over $400,000 – which has now been cut. It’s also supported by matching funds from partners like the Illinois Bar Foundation and Chicago Bar Foundation. The biggest partner, Kearns said, is the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice, under the Administrative Office of Illinois Courts.
“We’re having discussions with them now about what things can look like, because they really value this service,” Kearns said. “We’re trying to find a way to see how we can continue operating or continue providing similar services, even if it’s not an AmeriCorps program.”
Added Chris Bonjean, a spokesperson for the Illinois Supreme Court and Administrative Office of Illinois Courts: "The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice is exploring options to sustain this essential service for court users and to ensure that JusticeCorps fellows, who have dedicated a year of service to helping individuals access the court system, can continue their important work."
McLean County court officials may try to revive a version of the program themselves, even part-time, possibly as soon as mid or late next week, said trial court administrator Will Scanlon. A court administrative staffer who has JusticeCorps-like training might be re-assigned to the law library, Scanlon said.
AmeriCorps funding flows through the Serve Illinois Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service. It saw $12 million in AmeriCorps cuts overall, impacting 26 of 33 Illinois grantees.
“Cutting AmeriCorps is yet another example of the Trump Administration cruelly eliminating programs that have a tremendous impact on the people they serve," said a spokesperson from the Illinois Department of Human Services, which includes Serve Illinois. "From seniors in rural communities to youth in afterschool programs, the Trump Administration has stripped Illinoisans of needed services, further weakening the safety net of already vulnerable populations. This means students losing mentors, meals not provided to food insecure communities, and much more.”
For now, self-represented litigants can use the Illinois Court Help online resource, or call or text 833-411-1121 on Mondays thru Friday between 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
