Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) is releasing a summary of its racialized communities strategy consultations, which helped LAO learn more about the issues faced by racialized people when it comes to getting the legal services they need.
The consultations, which ran from the winter of 2017 into the spring of 2018, were held with racialized groups, lawyers, community legal clinics and other community agencies.
“Approximately 400 people shared their experiences, frustrations and feedback with us,” says Moya Teklu, the (acting) lead for the racialized communities strategy. “We will use what we heard to enhance our services and programs and ultimately improve justice outcomes for racialized communities.”
The summary provides an overview of the feedback LAO will use when it comes to developing a blueprint for how it can enhance its support for racialized clients.
LAO plans to release this blueprint by the end of the year to outline short, medium and long-term plans to address the issues identified throughout the consultation.