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= Civil Legal Aid in The United States = A concerted movement towards substantive Civil Legal Aid in the United States didn't develop until the mid 1900s. The earliest developments trace back to 1876, with the first known legal aid society, the German Immigrants' Society being founded in New York. By 1965, there were around 157 legal aid organizations across the country, serving almost every major city. The landmark Supreme Court decision Gideon v. Wainwright guaranteed the right to counsel in criminal matters, but left the issue of civil aid unresolved. The movement towards extending Gideon to civil matters continues to gain momentum, even as States such as New York and California lead the way in establishing legal aid systems of their own. An American Bar resolution concluded that many civil issues such as housing and child custody constitute basic human needs that ought to necessitate legal aid.

Legal Precedent
In 1942, the Supreme Court ruled in Betts v Brady that courts were to assign legal aid on a case by case basis. In overturning this case, the court held in Gideon v Wainwright that the average citizen "lacks both the skill and knowledge adequately to prepare his defense, even though he have a perfect one. He requires the guiding hand of counsel at every step in the proceedings against him." Thus the right to counsel had been established for felony cases. Latter, the court expanded the right to include misdemeanors, and capital offenses. Critically, the court did not extend this guarantee of legal aid to civil matters in Lassiter v Department of Social Services, holding that the provision was less necessary in matters where liberty was not at steak.

Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO)
The first legal aid program to exist at the federal level was implemented though the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), founded in 1965. the OEO was established through the Economic Opportunity Act as part of the Johnson administration's War on Poverty. The first director of OEO, Sargent Shriver, moved the organization towards the provision of legal aid. In an interview in which Shriver was asked which program from the War on Poverty he most preferred, he replied that "I am proudest of Legal Services because I recognized that it had the greatest potential for changing the system under which people’s lives were being exploited.”

Legal Services Corporation (LSC)
By 1975, the Legal Service Corporation had taken over the function of OEO, leaving it’s organizational structure largely unchanged. The LSC has struggled with its budget, being largely unable to keep up with demand, or inflation. In 2017, an estimated 60.3 million Americans were eligible for LSC programs.

The yearly Justice Gap report issued by LSC concludes that 86% of civil legal problems facing Americans have received inadequate or no legal assistance in the past year. The report also finds that 71% of low-income households were at some point in need of civil legal services within the year. The report states that “In 2017, low-income Americans approached LSC-funded legal aid organizations for support with an estimated 1.7 million problems. They will receive only limited or no legal help for more than half of these problems due to a lack of resources."

The States
The provision of legal services on a federal level through the LSC is largely inadequate, and leaves a large volume of unmet demand. In the absence of a major decision from the Supreme Court affirming the right to civil counsel, as came to pass with criminal matters through Gideon v. Wainwright, States have been left to their own devices in order to fulfill the high demand for legal services.

New York
New York City became the first place in the US to guarantee legal services to all tenants facing eviction with the passage of the "Right to Counsel Law" in 2017. The bill was originally introduced in 2014 by Mark Levine and Vanessa Gibson before being expanded into it's current form. Funding for legal services centered around eviction and housing will increase over the course of five years, reaching $155 million by 2022. The services are to be implemented by the Office of Civil Justice (OCJ) to households making no more than 200% of the federal poverty line.

The legislation includes a provision for OCJ to provide annual reports in order to monitor the progress and effectiveness of the services being provided. The 2017 reports finds that evictions have declined by 27% since 2013, and that "over the four-year period of 2014 through 2017, an estimated 70,000 New Yorkers remained in their homes as a result of the decreased evictions."

California
The 2009 Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Act created a number of pilot programs in order to assess the benefits of civil legal aid, and the logistics of wider implementation. A 2017 study examined 10 of these legal aid programs, and found that recipients of aid had greatly improved prospects in eviction cases. 67% of cases settled, an increase of 33% compared to self pro se (self represented) cases. Critically, the study found that, "while all Shriver clients received eviction notices, only 6% were ultimately evicted from their homes."

The San Francisco City Counsel passed an ordinance in 2012 declaring its intention to make San Francisco the first city to guarantee a right to counsel. In June of 2018, San Francisco implemented a "Right to Counsel" program guaranteeing legal representation to tenants facing eviction.

Currently, the Los Angeles City Counsel is considering "Right To Counsel" legislation that may look very similar to those being enacted in New York and San Francisco.

Impact
In 2003, a study was published that linked civil legal aid to a marked decline in rates of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). Programs funded by the LSC closed 120,944 cases involving domestic violence in 2017 alone. In the decade following this study, a considerable body of research began to take shape investigating the positive impact of civil legal aid. Studies have established legal aid as providing such benefits as decreasing homelessness as well as the need for emergency shelters through reducing evictions, protecting children, and aiding select groups such as seniors and veterans who are often exploited. Because of the fragmented nature of civil legal aid in the US, cost benefit analyses are often specific to a given State. A 2010 article that gathered multiple other studies found that the benefits go beyond reducing domestic violence rates, finding that access to aid also brings more funds into a state by helping individuals receive federal benefits. A report from the ABA Day in Washington lists a State by State cost benefit analysis, finding a return on investment as high as 9:1 in Alabama in 2015.