SLLS wants to hear from the community it serves. We need your input for our latest study of the biggest legal needs facing low-income people in our area.
Please take a few minutes for these quick surveys. Each one takes about three minutes. You can do any or all of them. SLLS needs and values this data.
If you use a computer, you may need to press “CTRL” while clicking a link. You may need to paste a link into a browser window.
There is an English-Spanish dual language version of the overview survey to reach out to people who prefer to use Spanish: https://www.surveymonkey.com/
Our online application is temporarily down, but we are still accepting applications for legal help. You can apply by calling us at 1-844-244-7871 or walking into one of our offices. There is a list of our offices here.
From August 24 - September 1, 2023 SLLS will modify its operations due to mandatory staff training.
From August 24 - 25, 2023 SLLS will be open for emergency intakes only for evictions with court dates for our Orleans Parish Right to Counsel program and Child in Need of Care (CINC) cases.
From August 28 - August 30, 2023 all SLLS offices will be closed to the public. Help desks, outreach events, legal clinics, and eviction desks will not be staffed during this time.
SLLS will reopen from August 31 - September 1, 2023 for emergency intakes, including evictions, urgent legal deadlines (within seven days), Child in Need of Care (CINC) cases, and protective orders.
Normal operations will resume on September 5th.
Online applications will not be accepted at this time. For emergency assistance, call 1-844-244-2871.
Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS) extends this Request for Proposal (RFP) for a Consultant to conduct a Compensation Analysis. The Consultant will work with SLLS’ management and Board of Directors Personnel Committee.
SLLS is a nonprofit tax exempt 501(c)(3) organization that provides high quality legal assistance to people with low-income in civil matters. SLLS serves clients in twenty-two parishes in southeast Louisiana from seven office (Baton Rouge, Covington, Gretna, Hahnville, Hammond, Houma, and New Orleans). SLLS works to remove barriers to opportunity, ensuring access to shelter, economic security, safety and health through direct legal representation in civil cases, policy advocacy, and community legal education. SLLS has 160+ employee of which about 70% are lawyers and engages hundreds of volunteer attorneys and dozens of law students every year.
Pre-pandemic and prior to 2021’s catastrophic Hurricane Ida, SLLS had about 100 team members on staff. We now have about 165 staff working from seven offices, staff embedded onsite with other partners such as hospitals, medical clinics, homeless shelters, domestic violence victim service centers, community colleges, and robust pro bono partnerships. We have almost 100 different funding sources though LSC funding is about 45% of our budget with another almost 30% from the Louisiana Bar Foundation.
Under SLLS’ current leadership, its salary scale was refreshed in 2018, 2020, and 2022 with a $2,000 lump sum salary supplement for all staff in 2023. Excluding its leadership positions which are off the salary scale, SLLS has three primary position types – Managing Attorneys, Staff Attorneys, and Support Staff. There is a maximum starting salary for new hires up to 15 years of experience. SLLS has annual steps of $1,800 for attorneys and $800 for support staff. The steps have not been changed in over a decade. SLLS removed caps on annual steps for staff after 10 years of employment in 2021 to prevent staff from getting maxed out on their annual salary.
SLLS wishes to conduct an analysis of salaries and benefits including comparison to the nonprofit and government sector for the local market. The goal of this project is to ensure that SLLS’ compensation package remains competitive to attract and retain staff, is respectful and supportive of staff, is an appropriate use of resources, and reflects SLLS’ commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Under SLLS’ current leadership, our salary scale was developed in 2018 and refreshed based on an internally conducted salary scale study in 2020 and 2022. SLLS has provided a one-time lump sum salary supplement of $2,000 for all staff irrespective of position in 2023. The key elements of SLLS’ current salary structure are:
SLLS seeks a consultant to:
The planned timeline for this project is:
Note: Timeline is subject to change based on SLLS and consultant schedules. Recommendations may be delivered in stages including Stage 1 -Salary Scale recommendations Stage 2 – Recommendations for Step Increases Stage 3- Benefits Review Stage 4- Recommendations to Incentivize Longevity
Responses to this Request for Proposal should be no longer than 8 pages long (shorter proposals are welcome) and include the following:
SLLS may elect to schedule interviews with potential consultants prior to awarding a final contract. Please include contact information for scheduling purposes in the RFP.
Proposals will be evaluated upon the contractor’s responsiveness to the RFP, qualifications, demonstrated experience with similar projects, and total price quoted for all items covered by the RFP. Award of the contract resulting from the RFP will be based upon the most responsive contract that is most advantageous to SLLS in terms of cost, functionality, experience, and quality of past work.
SLLS ideally seeks a firm that understands its needs as a nonprofit and legal services organization and is invested in our mission of achieving justice and social change by fighting poverty.
SLLS reserves the right to accept or reject any and all proposals and to waive any minor discrepancies or technicalities in the proposal or specifications, when deemed to be in the best interest of SLLS. We also reserve the right to negotiate with all respondents to the RFP and reject any or all offers and discontinue this RFP process without obligation or liability to any respondent.
SLLS will not pay any costs associated with preparing proposals in response to this RFP.
You can download the request for proposals here.
The 23rd JDC Bar Association is looking for volunteers to help staff their Self-Help Resource Center at the 23rd Judicial District Court on the 1st Thursday of every month. You can find more information about the Self-Help Desk here. If you're interested in volunteering, contact Janeane Abbott at Janeane@abbottprescott.com or 225-406-7474.
The St. Tammany Parish Court (22nd JDC) has a 3-month traffic ticket amnesty program for people who received traffic tickets between January 1, 2005, and December 31, 2022 and did not pay them. If you pay your old ticket through the program, the program will drop the late fees, fines, and warrants.
The program lasts from May 1, 2023 to July 31, 2023. Tickets received after January 1, 2023, are not eligible for this program. The program does not waive any fees you might owe to the DMV.
To make changes to your ticket, you should contact the Traffic Division of the District Attorney's Office. You will need to obtain two copies of your ticket from the Clerk of Court. Once you have your documents, the Clerk of Court will add an Amnesty Stamp to your ticket for approval.
To participate, you need to request an amendment of your ticket through the District Attorney's Office Traffic Division. You will need two copies of the ticket from the Clerk of Court. The Clerk of Court will put an Amnesty Stamp on the ticket for approval.
After getting the amnesty stamp, go to the Sherriff's Office to pay for your ticket. After paying your fines and court costs, the Clerk of Court will remove any suspensions or attachments.
The Court can give you a letter for proof of payment to the Louisiana Department of Motor Vehicles if you have any holds of flags on your driver's license.
For Immediate Release, February 15, 2023
Contact:
Laura Tuggle, ltuggle@slls.org, 504.913.6617
Over 60 Nonprofit Groups Call On FEMA to Extend the February Deadline for Hurricane Ida Disaster Assistance and Appeals
236,000+ Louisiana households are awaiting FEMA aid decisions as deadline looms
NEW ORLEANS — The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Individuals and Households Program (IHP) will stop accepting appeals and providing financial assistance for Hurricane Ida on Feb. 28, 2023, despite the fact that, according to FEMA’s own records, there is still no decision on over 236,000 Louisianan household’s applications for assistance.
FEMA has not issued a press release or any public notification of the looming deadline.
In response, over 60 voluntary, faith-based, community, philanthropic and national advocacy organizations have issued letters to President Biden, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, the Louisiana Congressional Delegation and Governor John Bel Edwards, requesting an extension of the deadline to allow disaster-affected households time to submit appeals to FEMA.
“Hurricane Ida was the fifth costliest hurricane in U.S. history, and Louisianans continue to struggle to recover,” said Laura Tuggle, Executive Director of Southeast Louisiana Legal Services. “As nonprofits, we are on the ground, working directly with people in affected communities. We are partners that stand behind FEMA’s equity goals and are uniquely positioned to help identify the invisible roadblocks that Louisianans are experiencing as they try to access assistance. Due to our intimate knowledge of the barriers to recovery, we know nothing will go further to producing equitable outcomes among the people of our state than an extension of the IHP period of assistance and appeals deadline.”
Louisianans have faced significant barriers to applying for assistance since Hurricane Ida for a variety of reasons, including:
Because FEMA has not provided the public with formal written notice of the deadline through the media, Louisianans are not ready for the cessation of IHP financial assistance or the loss of their ability to appeal previous FEMA decisions denying them assistance. Without a deadline extension, Hurricane Ida survivors will experience growing levels of financial instability, making Louisiana and its residents even more vulnerable to future storms.
By comparison, on Jan. 24, 2023, FEMA published a press release identifying the March 10, 2023, deadline for Hurricane Ida survivors in Pennsylvania.
A 90-day extension beyond the Feb. 28, 2023 deadline would allow survivors time to obtain FEMA resources which are required to be eligible for the Restore Louisiana Program. An inability to appeal FEMA decisions not only prevents access to FEMA assistance but will also bar access to the state’s housing recovery program.
We are grateful the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) shares our common desire to change negative recovery outcomes that disproportionately affect underserved communities. We are aware that GOHSEP requested the exact same extension of FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program (IHP) after Hurricane Laura, and were met with a denial of their request. We stand with our state officials in support of their equity goals and we seek a different outcome for Ida’s request - one that extends the deadline by at least 90 days. The enormous number of people in Louisiana whose needs are still unmet must be everyone’s greatest priority.
“This is a life or death situation for Louisiana’s people,” added Tuggle. “FEMA has an opportunity to make good on its equity goals by extending the February 28 deadline and providing a notification period before the deadline to account for the unique challenges of our state’s Hurricane Ida survivors.”
See the full list of partner signatories here.
###
About Southeast Louisiana Legal Services
Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS) fights for fairness in the justice system. It provides free, civil legal aid to low-income people in six offices, across 22 parishes in southeast Louisiana. Our six offices are located in Baton Rouge, Covington, Hammond, Harvey, Houma, and New Orleans. Our mission is to achieve justice for low-income people in Louisiana by enforcing and defending their legal rights through free legal representation, advocacy, and community education. For more information about SLLS, visit www.slls.org and follow us on Facebook (@SLLShelps).
“Lawyers have a license to practice law, a monopoly on certain services. But for that privilege and status, lawyers have an obligation to provide legal services to those without the wherewithal to pay, to respond to needs outside themselves, to help repair tears in their communities.” – U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (March 2014)
Are you an attorney (either currently practicing or retired) in East Feliciana, Iberville, Pointe Coupee, St James, St John, or West Feliciana? Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS) would like to speak with you about opportunities to volunteer and/or create a partnership with you to bring legal services to those who need it most.
Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS) fights for fairness for vulnerable people. We provide free, civil legal aid to low-income people in six offices, across 22 parishes throughout southeast Louisiana. Our six offices are located in Baton Rouge, Covington, Gretna, Hammond, Houma, and New Orleans. Everyday we:
No matter what challenges our communities face, we work every day to increase access to justice and help vulnerable people clear life's legal hurdles. But we can’t do it alone and that’s why we need your help. To find out more information, please contact Cindy Horne, CP at 225-448-0080, ext. 302 or by email at chorne@slls.org or Douglas Carey at 504-529-1000, ext. 246 or by email at dcarey@slls.org. Our website can also be found at www.SLLS.org.
“Our society has major unmet legal needs that adversely affect low and middle income families. It’s a situation that threatens the well-being of our democracy. According to California’s Business and Professions Code, lawyers should ‘Never to reject, for any consideration personal to himself or herself, the cause of the defenseless or the oppressed.’ The entire legal professional has an opportunity to address this crisis.” – Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye (October 2014)
Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS) provides free legal assistance to indigent and other vulnerable people who cannot afford to hire a lawyer. We protect their livelihoods, health, housing, and families. Through legal representation, we can assure fairness for our clients as they navigate through the civil justice system. SLLS works to combat the inequities and disproportionate impacts faced by marginalized communities of color. We are the largest nonprofit civil legal services provider in Louisiana serving 50% of the state’s poverty population in twenty-two parishes across southeast Louisiana.
SLLS seeks proposals for a redesign of its current website, www.slls.org. The site should be a visually appealing, accessible, and easy-to-navigate space for clients, volunteers, donors, and the community to apply for legal assistance, find legal resources and learn more about SLLS.
The website design should be clean, interactive, fully responsive, and consistent with SLLS branding. There should be a consistent style sheet across all pages. The homepage design should include at a minimum:
The website should be easy to manage with the ability to add additional elements as needed. We would prefer to use WordPress and Divi but are open to other CMS. Specific functionality needs include:
We would like to soft launch the site by June 2023.
Proposals should be submitted by Wednesday, March 1, 2023, to Lynette Martin at lmartin@slls.org. Proposals should include at minimum:
SLLS may elect to schedule a conference call with potential consultants prior to awarding a final contract. Please include contact information for scheduling purposes in the RFP.
Proposals will be evaluated upon the contractor’s responsiveness to the RFP, qualifications, demonstrated experience with similar projects, and total price quoted for all items covered by the RFP. Award of the contract resulting from the RFP will be based upon the most responsive contract that is most advantageous to SLLS in terms of cost, functionality, experience, and quality of past work.
SLLS ideally seeks a firm that understands its needs as a nonprofit and legal services organization and is invested in our missions of achieving justice and social change by fighting poverty.
SLLS reserves the right to accept or reject any and all proposals and to waive any minor discrepancies or technicalities in the proposal or specifications, when deemed to be in the best interest of SLLS. We also reserve the right to negotiate with all respondents to the RFP and reject any or all offers and discontinue this RFP process without obligation or liability to any respondent.
SLLS will not pay any costs associate with preparing proposals in response to this RFP.
Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS) seeks the services of a technology consultant to assist in using publicly available data and technology to improve the way that SLLS coordinates its outreach efforts. The disaster data-driven outreach project involves two components: (1) the development of a disaster data dashboard, and (2) designing a more efficient, technology-enabled business process for coordinating outreach by staff and volunteers. This project will provide the data needed to create a robust outreach strategy to increase disaster victims’ awareness of and access to SLLS services.
SLLS provides free legal assistance to indigent and other vulnerable people who cannot afford to hire a lawyer. We protect their livelihoods, health, housing and families. Through legal representation, we are able to assure fairness for our clients as they navigate through the civil justice system. SLLS works to combat the inequities and disproportionate impacts faced by marginalized communities of color. We are the largest nonprofit civil legal services provider in Louisiana serving 50% of the state’s poverty population in twenty-two parishes across southeast Louisiana. Pre-pandemic, Louisiana had the third highest poverty rate in the United States, the second highest rate of women killed by their intimate partner, the highest rate of mass incarceration in the world disproportionately impacting marginalized communities, was consistently noted as one of the unhealthiest states, and had the second highest rate of food insecure seniors. We have been struck by ten presidentially declared natural disasters since 2005’s catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, the BP Oil Spill, and the people we serve have been particularly hard-hit by the impact of COVID-19 due to our economic reliance on the hospitality and oil and gas industries and Hurricane Ida.
Pre-pandemic, SLLS had about 100 team members on staff. We now have about 165 staff working from seven offices, staff embedded onsite with other partners such as hospitals, medical clinics, homeless shelters, domestic violence victim service centers, community colleges, and robust pro bono partnerships. We have almost 100 different funding sources though LSC funding is about 45% of our budget with another almost 30% from the Louisiana Bar Foundation.
SLLS seeks an independent technology consultant to assist in creating a streamlined technology solution for accessing all publicly available FEMA and Census data to guide SLLS outreach post-disaster. The consultant will also design and implement an efficient, technology-enabled business process for staff and volunteers to coordinate outreach services using the technology solution.
In this two-pronged role, the consultant we are seeking will have primary responsibility for creating a streamlined technology solution for accessing publicly available data to guide SLLS outreach efforts. The consultant will then assist SLLS in designing and implementing a business process for staff and volunteers to effectively utilize the solution and coordinate their efforts.
The consultant will have primary responsibility for creating a technology solution for accessing and compiling all public data supporting disaster outreach. We are seeking a geographic information services (GIS) dashboard combining publicly available FEMA and Census/ACS data to guide SLLS decision-making on outreach efforts post-disaster.
FEMA provides API services for data related to its Individuals and Households Program (IHP). Updated daily, this data includes the following fields by zip code and disaster that can support a more targeted outreach strategy: number of FEMA applications, number of valid FEMA applications, number of applications found “eligible” for the IHP, Housing Assistance, and Other Needs Assistance programs, number of inspections issued, and open DRC locations. Combining these FEMA data services with other community data on disabilities, homeownership and renter-ship, and other relevant demographics can help SLLS identify particularly vulnerable areas of need.
Other important data on the number of FEMA denials and reasons for denials is not readily available. Therefore, part of this project may also include advocating for those additional data sets to be shared, in order to help legal aid partners more accurately assess needs and identify disparities in recovery. Once developed, this data dashboard can be used by all legal aid organizations across Louisiana.
Once the data solution is developed, the consultant will then assist SLLS in designing and implementing a business process for staff and volunteers to effectively utilize the solution to coordinate their efforts. This portion of the project will focus on improving the way SLLS staff members coordinate outreach efforts among themselves and volunteers. Currently, the work to coordinate staff and volunteer attendance at regularly scheduled and stand-alone outreach events is time consuming and inefficient. Largely relying on email, staff can lose track of who is set to go where in the flurry of post-disaster outreach events.
In tandem with the disaster data dashboard, a more streamlined coordination and scheduling process will reduce frustration among staff and improve the way we conduct outreach in the aftermath of natural disasters. We seek a consultant who can thoughtfully design, implement, and train SLLS staff in an efficient, technology-enabled business process for utilizing the data dashboard and coordinating and scheduling staff and volunteer disaster outreach activities.
SLLS seeks proposals in this matter that do not exceed five pages inclusive of three references. We request that all proposals include information on the applicable experience of the potential consultant especially in technology consultation work for comparable non-profit organizations.
Interested consultants can submit a cost proposal on an hourly rate with an estimate of hours needed to complete tasks or by using a project-based method. Please propose a payment schedule for your work under the project. Finally, SLLS requests that all candidates are prepared to provide a proposed contract for this project.
Questions about this RFP may be directed to Laura Tuggle, SLLS Executive Director, at (504) 529-1000 ext. 270 or ltuggle@slls.org
Proposals are due on or before 2/19/2023. Delivery of proposals should be made electronically to Heidi Bergeron at hbergeron@whiteoakconsult.com with “SLLS Disaster Data-Driven Outreach Project” in the subject line, pdf preferred. If you have large file size items, please provide a file sharing link with instructions for accessing the proposed materials
SLLS may elect to schedule a conference call with potential consultants prior to awarding a final contract. Please include contact information for scheduling purposes in the RFP.
Proposals will be evaluated upon the contractor’s responsiveness to the RFP, qualifications, demonstrated experience with similar projects, and total price quoted for all items covered by the RFP. Award of the contract resulting from the RFP will be based upon the most responsive contract that is most advantageous to SLLS in terms of cost, functionality, experience, and quality of past work.
SLLS ideally seeks a firm that understands its needs as a nonprofit and legal services organization and is invested in our missions of achieving justice and social change by fighting poverty.
SLLS reserves the right to accept or reject any and all proposals and to waive any minor discrepancies or technicalities in the proposal or specifications, when deemed to be in the best interest of SLLS. We also reserve the right to negotiate with all respondents to the RFP and reject any or all offers and discontinue this RFP process without obligation or liability to any respondent.
SLLS will not pay any costs associated with preparing proposals in response to this RFP.
Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS) seeks the services of a consultant to assist in determining SLLS’s eligibility for the CARES Act Employee Retention Credit (ERC) and to assist in making an application if SLLS is determined to be eligible inclusive of a tax opinion regarding our eligibility.
SLLS provides free legal assistance to indigent and other vulnerable people who cannot afford to hire a lawyer. We protect their livelihoods, health, housing and families. Through legal representation, we are able to assure fairness for our clients as they navigate through the civil justice system. SLLS works to combat the inequities and disproportionate impacts faced by marginalized communities of color. We are the largest nonprofit civil legal services provider in Louisiana serving 50% of the state’s poverty population in twenty-two parishes across southeast Louisiana. Pre-pandemic, Louisiana had the third highest poverty rate in the United States, the second highest rate of women killed by their intimate partner, the highest rate of mass incarceration in the world disproportionately impacting marginalized communities, was consistently noted as one of the unhealthiest states, and had the second highest rate of food insecure seniors. We have been struck by ten presidentially declared natural disasters since 2005’s catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, the BP Oil Spill, and the people we serve have been particularly hard-hit by the impact of COVID-19 due to our economic reliance on the hospitality and oil and gas industries and Hurricane Ida.
Pre-pandemic, SLLS had about 100 team members on staff. We now have about 165 staff working from seven offices, staff embedded onsite with other partners such as hospitals, medical clinics, homeless shelters, domestic violence victim service centers, community colleges, and robust pro bono partnerships. We have almost 100 different funding sources though LSC funding is about 45% of our budget with another almost 30% from the Louisiana Bar Foundation.
SLLS seeks a consultant to determine the eligibility of the organization to receive the CARES Act Employee Retention Credit (ERC). Should SLLS be eligible for this payroll tax credit, the selected consultant would then do all necessary work in order to complete and submit the ERC claim. A tax opinion to support our eligibility for the ERC is also required.
SLLS seeks a consultant to conduct an evaluation of SLLS’ payroll and other internal documents spanning from March 13, 2020 to September 30, 2021 for the purpose of determining our eligibility for the CARES Act ERC. SLLS’ 941 Payroll records and other finance records are easily accessible through our online database for the specified time period. This data will be made available to the consultant upon selection. Should SLLS be eligible for the ERC, the consultant will proceed to apply and submit our tax credit claim with the support from the SLLS team as required. Additionally, SLLS requests that the selected consultant also deliver a tax opinion regarding our ERC eligibility to protect the agency.
SLLS seeks proposals in this matter that does not exceed five pages inclusive of three references. We request that all proposals include information on the applicable experience of the potential consultant especially in ERC consultation work for comparable non-profit organizations. We request a cost estimate for services with the preferable compensation for a deferred payment structure. As it may take up to 10 months for IRS approval and execution of any ERC payments, we request that all proposals offer an estimated timeline that would allow SLLS to receive the ERC by the end of 2023. Finally, SLLS requests that all candidates are prepared to provide a proposed contract for this project
Questions about this RFP may be directed to Laura Tuggle, SLLS Executive Director, at (504) 529-1000 ext. 270 or ltuggle@slls.org
Proposals are due on or before 1/28/2023. Delivery of proposals should be made electronically to Laura Tuggle at ltuggle@slls.org with “SLLS Employee Retention Credit Proposal” in the subject line, pdf preferred. If you have large file size items, please provide a file sharing link with instructions for accessing the proposed materials.
SLLS may elect to schedule a conference call with potential consultants prior to awarding a final contract. Please include contact information for scheduling purposes in the RFP.
Proposals will be evaluated upon the contractor’s responsiveness to the RFP, qualifications, demonstrated experience with similar projects, and total price quoted for all items covered by the RFP. Award of the contract resulting from the RFP will be based upon the most responsive contract that is most advantageous to SLLS in terms of cost, functionality, experience, and quality of past work.
SLLS ideally seeks a firm that understands its needs as a nonprofit and legal services organization and is invested in our missions of achieving justice and social change by fighting poverty.
SLLS reserves the right to accept or reject any and all proposals and to waive any minor discrepancies or technicalities in the proposal or specifications, when deemed to be in the best interest of SLLS. We also reserve the right to negotiate with all respondents to the RFP and reject any or all offers and discontinue this RFP process without obligation or liability to any respondent.
SLLS will not pay any costs associate with preparing proposals in response to this RFP.
Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS) seeks the services of an independent project consultant to assist it in supervising our recently awarded almost $6.5 million three year Disaster Legal Services (DLS) grant from the Legal Services Corporation. This work also includes a subcomponent with primary responsibility for creating content working with our staff for our Adult Learning Management System and to implement our new Adult Learning Management System. The goals of our DLS project and our subcomponent project is to provide high quality legal assistance to disaster survivors and to help better prepare SLLS to respond to disasters.
SLLS provides free legal assistance to indigent and other vulnerable people who cannot afford to hire a lawyer. We protect their livelihoods, health, housing and families. Through legal representation, we are able to assure fairness for our clients as they navigate through the civil justice system. SLLS works to combat the inequities and disproportionate impacts faced by marginalized communities of color.
SLLS is the largest nonprofit civil legal services provider in Louisiana serving 50% of the state’s poverty population in twenty-two parishes across southeast Louisiana. Pre-pandemic, Louisiana had the third highest poverty rate in the United States, the second highest rate of women killed by their intimate partner, the highest rate of mass incarceration in the world disproportionately impacting marginalized communities, was consistently noted as one of the unhealthiest states, and had the second highest rate of food insecure seniors. We have been struck by ten presidentially declared natural disasters since 2005’s catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, the BP Oil Spill, and the people we serve have been particularly hard-hit by the impact of COVID-19 due to our economic reliance on the hospitality and oil and gas industries and Hurricane Ida.
During the COVID-19 pandemic and in the wake of Ida, SLLS has fought for the rights of vulnerable people who lost their jobs due to the pandemic, provided safeguards to domestic violence survivors, protected the livelihood of disaster victims and assisted renters who were facing eviction. SLLS has won significant appellate cases protecting thousands of vulnerable people through eviction defense and child in need of care work, and engaging in successful policy advocacy with government agencies administering housing assistance, child protection programs, and unemployment benefits. Our 2021 case work for individual households resulted in over 30,000 people being helped through free legal aid to protect their lives, homes, and families with a direct economic impact to them through our work of over $28.5 million.
Pre-pandemic, SLLS had about 100 team members on staff. Since COVID, we have grown to have almost 175 employees, seven offices, staff embedded onsite with other partners such as hospitals, medical clinics, homeless shelters, domestic violence victim service centers, community colleges, and robust pro bono partnerships. We have almost 100 different funding sources though LSC funding is about 45% of our budget with another almost 30% from the Louisiana Bar Foundation. In response to the effects of COVID-19 on housing, we have hired 14 additional attorneys to represent people who are facing eviction and 15 new staff to represent vulnerable populations affected by natural disasters.
SLLS seeks an independent project consultant to participate in the management of SLLS’s Disaster Legal Services grant and to assist in developing training resources for staff. SLLS understands the importance of analyzing and adapting our resources to fit the needs of our growing organization. Our goal is to improve SLLS’s ability to respond to the legal needs of disaster survivors and to better prepare the agency to respond to future disasters internally and as part of our broader statewide civil legal aid justice community.
In this two pronged role, the consultant we are seeking will assist SLLS in managing our DLS Project and will have primary responsibility for our Adult Learning Content Development (ALCD) Project as a subcomponent of our DLS Project. We expect the selected consultant will need to dedicate significantly more time to accomplishing our project plan goals during the first 12 months of the project with the level of effort being significantly less during 2024 and by 2025 minimal work to be done. The rationale for this is that as the major deliverables under the contract are achieved, the work effort needed to supervise and implement the project will be less.
In the DLS role, the consultant will provide general supervision, diligent monitoring, and reporting on the usage of SLLS’ DLS grant to ensure that it aligns with our grant performance plan. The full performance plan with tasks already completed to date is attached to this Request for Proposal as Attachment A. The consultant will have primary responsibility for issuing, coordinating, implementing, and supervising Goal 2, Objective 1, Milestone 8 regarding SLLS’ Adult Learning Management System described in more detail in the next section and Goal 3, Objective 3, Milestones 1-4 to help SLLS create an outreach plan using media and to secure a technology consultant to ensure disaster survivors have access to legal services. The selected consultant for the instant RFP will report directly to the Executive Director regarding progress on the DLS Project general oversight, supervision, and progress on deliverables.
All decisions pertaining to the management of the grant are rooted in and reflective of the Goals, Objectives, and Milestones agreed upon by SLLS and LSC. The grant term of our project is 7/1/2022-6/30/2025. The goals and objectives of the DLS project are below which our detailed Project Plan referenced in Attachment A fleshes out in more detail.
DLS Goals and Objectives:
In the ALCD subcomponent of the DLS Project, the consultant will identify, collect, revise, create, design, test, and integrate resources into SLLS’ Learn Upon Learning Management System working in close collaboration with in-house staff subject matter experts (SME). This work involves breaking down often complex concepts into fundamental pieces and weaving them into engaging learning segments to create learning modules that are easily understood and digested for use by legal aid staff and partners. Major duties in this subcomponent include:
Progress and fiscal reports are due to the funder on the below schedule:
Reporting Period 7/1/2022-12/31/2022 - Due 1/31/2023
Reporting Period 1/1/2023-6/30/2023 - Due 7/31/2023
Reporting Period 7/1/2023-12/31/2023 - Due 1/31/2024
Reporting Period 1/1/2024 – 6/30/2024 - Due 7/31/2024
Reporting Period 7/1/2024- 12/31/2024 - Due 1/31/2025
Reporting Period 1/1/2025-6/30/2025 - Due 7/31/2025
Interested consultants can submit a cost proposal on an hourly rate with an estimate of hours needed to complete tasks or by using a project based method. Please propose a payment schedule for your work under the project.
Questions about this RFP may be directed Laura Tuggle, SLLS Executive Director at (504) 529-1000 ext. 270 or ltuggle@slls.org.
Proposals are due on or before 10/26/2022. Delivery of proposals should be made electronically to Laura Tuggle at ltuggle@slls.org with “SLLS “DLS & ALCD Proposal” in the subject line. PDF is preferred. If you have large file size items, please provide a file sharing link with instructions for accessing the proposed materials.
SLLS may elect to schedule a conference call with potential consultants prior to awarding a final contract. We anticipate conference calls will be scheduled between 10/25-10/26/2022. Please include contact information for scheduling purposes in the RFP.
Proposals will be evaluated upon the contractor’s responsiveness to the RFP, qualifications, demonstrated experience with similar projects, and total price quoted for all items covered by the RFP. Award of the contract resulting from the RFP will be based upon the most responsive contract that is most advantageous to SLLS in terms of cost, functionality, experience, and quality of past work.
SLLS ideally seeks a firm that understands its needs as a nonprofit and legal services organization and is invested in our mission of achieving justice and social change by fighting poverty.
SLLS reserves the right to accept or reject any and all proposals and to waive any minor discrepancies or technicalities in the proposal or specifications, when deemed to be in the best interest of SLLS. We also reserve the right to negotiate with all respondents to the RFP and reject any or all offers and discontinue this RFP process without obligation or liability to any respondent.
SLLS will not pay any costs associated with preparing proposals in response to this RFP.
You can download this Request for Proposals here.