The ABArray Legal Aid Funding Report allows users to access an online array of civil legal aid funding data from 2003 to the present time, displayed in chart format. Collection of the data is conducted annually by the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense (SCLAID), through its Resource Center for Access to Justice Initiatives. The ABArray interface is updated as new data becomes available through the annual data collection process.
About the Dashboards
All ABArray data array dashboards are intended to provide an estimate of resources available (whether nationally or within a state), to guide and enhance resource development by funding advocates. The information provided within the charts is approximate and voluntarily provided on a periodic basis by contributors across the country; therefore, SCLAID cannot guarantee that the data precisely or completely represent the actual amount of funding for civil legal aid that has been available nationally each year. The information changes rapidly, and significant amounts of funding in each state are “unstable” and may not be available in subsequent years.
Information Sources
All resource amounts, except Legal Services Corporation (LSC) data, have been gathered by the ABA Resource Center for Access to Justice Initiatives from various sources, including individual legal services programs, state IOLTA programs, bar associations and foundations, and state government offices.
Data Periods
With some exceptions, data included in each "Collection Year" that is displayed within the ABArray charts relate to the following time periods (for detailed information regarding a specific Collection Year or Years, please contact [email protected]):
- LSC amounts are grants from the prior fiscal year. Example: Collection Year 2019 includes FY2019 LSC grants.
- Court Fees & Fines and State Appropriation amounts are appropriated funds from legislative sessions that are ongoing at any point during the prior calendar year. Example: Collection Year 2019 includes funds appropriated during the 2018 Legislative Sessions.
- IOLTA amounts are grants from two (2) fiscal years ago. Example: Collection Year 2019 includes FY2018 IOLTA grants.
- Most other amounts are the most recent data available from legal aid programs and usually correspond to either: (1) the previous calendar year, for programs operating financially on a calendar year cycle (i.e., January 1 through December 31 of the same year); or (2) the previous fiscal year, for programs operating financially on a fiscal year cycle (i.e., any consecutive 12-month period beginning in one year and ending in the following year). Example: Collection Year 2019 includes other types of funding received by legal aid programs during either Calendar Year 2018 or Fiscal Year 2019.
Although each Collection Year includes different types of data that come from different time periods, every effort has been made to ensure that the same data is not reported in more than one Collection Year (i.e., to avoid "double-counting").
National Level Data vs. State Level Data
Data for ABArray is gathered at the individual program level, then aggregated and displayed at either the national or state level. National level charts contain the total national amount of legal aid funding (reported by funding category) and are available on the public portion of the ABArray website. State-level dashboards are displayed on a restricted portion of the ABArray website accessible to only those programs with licenses to view the dashboards.
Restrictions on State Level Data
The dissemination of detailed state -level data is governed by SCLAID’s Data Privacy Policy, which recognizes that only programs that directly or indirectly provide data to ABArray (hereinafter “data providers”) are eligible to access the ABArray aggregated state-level data. Further, whenever a data provider wants to share data from any state (including its own), the data provider must send a written request for approval to share such data to the ABArray Administrator at [email protected], who will forward the request to the Technical Assistance (TA) Connectors at the National Resource Development Technical Assistance Project (a collaboration involving staff from SCLAID, MIE, NLADA, and NAIP). A TA Connector will then respond directly to the requestor and will facilitate the process of obtaining written approval in a timely fashion from SCLAID’s contacts within the relevant state. In other words, if you have access to state-level charts, you may NOT share information regarding any state with anyone outside of your program unless you have obtained the prerequisite approval in strict accordance with the process outlined above.
Contact Information of Data Providers
All programs that provide data for the ABArray Legal Aid Funding Report will be listed within the restricted portion of the website solely for the purpose of providing contact information for data providers seeking permission to use data from states other than their own. By participating in the ABArray data collection process, you consent to this listing of your program’s contact information for this express purpose.
Downloading/Printing Charts
Users may export and/or download the data charts, including customized data selections. To do so, simply click the “download” button at the bottom right of any ABArray chart and select the data panel you wish to download. Be advised that all materials contained on the ABArray website are protected by United States copyright law. Before downloading or reproducing any of these materials, please carefully review the ABA Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy.
Methodology
To learn more about the methodology behind the data on the ABArray dashboards, visit the ABArray methodology page.
Questions?
Contact [email protected].