Thanks She Cat- I have spent hours and hours on the phone, and we sure do lack services where I live. Believe me, no men in my city would put on red shoes and walk a mile....but I think that is a great idea! After 2 months on phone with legal aid, a paralegal called me back. Her information said I was in a shelter with small children-my children are grown and I am in the home. One person tells me that an attorney will assist me in court, the next says not, only phone advice. My daughter did an internship when in law school with legal aid and said they are referred to them as the most lazy lawyers with no motivation. Very low energy office. She also worked for public defender and it was high, high energy, defending criminal.
Lets hypothetically say that the woman has half assets coming which is $250,ooo and since she has no lawyer, only gets her car and a few hundred a month, is on disability and has a traumatic brain injury and other problems. So she ends up on welfare for her remaining years, all because we know that the person with the best lawyer often wins, (with exceptions of course). This all happens because there are no legal services for the poor. State bar associations say that attorneys do all this work pro bono, but finding one is really impossible. They just about laugh at you.
Women shelters are just that. They are a wonderful asset to women who have to flee their home to escape physical damage or even death. They do have counselor, they are really "advocates" with some valuable knowledge. They generally have no education in psych. but are often very good at what they do. They can go into court with victims for hearings but are not allowed to speak-NEVER allowed to speak even if they see something being missed. The prosecutors have so many cases and often have a private practice as well, that they are not well informed going into hearings.
I worked for a shelter for 10 years and saw first hand how it works-(just my local area of course) Once had a client that was about 18 but mentality of maybe 11. She was held hostage for 2 weeks by schizophrenic husband in hot house with windows covered. He had a gun in the house. When she found opportunity, she pushed dresser in front of bedroom door and when he was pushing it away, she started firing shots at door which brought police. Although she did not hit him (wasn't her intent), she pled out to lesser charge and was a felon for life so could never get HUD housing. This gas sure wasn't a criminal and got a bad deal. Since her repeatedly raped her, she told me it hurt to pee. I passed info on to staff but nobody would take her to a dr, not allowed to transport. Well neither was I, and I could have lost my professional license but I took her to a Med Express and she had serious UTI and STD. This is just one example of "not my job" and employees having hands tied about these things. They offer all kinds of services, but in the end, the only real service is a shelter many times. I am grateful that we have the shelters. Ours are all grant funded and get tons of funding. I just think that without legal representation, abused women get screwed, then are vulnerable to other predators again. I have watched it over and over. They leave there unable to pay minimal bills, need rides, etc and there is always some abusive jerk waiting to help.
Its looking like I will be selling off all home furnishings and anything I can think of for pennies on the dollar, just to get a fair shake.
Sorry I sound like the pessimist. I am meeting with an advocate and pursuing legal aid first, trying to be hopeful, but hoping for best but expecting the worst I guess.
Lets hypothetically say that the woman has half assets coming which is $250,ooo and since she has no lawyer, only gets her car and a few hundred a month, is on disability and has a traumatic brain injury and other problems. So she ends up on welfare for her remaining years, all because we know that the person with the best lawyer often wins, (with exceptions of course). This all happens because there are no legal services for the poor. State bar associations say that attorneys do all this work pro bono, but finding one is really impossible. They just about laugh at you.
Women shelters are just that. They are a wonderful asset to women who have to flee their home to escape physical damage or even death. They do have counselor, they are really "advocates" with some valuable knowledge. They generally have no education in psych. but are often very good at what they do. They can go into court with victims for hearings but are not allowed to speak-NEVER allowed to speak even if they see something being missed. The prosecutors have so many cases and often have a private practice as well, that they are not well informed going into hearings.
I worked for a shelter for 10 years and saw first hand how it works-(just my local area of course) Once had a client that was about 18 but mentality of maybe 11. She was held hostage for 2 weeks by schizophrenic husband in hot house with windows covered. He had a gun in the house. When she found opportunity, she pushed dresser in front of bedroom door and when he was pushing it away, she started firing shots at door which brought police. Although she did not hit him (wasn't her intent), she pled out to lesser charge and was a felon for life so could never get HUD housing. This gas sure wasn't a criminal and got a bad deal. Since her repeatedly raped her, she told me it hurt to pee. I passed info on to staff but nobody would take her to a dr, not allowed to transport. Well neither was I, and I could have lost my professional license but I took her to a Med Express and she had serious UTI and STD. This is just one example of "not my job" and employees having hands tied about these things. They offer all kinds of services, but in the end, the only real service is a shelter many times. I am grateful that we have the shelters. Ours are all grant funded and get tons of funding. I just think that without legal representation, abused women get screwed, then are vulnerable to other predators again. I have watched it over and over. They leave there unable to pay minimal bills, need rides, etc and there is always some abusive jerk waiting to help.
Its looking like I will be selling off all home furnishings and anything I can think of for pennies on the dollar, just to get a fair shake.
Sorry I sound like the pessimist. I am meeting with an advocate and pursuing legal aid first, trying to be hopeful, but hoping for best but expecting the worst I guess.
