MORGANTOWN —A West Virginia University student has been helping Legal Aid of West Virginia with its plan for community access to legal services.
Michelle Richmond, who is a senior in the School of Social Work, has been working with Legal Aid to improve its community access plan by using data from a needs assessment.
The assessment is used to help organizations by identifying goals for improving access to legal services for the next three years.
Rchmond
“I have helped the organization prioritize, plan for and initiate strategic goals aimed at increasing client access to services through expanding the use of technology with clients, increasing efficiency of services, incorporating social workers and social work interns into service delivery and strengthening the pro bono program," Richmond said. "The strategic planning initiative has been a great learning experience for me, and I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to be a part of it.”
Richmond said she wanted to use her social work skills and knowledge to help.
“This year’s strategic planning initiative has taken place entirely remotely, consisting of various subcommittees made up of employees, board members and other professionals from around the state," Richmond said. "This mix of inter- and outer-agency perspectives is what makes the strategic planning process successful. I serve on the access to services subcommittee, as I felt this subcommittee would be the best place for me to use my social work skills and knowledge."
Richmond said social workers focus on helping their clients to become more self-sufficient.
“Social workers are certainly essential, especially in times of great sociological, economic and political instability," Richmond said. "The United States is currently experiencing an uptick of issues in all three areas. Social work is vital to ensuring that vulnerable populations are represented, supported and advocated for in times of instability and crisis."
The assessment Richmond used also includes ideas for expanding services and resources, such as legal clinics and a self-help legal library.
"Social workers forge relationships with clients, helping them to become more self-sufficient and stabilize their lives, so social workers should be recognized as front-line workers during the pandemic," Richmond said.