Legal Services for New York City (LSNY)

1
Legal Services for New York City (LSNY)

• Building an Integrated Bronx Project
• September 2004
• John Greiner
• www.lsny.org

2
Starting Point

• Bronx Legal Services (BLS) provides free civil
  (not criminal) legal assistance to low income
  residents of the Bronx
• Three locations across the borough
• Separate Case Management Systems
• Separate Networking Infrastructure
• Separate Telephone Systems
• Staff are Tied to Their Offices

3
What Does It Cost

• Technology Infrastructure
• Duplicative Hardware/Software/Services/Maintenance
  
• Lower Quality, Security and Effectiveness
• Staff Support
• Limited Communication/Knowledge Sharing/Sense of
  Community
• Management
• No Integration of Service Delivery (Each office
  operates largely as a separate program)
• More time spent supporting
• Client Confusion
• Where to go for help? (Getting the run around)
• Difficulty getting through in a timely manner

4
Opportunity

• Due to Citywide Strategic Plan BLS Splinters Off
  and LSNY-Bronx is Created
• Three Offices are Maintained to Keep The Project
  Geographically Reachable
• Happening at a Time When LSNY Begins to Build
  More Centralized Technology Support Resources
• Time Is Of the Essence (3 Months From Soup to
  Nuts)
• Project Director That Has Familiarity With the
  Existing Technology Used by BLS

5
The Plan

• Implement Data Networks and Communication
  Environments that Virtually Integrate
  LSNY-Bronxs Three Offices and Allow Greater
  Communication and Collaboration with Other LSNY
  Programs Across NYC
• Provide More Seamless Client Access
• Improve Support of Technical Systems and Users
• Un-Tether Users From Their Offices
• Lease Financing and Equipment Depreciation to
  Plan For Future Obsolescence

6
The Pieces

• Deploy IP Telephony (via an ASP) to All Office at
  LSNY Bronx and Ultimately to All Other Programs
  Across the City.
• Deploy Redundant Wide Area Connections (One
  Primarily for Voice/One Primarily for Data)
• Provide Local File and Print Services at the Two
  Largest Sites with the Third Site Supported by
  VPN
• Deploy a Single Geographically Replicated
  Exchange and Case Management System Environment.
• Provide Users Secure Remote Access to Their
  Exchange, Case Management, File and Phone Systems
• Move From Consulting/Accidental Techie Mix to a
  Circuit Riding Tech Support Staff with Consultant
  Backup
• Centrally Manage/Monitor the Network Environment
  (Users/Updates/Antivirus/Intrusion
  Detection/Etc.)
• Move Staff Beyond Minimal Use of Technology and
  Make Them More Comfortable in Asking for and
  Receiving Technology Training

7
The Impact

• The Bronx Has an Integrated Telephone Intake
  System With a Single Public Number. Clients,
  Community Advocates, and Agency Staff Are Finding
  It Easier to Reach Out for Assistance.
• Advocates Have Access Through Global and
  Project-Related Network Drive Shares and Exchange
  Folders to Model Documents, Scanned Resources,
  and Client Files.
• Opened a Fully Functional Outreach Center
  Immediately Outside of the Citys Emergency
  Assistance Unit (For Homeless Families)
• Integration is Enabling LSNY Bronx to Feed
  Clients to Other Programs CitywideReducing the
  Difficulty for Clients to Get the Legal
  Assistance They Need
• Reduced Information and Communication Technology
  Infrastructure Cost While Increasing Quality
• Only Duplication Is For Reliability
• Achieving Greater Economies of Scale
• Getting Much More From the Same Tech Support
  Dollars and Have Radically Reduced the Time
  Non-Tech Folks Spend on Technology Matters

8
Potential/Actual Roadblocks

• Time Crunch Limited the Amount of Planning and
  Staff Training Provided. The Tech Support
  Associate Model Mitigated the Downsides By
  Allowing LSNY to Tweak Configurations and Offer
  Staff One-on-One Training
• The Time Crunch Also Limited the Project
  Evaluation Planning As Well As Project Specific
  Fundraising
• Didnt Have to Deal With Existing Infrastructure
  (Only Data)Greatly Simplified the Technology
  Plan Since We Did Not Have to Integrate Existing
  Hardware/Software/Services
• Staff Frustration/ExpectationsEmployees Were
  Primed For Change as They Transferred to a New
  Employer and Location
• ILECCaused Two Months of Delay and Additional
  Expense In Implementing Temporary Network
  Connection
• Significantly More Project Management Time Needed
  for Administrative and Technical Problems
• Getting Buy-in from Other ProgramsSince Most
  Common Technologies Are More Powerful the Larger
  the Group (IP Telephony, E-mail, Etc.) It Was
  Harder to Get Other Projects To Sign Up For Plan
  Initially.
• Budget/Contract Realities Have Caused Some Delays
  For a Few Projects

9
The Road Ahead

• 4th Qtr 04SSL VPN to Provide Users the Entire
  Desktop Environment Remotely
• 4th Qtr 04Citywide Video ConferencingClient
  Interviews/Meetings at the Closest Location,
  Staff Meetings/Trainings, Inter-agency
  Partnerships (Initially 250 Schools, Libraries,
  and Non-Profits Are on the Network)
• 1st Qtr 05More Tailored Classroom Instruction in
  Office and Other More Specialized Applications
• 1st Half 05Virtual Volunteers with Law Firms,
  Schools, Community Orgs., and IndividualsIncrease
  the Volunteer Base to Screen and Advise Client
  Thereby Releasing Staff to Provide More Client
  Representation
• 2nd Half 05Roll-out a Citywide Distributed Call
  Center Which Will Further Integrate Intake,
  Increase Access to Services for Those Who Are
  Most Vulnerable/Least Able, and Provide Greater
  Leverage of LSNYs Language Resources by Pulling
  in Translators from Across the City as Needed
• 2nd Half 05Higher Speed Cellular Internet
  200-300kbps to Enable Easier Staff Access Their
  Applications and Voice Services Anywhere in the
  City