LAFLA's Domestic Violence Clinics
Meeting an urgent need.

Morning traffic is brisk heading south on Crenshaw Boulevard in Torrance, past the Dow Chemical processing plant and the ExxonMobile refinery. Ashen-colored smoke belches from these facilities against a grey sky as the unmistakable smell of petroleum hovers in the air. Not too far from this, on Maple, is the Torrance Courthouse. The courtrooms aren't yet open and already people are queuing up to get inside. The small sign in front of the courthouse warns the visitor not to bring in such accoutrement as ammunition, corkscrews, handcuffs or martial arts items. Once through the metal detector and, for some, after a pass over their person by a guard wielding an electronic wand, the lobby lets out onto the elevators.

There on the fourth floor, past a bank of windows overlooking a sprawl of middle class houses, tucked into Module B in the north corner is the Domestic Violence Clinic of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles.

In this cramped area LAFLA attorneys Julia Galindo and Minty Siu-Kootnikoff, who trade off the duty roster, help clients obtain restraining orders and offer other useful legal advice in domestic violence cases. Their counterparts, attorney Paula Cohen and Mercedes Palomo-Alanis, a paralegal, staff a similar clinic at the Long Beach courthouse. Ms. Siu-Koontikoff also works with attorney Susan Millmann and many volunteers to handle domestic violence cases at the Santa Monica courthouse. Including the Los Angeles downtown courthouse, LAFLA sees clients at four court locations.

LAFLA domestic violence advocates also coordinate services with various Community Based Organizations (CBOs), rape crisis clinics, social workers and law enforcement to provide services for clients that LAFLA may be restricted from working with due to grant guidelines. And the advocates do in-house trainings for domestic violence service providers at shelters. At the Torrance Courthouse the Domestic Violence Clinic is also staffed by volunteers who sign up with the Court. On this particular day, Linda Gray and Kristian Marquez are on hand. Both are obtaining their paralegal certificates from nearby El Camino Junior College.

As the sun breaks though the overcast morning, the clinic at the Torrance Courthouse gets busy. A young woman comes in and needs help obtaining a restraining order against an abusive boyfriend. Some of the people who come to the clinics have been referred there by shelters, and others by the police.

LAFLA attorney Julia Galindo is handling the workload today. She has the young woman take a seat in the small office as others seeking help begin showing up. While the majority of people coming to the clinic are women, there's a growing client base reflecting same-sex domestic partnerships, elder abuse and teen violence. Sitting at her computer, Ms. Galindo gets information from the young woman and enters the data on the electronic version of the forms. LAFLA only handles domestic violence related cases at the clinic while the court volunteers handle civil harassment as well.

Later, some questions were put to the two staff attorneys and paralegal about their work.

LAFLA Matters: What's the average number of people per week that you assis

Julia Galindo: I'm newer here at the Clinic. The numbers have really varied from day-to-day and during the various holidays. The day you visited Torrance I had 10 to 12 parties waiting between 8:30 and 11:30. Other days it can be slower.

Mercedes Palomo-Alanis: At the Long Beach Clinic I see about 5 to 8 people a day, so roughly that's 35 a week, and some 1200 a year.

Minty Siu-Kootnikoff: I'm not sure what's the average (at Torrance) per week, but based on last year's numbers, I'd say the average was 550 annually.

LAFLA Matters: In addition to restraining orders, what other types of legal services do you provide?

Mercedes Palomo-Alanis: At the Long Beach Clinic, we're open from 12:30 to 3:30 Monday through Friday, I also handle matters dealing with paternity, divorces and child support issues, including things like custody and visitations matters.

Julia Galindo: I get a number of mothers referred to Torrance by social workers who have threatened to take away the woman's children or preventing the mother from taking the newborn home unless the mother obtains a restraining order against the father. In some of these cases, the grounds for the restraining order are simply not present, but the mothers are prepared to do whatever it takes to avoid losing their children. We often have to educate social services on the limitations and functions of restraining orders to keep the family together. I also find that often domestic violence victims are not aware that they may have legal issues because they are uninformed as to the law and their rights. One of our primary functions in the clinics is to identify legal issues and educate the clients as to their rights and options. Particularly in regard to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and California's liberal divorce laws.

Minty Siu-Kootnikoof: For domestic violence survivors we do family law ­ child custody, child visitation, abductions and so forth. Sometimes we do child support cases if tied to other issues. But support only cases go to the court facilitator. We also do counsel and advice. As an example, some women, who may be immigrants, don't know that they do not need their husband's permission to divorce.

LAFLA Matters: What are other aspects of your work?

Minty Siu-Koontikoff: 10% of my time goes to VAWA work, so I do VAWA intake for eligible clients and prepare those domestic violence related immigration applications.

Mercedes Palomo-Alanis: I love what I'm doing, I've been doing it for 13 years now.

Julia Galindo: Also, the great thing about LAFLA is the sensitivity our advocates have to the other needs of victims of domestic violence. That is we provide collateral services like help with housing since even if the abusive partner leaves, the rent has to be paid. I have a client services guide that details the services available to CalWORKS (County public assistance) recipients who have suffered domestic violence. A lot of these folks don't know what's available to them through this program.

LAFLA Matters: For instance?
Julia Galindo: CalWORKS will pay for such things as counseling; court-ordered visitation monitors; safe transportation, including taxis for work, school, training and interviews; child care, and even one-time cash payments to help get survivors of domestic violence on their feet. And we refer our domestic violence clients to local women's/children's domestic violence support groups, and other free services.

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