About LEAP
Thank you for your interest in LEAP
If you have any questions or comments about LEAP, get in touch by contacting:
t: 902-423-8105
Brought to you by the Law Foundation of Ontario's Access to Justice Fund
The Legal Education for Advocates Project
LEAP is a public legal education project of Dalhousie Legal Aid Service (DLAS) aimed at building the legal knowledge and advocacy skills of lay advocates who work with low income Nova Scotians. Through workshops, online information and skills training, lay advocates will learn about the law and about effective ways to help low income Nova Scotians who are facing legal problems.
This project is made possible by the generous support of the Law Foundation of Ontario's Access to Justice Fund.
What is Poverty Law? |
LEAP is going to educate lay advocates in areas of poverty law. Poverty law is the body of laws, regulations, policies and legal decisions that impact the rights of low-income individuals and families. Examples of poverty law issues include welfare rights and tenants' rights. LEAP will focus on poverty law because there is currently a lack of resources to support Nova Scotians who face poverty law related problems. There are certain areas of law that are outside of the scope of LEAP. For example, LEAP will not cover family law or criminal law because there are services in the province that address them, such as Nova Scotia Legal Aid, the Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia and Family Law Nova Scotia. |
Who is a lay advocate? |
A lay advocate is a person without a legal education who speaks or acts on behalf of another person. Do you advocate for people on issues such as access to income assistance, or tenants rights, or community members who have been denied employment insurance benefits? Do you work in a family resource centre, childcare centre, health care or other community-based centre? If you do this kind of work then you are a lay advocate. We know from experience at DLAS that there are many such advocates who work hard to protect the rights of people in their communities despite limited legal resources or training. |
Test Training |
We would like to thank all of the advocates who attended our test training on income assistance on December 2, 2013. The feedback you provided is greatly appreciated and will improve the trainings that take place in the new year. |
Workshops |
LEAP workshops will be taking place throughout 2014. To learn more please visit our Register for a Workshop page. |
