Ian McCollum

The Project

Ian (he/him/his) helps soon-to-be-released prisoners in Illinois access public benefits such as SSI/SSDI and Medicare/Medicaid with the goal of reducing post-release health decline, homelessness, and recidivism.

Around one-third of prisoners in the United States report having a disability. Unaddressed disabilities contribute directly to hardship after prison. Inability to secure income through employment can make accessing housing or healthcare virtually impossible. Ultimately, these hardships contribute to a cycle of homelessness and recriminalization for too many disabled persons.

The Pre-Release Enrollment Program is designed to interrupt this cycle at a critical juncture: reentry from prison. Helping incarcerated persons start their claims before release puts them in a better position to acquire benefits soon after release, narrowing the gap of support between prison and the community.

Fellowship Plans

Ian will work between the Illinois Department of Corrections, Disability Determination Services, and local Social Security Administration offices to facilitate applications for presently incarcerated persons. He will help prisoners produce the evidence and documentation necessary for successful benefits claims. In the long term, this project seeks to lay the foundation for an integrated, community-partnered reentry unit in Illinois.

The Project

Kevin’s project launched a Criminal Records Relief Program out of Prairie State Legal Services’ Rock Island, Illinois office. 

It is estimated that over 40% of the adult working-age population in Illinois has a criminal record of some kind. Many individuals struggle to access jobs, housing, and education as a result of these criminal records. Kevin launched a program that helped low-income community members access legal relief to improve their employment, housing, and educational opportunities. Kevin represented clients in expungement proceedings and driver’s license reinstatement hearings. He also advised and assisted clients with the healthcare worker waiver process in Illinois. 

Fellowship Highlights 

During the two-year Fellowship, Kevin:

• Provided direct legal representation to 126 clients, resulting in the expungement of 214 criminal records and the sealing of 224 criminal records. 
• Advised and referred 180 individuals regarding criminal records relief and housing, employment, and educational opportunities.
• Gave 17 presentations to community groups and social service agencies regarding civil remedies in Illinois law to improve employment, housing, and educational opportunities.
• Organized a 2022 Rock Island Expungement Clinic, which assisted 25 clients with the record clearing process.
• Organized a 2021 Rock Island Expungement Clinic, held virtually, which assisted 23 clients with the record clearing process.
• Recruited 23 pro bono volunteer attorneys and paralegals to assist with the representation of clients. 

Next Steps 

Kevin plans to continue his work as a public interest attorney after his Fellowship. He looks forward to moving to Des Moines, Iowa and learning more about the legal needs of the community.

Media

The Project

Catrina will disrupt the impact of poverty on social determinants of health for low-income residents of Rockford, IL through creation of a medical-legal partnership that provides direct legal representation.

Over 25% of the population of Rockford, IL lived below the poverty line between 2009 and 2013, the highest rate of poverty in Illinois, and research has shown that socioeconomic status is strongly correlated to health outcomes, particularly for low-income individuals. Income, education, employment, housing, food security, and social inclusion all affect health, and as many as 50-85% of health center clients have health-harming civil-legal needs. A lack of access to resources that are intended to alleviate the harming effects of social determinants of health impacts an individual’s long-term health and well-being. A medical-legal partnership between Prairie State Legal Services and Crusader Community Health will work toward addressing the root causes of civil-legal needs present in the Rockford community.

Fellowship Highlights

In the past two years, Catrina has:

• Established a referral system for case managers and medical providers at Crusader Community Health to refer patients with legal issues to Prairie State Legal Services.
• Established an on-site presence with designated working space at Crusader Community Health.
• Received over 250 referrals for clients seeking legal advice or representation from healthcare providers and case managers.
• Provided representation and advice to clients in a variety of court and administrative proceedings. Issue areas addressed have included guardianships, family law cases, public benefits denials, housing denials and evictions, expungements, and sealings.

What’s Next

Now that the Fellowship is complete, Catrina plans to:

• Continue to work as a civil-legal aid attorney with Prairie State Legal Services on the Winnebago County Medical-Legal Partnership.
• Maintain and expand her current caseload to continue serving the Rockford community.
• Continue to provide clients with relevant legal advice and representation to ensure every client is able to fairly access the civil legal system.

The Project

Shelby recruited, trained, and transported pro bono attorneys and law students from urban areas to provide legal services to individuals without access to those services in rural Illinois.

Out of 63,000 attorneys in Illinois, there are only about 400 legal aid attorneys. Outside of Cook County, in Illinois, eighty-four attorneys are responsible for providing legal aid services to nearly 400,000 low-income residents in 101 counties. For many who need legal services, this can mean traveling 50 to 75 miles for legal services, which is impossible for many. This project recruited legal volunteers from law firms, corporations, and law schools and transports them to rural areas to offer legal services for clients through one to two-day clinics.

Fellowship Highlights

During the Fellowship, Shelby executed four legal clinics across Illinois. These clinics focused on a range of issues including Wills and Powers of Attorney, Veterans’ Records Requests, and Special Education. Additionally, Shelby developed materials for a Family Law Clinic and a Sealing and Expungement Clinic.

Next Steps

Following the Fellowship, Shelby joined Chicago Public Schools as Assistant General Counsel. She works in the School Law Department on education issues.