Legal Services of Northern Virginia (LSNV) has launched VA Law Help 2 Go, a program that will enable those who use smartphones and other mobile devices to access brief informational videos about common civil legal issues in Virginia.
The program was spearheaded by LSNV in partnership with the Virginia Legal Aid Society and Blue Ridge Legal Services and funded by the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) Technology Innovative Initiative Grant program. The purpose of the program is to empower people to access basic information about legal issues that are impacting their lives so that they can know what to do about those issues. The information is delivered through videos in English or Spanish that are all under three minutes in length. Users of the service will text a keyword in their chosen language to a designated telephone number (703-293-5544) and then receive a link to view a specified video.
The topics covered include evictions (keyword = evictions/desalojos), landlord repairs (keyword = repairs/reparaciones), security deposits (keyword = deposits/depositos), divorce (keyword = divorce/divorcio), child custody (keyword = custody/custodia), child support (keyword = support/manutencion), debt collection (keyword = debt/deuda), and garnishment (keyword = garnishment/embargo). Users will also receive via text message a link to further resources about their topic and information about how to contact their local legal aid office. All of the informational videos can also be accessed directly at www.valawhelp2go.org.