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New York legal aid partners demo coordinated eviction referral portal to direct tenants to local counsel
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Summary
A coalition of six LSC-funded New York providers demonstrated an eviction referral portal that embeds an intake interview into partner sites, routes applications into local case-management systems and surfaces emergency phone numbers when court dates are imminent.
Christina Riley, interim executive director of the Legal Aid Society of Mid New York, and partner organizations demonstrated a coordinated eviction referral portal built to route tenants outside New York City to the correct local eviction-defense provider. Riley said eviction was "at the top of the list" for coordinated intake because fragmented coverage across 62 counties and more than 80 providers often sends tenants to the wrong door.
A narrated demo described an embedded interview that uses Legal Server's online intake functionality to collect user data and transfer applications directly to a receiving organization's case-management system. The interface includes expandable information sections, confirmation via email or SMS with a PDF or link, and required contact info so providers can reach applicants. The demo noted English-only release for the first version, with multilingual support planned for future releases.
The portal includes triage logic: when an applicant reports a court date inside a configurable window (the demo used a three-day default), the system surfaces the appropriate provider phone number and prompts immediate contact. Fields such as landlord name are optional to lower friction; detailed survey sections help intake staff get context. Christina said future phases aim to expand coverage (including New York City) and add appointment scheduling and more robust referral assignment logic. Panelists emphasized governance structures, steering committees and localized readiness assessments to ensure partner buy-in and to keep the portal supplemental to—rather than a replacement for—local intake systems.
Panelists said user testing occurred in Buffalo, Ithaca, Utica and Long Island and informed plain-language edits (for example replacing the term "adverse party" with "landlord or property manager"). Funding for the New York project began with a TIG grant and involved contributions from regional partners; sustainability plans include leveraging existing hosting (insert technology) and LawHelp New York content so phase 1 can continue with limited upkeep if funding drops.
Next steps include multilingual support, appointment scheduling, expanded partner onboarding in phase 2 and continued evaluation of intake-to-case conversion and time-to-contact metrics.
