Neighborhood Justice Center Incorporated

Community outreach: njc's community outreach and education program is designed to meet the ever-changing needs of the community, with the goal of getting information to those who need it most. We focus on serving low income persons, juveniles, refugees and immigrants from various cultures, and also seeks to educate the broader community about the realities and needs of people like our clients. This program intends to educate the community about the law by clarifying what constitutes illegal behavior, how to avoid criminal behavior, and how to effectively and safely interact with law enforcement, while still retaining and enforcing your constitutional rights. This program can take many forms from large presentations, small group discussions, digital meetings, tabling events, as well as access to our community outreach resources on our website. To ensure broad awareness of our services, we partner with non-profits, schools, shelters, pro bono partners and other similar programs to help community members gain access to vital legal services.in the last year njc reached over 350 people through our in-person community outreach efforts. Additionally, in an ongoing effort to meet the needs of a modern community, njc provides extensive digital information so individuals can find and contact njc online to both learn about their rights and responsibilities under the law, but also where to seek help should the need arise. In the last year our digital outreach connected with over 4,500 individuals through our website, where most visitors utilized our blog posts, which focus are practical discussions about modern legal issues that impact our communities. Further, we reached an addition approximately 5000 individuals through social media posts, which also educate the community on pertinent legal issues. Njc is a small organization, but through creative and modern approaches we are able to reach people in need in every corner of our community.

Expungements: in minnesota, a criminal conviction usually stays on your record for life, unless you seek an expungement. Sadly, today even the lowest level conviction can prevent an individual from getting access to basic employment or housing. At njc we believe that good people can make mistakes and people have the amazing ability to grow and change, and as a result expungements are essential for individual and community growth. Expungements benefit everyone. These second chances allow reformed people back in the work force, using their talents to the best of their ability, which in turn leads to more stable families and communities. Minnesota law now supports expungement for reformed people in many cases, but this legal process is long and unfortunately complicated. Njc specializes in helping those with the greatest needs, including those who have complicated expungement cases and also individuals who have personal limitations that may prevent them from being able to file an expungement on their own. Njc provides full service expungement representation, from the initial consultation through all stages of litigation. In the 2023-24 fiscal year njc served clients on 238 expungement petitions in counties throughout the state of mn. Of the petitions that came to final decision, over 98% were granted in full, giving these community members better future opportunities. This program is in great demand, and as a result njc represented 90% more clients in this program this year than in the last fiscal year.