Prairie State Legal Services

Prairie State Legal Services is a not-for-profit corporation that provides and coordinates the delivery of high quality legal services to low-income individuals, families and groups. PSLS priorities consist of protecting eligible persons from serious risk to health or safety in those situations where a legal solution can remedy the issue, ensuring that eligible persons are able to meet their basic human needs, helping people preserve or obtain income, assets, or benefits needed to improve their ability to meet their basic human needs or to better care for members of their household. PSLS also strives to provide children with resources that will facilitate their healthy development, protect the legal rights of parents with regard to their children, enhance persons’ efforts and opportunities to be self-sufficient and to maximize personal autonomy of persons with disabilities, and ensure low income residents have access to our system of justice. Services are provided to the entire WIAA planning and service area, including Boone, DeKalb, DuPage, Fulton, Grundy, Henderson, Henry, Iroquois, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Knox, Lake, Livingston, McDonough, McHenry, McLean, Marshall, Mercer, Peoria, Rock Island, Tazewell, Warren, Will, Winnebago, and Woodford. Accepted cases include, but are not limited to, those regarding domestic violence, denials or terminations of Supplemental Security Income benefits or any government assistance (welfare benefits, food stamps, home health care, veterans’ benefits, Medicaid), financial exploitation or abuse of the elderly or persons with disabilities, denials of special education services required for children with disabilities, problems associated with nursing home care or paying for nursing home care, evictions from public or subsidized housing, custody/visitation matters, denials of admission to public schools, denials of or evictions from housing in violation of Fair Housing Laws (because of race, age, disability, or family status), and many more. The Prairie State Legal Services offer free legal services for serious civil problems to persons with low income, the disadvantaged and senior citizens over the age of 60 who are seeking legal assistance. Prospective clients are interviewed over the telephone and either given advice or referred to the local office for extended service. Eligibility is based on income, age, residency, type of case, and conflict of interest. There are special programs for those over the age of 69. Those that are not eligible to receive services will be referred to another location. PSLS provides help to people regardless of race, creed, color, age, sex, disability or national origin.