In 1994, the Delivery Working Group (of the Project Advisory Group and NLADA) completed a comprehensive review of support that was presented to the LSC Board for its consideration just after the 1994 Congressional elections. That study set out eight core functions of state and national support:
Advocacy: State and national support centers conduct advocacy directly as sole or co-counsel at state and national levels and are the focal points for such advocacy efforts because the two primary judicial, legislative, and administrative systems are centered at the state and federal levels.
Coordination of and assistance to advocacy of others: Providing help to others in the Legal Services system who are doing advocacy, rather than doing it directly.
Management, administrative and organizational assistance, coordination, and development: Providing a variety of help to Legal Services programs and their administrative staff at both state (where there are at least two field programs distinct from the state support center) and national levels
Information dissemination to and sharing with staff, case handlers, and board members: state and national support centers are primary information distribution points.
Information dissemination to and sharing with the low-income client-eligible community: A central role of all Legal Services programs – and therefore of support – is to provide information to client-eligible people so that they may be relatively more empowered and may seek, wherever possible, to help themselves. The nature of support’s involvement in this activity will vary according to the pattern of involvement of other Legal Services programs and non-LSC entities for the particular substantive area, client population, or state.
Conducting and assisting necessary training
Resource development: At both the state and national levels, support can play an important part in helping develop new sources of revenue for Legal Services.
Preserving and strengthening Legal Services as an institution: National and state support, given their leadership responsibilities, can collectively be responsible for advancing Legal Services’ reputation and stature, preserving its independence, maintaining its integrity, and insuring its strength.
The FY 1995 Appropriation for LSC (Pub. L. 103-317, August 26, 1994) increased LSC funding to $415 million and continued the earmarked funding for the various categories of support. This was the last time there would be annualized support funding through LSC. The LSC Board had planned to begin consideration of what to do to expand support in 1995, but by then there was a new Congress and a new political environment.