Interview with Chicago House TransLegal Paralegal Toya Crow

What is your role at Chicago House and what inspires you to do the work you do every day?

I’m the TransLife Care (TLC) TransLegal Paralegal. Navigating any type of legal system without representation or aid can be so intimidating, especially when you are part of a marginalized group that is consistently put at odds with these larger systems, so it’s really rewarding to be able to help a client figure out the best way to advocate for themselves and help them on that path. There are times when a client or a referral comes in incredibly frustrated and beaten down and providing even just simple information can really help boost their morale enough to keep fighting.

What is one service that TLC provides that you wish more people knew about or accessed more? Are there barriers in place that prevent participants from accessing TLC’s programs? How can we work towards breaking down those barriers?

I wish people knew about the expungement and sealing services TransLegal provides as I think it’s an incredible way to help someone successfully navigate housing and employment situations that might otherwise be discriminatory (policy and practice are unfortunately and unsurprisingly different at times) and helps trans people successfully navigate spaces that are already looking for a reason to exclude them. I also wish, in general, that people knew the details of what each TLC service provides. For example, employment isn’t necessarily a job placement service, but provides amazing job readiness services that are invaluable in preparing to enter the job market. Legal at this time handles employment matters (discrimination, wrongful termination and sexual harassment) and public accommodations discrimination, legal name changes, criminal records expungement and sealing, and public benefits advocacy. We also offer misdemeanor criminal defense and try to provide referrals for matters we can’t take on.  I think making it clear what we do before clients come to us can help manage expectations and provide better trauma-informed care so we’re not constantly disappointing or shuffling people around.

In addition to the location barriers, which will hopefully be helped by the South side drop-in and the new office location, the barriers are largely just people not knowing that we’re a service for them to use. So many clients are in a constant state of moving and we rely so much on word of mouth. I’m not sure what the best way to combat that is, but more marketing in trans and queer spaces, more social media marketing, and more marketing in places that we know our clients frequent might be ways to help. Also, having positions like the TLC outreach navigators is so important because we can put community faces behind all of the claims we make on posters or advertising spots and can help build a sense of trust.

Let’s say I want to get connected to your services. Can you take me through that process?

There’s a few ways a client could get connected. They could be working with someone in Chicago House already and get a referral (which just looks like that employee emailing Elizabeth Ricks, Legal Director and Staff Attorney, or me that they have someone who needs legal help). In that case, we would provide both of our contact information and also ask for the client’s info and do an intake interview over the phone to see what issue they needed assistance with and if it’s something the Legal department handles. If it is, we would begin the next steps depending on the issue, but if it wasn’t we would try to refer that person to another trans competent attorney.

A client could also get connected through our TransSafe drop-in where they could also connect to other services such as medical, employment and housing. During the virtual drop-in, we’d get sent to a private room to discuss with the client their needs and attempt to address them. Often, we get clients through friends of previous clients and the same intake interview occurs to identify their needs.

What is the greatest need you see within the communities you work and how do you and Chicago House support that need?

The greatest need I see in the community is just making services more accessible and simplifying the processes for service admission. Our clients have varying needs ranging from emergency housing to long-term benefit support, but because our clients are likely to disappear because of a variety of issues, any process that is weeks or months long runs the risk of having the service provider lose contact with the client. I’m not sure if that’s something Chicago House can address as it is mostly just government agencies being behind in workload, understaffed and repetitive, but it’s something I try to keep in mind when working with a client by giving extremely conservative estimates for how long something may take or being extra careful with contact information and emergency contacts or filling out as much paperwork as possible before the client arrives.

What is a recent impact or initiative of your program that you are particularly proud of and why?

COVID-19 paused a lot of the legislative issues I was particularly excited about so I’m anxiously awaiting January 2021 so we can resume all the policy work for which Elizabeth and other legal orgs have been advocating for quite some time! With the changes they’re hoping to enact, our clients will hopefully face fewer legal barriers in getting their needs met. For now, I’m really proud of the work being done to make the name change process smoother, quicker and easier for clients to navigate while COVID-19 precautions are in effect.

Are there accessibility issues your participants face? If so, what are those issues and how do we provide solutions?

The greatest accessibility issue I see and experience with clients is communication needs: cell phones, internet access, etc. I say those above something as incredibly necessary as housing because often, while working with clients to get them housing, or benefits, or court dates, they lose access to phones or the internet, which makes them miss deadlines and delays or completely stops the process. When they are able to access a phone or internet again, many may have to start close to the beginning, which is demoralizing—and for many, impossible—as circumstances could have become direr or they no longer have the time to focus on it. Chicago House pre-COVID-19 had a computer lab and I saw many clients able to use that to either do various job searching tasks, personal tasks or even just to connect with the world. During COVID-19, however, any type of laptop/cellphone/electronics program would be incredibly beneficial to clients. 

Can you explain how social determinants of health factor into your work?

There are many ways social determinants of health for our clients factor into the way we can do the work. If our clients can’t get their basic needs met (food, housing) or are in an area that’s essentially a food desert or we have drop-ins in areas that clients don’t believe are safe for them to travel to, they’re not likely to come and get something like a name change or have the mental and emotional ability to work on a resume for stable employment. Many of our clients depend on public transportation, so if there’s issues with service, or our clients don’t feel safe being trans and in those spaces, they may be less likely to get the services they need. Also, some of our clients live in areas where public transportation is not readily available which impacts how often we can see them and get certain parts of the process completed. So many (and I’d guess most) of our clients have been exposed to or are the survivors of crime, especially related to their gender, which leaves long-lasting psychological scars that impact the way our clients navigate through life and which in turn impact how we’re able to communicate and be present with them to do the work we need to do. Our clients are likely to come from a strong support system filled with other members of the trans community, however, and I’ve seen how important that is in both social and mental wellbeing, but also physical safety as well.