IMP LEMENTATIO N Financial support C AS E ST U DY In the Dominican Republic, the NGO ASCALA has its paralegals advise clients to first attempt a process themselves. Often they report back to ASCALA that government officials asked inappropriate questions. Then paralegals accompany the client to apply again and often have greater success. At times, documents have been issued immediately. Not all projects provide financial support to clients. This will be an important choice to make for budgeting [section 3.6], fundraising [sections 3.2-3.5] and sustainability [section 6.2]. Costs that projects may consider supporting include: • Documentation application fees, including late/penalty fees. • Travel to government offices. • Costs related to supporting documentation (e.g. witness’ travel fees). • Official ID photos. Projects should clearly define and regulate what costs they can support, and explain the criteria for providing financial support to the community. It is important to establish procedures that ensure the correct application of criteria, such as requiring a receipt or proof of expenditure. Donors may require such information. To keep track of costs, case forms should capture information on the amounts given to a client, when, for what purpose, and whether a receipt was provided. Physical accompaniment When accompanying clients to the offices of a service provider or government authority, paralegals should remain in a support role, so that clients lead in any meetings. This might involve preparing clients before the meeting to answer questions and negotiate or advocate for themselves. It may be useful to debrief afterwards with clients, in order to discuss the experience and learn from it, even if they experience arbitrary treatment or rejection. Deciding whom to accompany Accompaniment may be useful for individuals navigating new procedures, or for those following less common procedures (e.g. securing documents from abroad via a consulate) where the potential for trickle-down learning is high: it can show clients how a procedure should run, equipping them with a reference point that will allow them to assist others. Individuals who have already had a bad experience may benefit particularly from accompaniment. This includes those who have experienced discrimination in the same procedure in the past— for example, cases where documentation applications were previously denied arbitrarily. Accompaniment for one part of the process may give clients the confidence to continue with their claims alone. Clients who do not speak the language and require translation and those who need help with writing can also benefit from accompaniment. 108 | A C O M M U N I T Y- B A S E D P R A C T I T I O N E R ’ S G U I D E : D O C U M E N T I N G C I T I Z E N S H I P A N D OT H E R F O R M S O F L E G A L I D E N T I T Y