IMP LEMENTATIO N C AS E ST U DY Kenya requires members of marginalized groups to go through a difficult “vetting” process when they apply for ID cards. Paralegal projects in Kenya prepare clients for the questions they will face in this discriminatory process. While this approach lessens the harm that the vetting process does, the paralegal programs still aim to change the system through rigorous data collection and advocacy. They do not see the paralegal assistance to clients who undergo vetting as inconsistent with advocating for an end to discriminatory vetting. RELATED RESOURCE Resources related to supervising paralegals: • “Supervision and management of paralegals,” Community Paralegal Manual, Timap for Justice. • “Monitoring, supporting and assessing paralegals,” Community-based Paralegals: A Practitioner’s Guide, Open Society Justice initiative. • Sample client satisfaction surveys (available at “Monitoring tools and mechanisms“) and “Emotional Support and Selfcare“ resources Refugee Rights Toolkit, Asylum Access. 82 | for cases that are currently past their follow-up deadline as well as cases that are closed but do not have an outcome logged. Electronic databases can also send automatic reminders to paralegals about data inconsistencies or cases in need of follow-up, allowing supervisors to devote more attention to larger challenges. A major goal of supervision is to make sure paralegals do their work effectively and use an empowerment approach, but encouraging paralegals to keep working for your project is just as important. Paralegals face similar cases day to day and have challenges such as burnout and emotional distress because of the experiences of their clients. One way to encourage paralegals to stay is to create a promotion structure, to offer career growth. You can promote volunteers, interns, or community facilitators to paralegals, and paralegals to lead or supervisor positions. These tiers of supervision can also be efficient as central supervisors or project managers do not directly manage all workers. Another important way to encourage paralegals to keep working for your project is providing and emphasizing positive feedback. Paralegals need to hear about their successes and about the project’s successes in order to work effectively. They are also unlikely to continue working for your project without this kind of encouragement. A third action you can take is providing access to counselling and other help for emotional distress. Paralegals are exposed to suffering and trauma. Those who come from communities affected by conflict, displacement, human rights abuses, and exclusion themselves may be particularly vulnerable. Finally, the training resources listed in section 7.2 Training Paralegals can also help paralegals explore opportunities for more complex legal work. 7.4 Ethical Issues Working on nationality, documentation, and citizenship rights issues, particularly at the community level, presents many ethical dilemmas. It may not always be simple to apply principles like impartiality and confidentiality. Projects must create ethical policies or codes of conduct to guide paralegals because of this. The principles below are central to these policies. Tools to improve your project’s ethical compliance include: •C  onsent forms for signature by clients agreeing that a paralegal will take on their case. • Issues log in which paralegals note any ethical dilemma they face, which supervisors review frequently. •R  isk assessment and mitigation tool, which paralegals can use at start-up and throughout operations, in order to anticipate issues and identify steps to put in place to avoid potential harm from any program activities. 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