The mission of AIDS Legal Services (ALS) is to secure justice and the protection of human rights for people with HIV/AIDS through the development, delivery and sponsorship of specialized legal services.

ALS was founded in 1988 to respond to the critical need for legal assistance for HIV-positive people who would otherwise go without representation in the legal system. Since that time, ALS has assisted low-income clients in over 5,000 matters, becoming an integral part of the network of legal, social service and health care providers who assist HIV-positive individuals in our community.

Many of ALS's clients are people whose lives are in transition as a result of the disease. These individuals must often deal with complicated issues such as employment and housing discrimination, access to health care and public benefits, debt and estate planning. They also face barriers to accessing many resources such as housing, employment and insurance. ALS provides HIV-positive clients with the legal assistance necessary to alleviate these stressful, complex and restricting situations.

Trends
As the AIDS epidemic enters its third decade, ALS continues to see the demand for its services increase and expand into different practice areas. Following several years of encouraging medical developments, HIV infection rates are once again increasing at alarming rates, especially among women, African-Americans, Latinos, Asian-Americans and young gay and bisexual men. At the same time, many people who were doing well on protease inhibitors continue to experience serious health problems due to side effects and reduced efficacy of the drugs. Budget deficits at the federal, state and local levels complicate our response to these pressing problems. We hope to meet these challenges with continued and increasing support from local attorneys and the greater community.

Unresolved legal problems often cause individuals with HIV/AIDS significant stress, which exacerbates the symptoms of their disease and negatively impacts their quality of life. ALS staff and volunteers are trained not only about the types of legal issues that commonly confront these clients, but also on how to best meet the special physical and emotional needs of persons with HIV and AIDS. In the past year, ALS provided over 400 clients with direct services or referrals to the pro bono panel of attorneys.