Introduction:
The La Plata County League of Women Voters (LWV) and the Southwest Colorado Bar Association’s Access to Justice Committee (ATJ) are nonprofit, nonpartisan organizations sharing a mission to empower all in our community with access to political representation and legal justice, respectively. However, both organizations acknowledge that they have a difficult time reaching all in our community with their resources and expertise. Representatives from each organization approached the FLC Political Analysis Lab (PAL) with a request to help them study how they might better reach all in our communities, particularly those facing unique barriers and historical marginalization.
To do so, these organizations co-hosted an informal summit for community and campus organizations who serve La Plata County’s diverse communities at FLC’s campus. Students in the PAL asked these community leaders how the ATJ and LWV might better serve their constituents.
To do so, these organizations co-hosted an informal summit for community and campus organizations who serve La Plata County’s diverse communities at FLC’s campus. Students in the PAL asked these community leaders how the ATJ and LWV might better serve their constituents.
Community Profile:
*All figures below are referenced from the 2022 US Census Estimates unless otherwise referenced - Available Here*
La Plata County is home to about 56,000 residents, situated within the Animas Valley of Southwest Colorado and near the northern border of New Mexico. Its largest city is Durango, home to 19,000 residents. Its location in the Four Corners region and encompassment of the Southern Ute Reservation contributes to significant cultural diversity within the county. La Plata County faces these barriers:
Language: Among the community, 8.4 percent of households speak a language other than English. There is a language barrier between the communities which can alienate certain community members and can create barriers to access political and legal services.
Internet: 16.8% of homes in La Plata County do not have broadband subscriptions. Access to resources in both legal and political spheres is severely restricted without consistent internet access. 6% of homes in La Plata County do not have a computer, further limiting the ability of citizens to access said resources.
Income: 10.1% of La Plata County residents live below the poverty line.
Transportation: The median travel time to work in La Plata County is 21.7 minutes. This could suggest that, along with the high cost of living in Durango, commuting costs can create a barrier to accessing political and legal services.
Ethnic minorities: La Plata County is home to many diverse populations. La Plata County contains an 88% White population, 13.1% Hispanic/Latino, 7.7% American Indian and Alaskan Native, 0.9% Asian, 0.7% Black or African American, 0.1% Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, with 2.6% identifying as two or more races.
Education: 3.4% of La Plata County Residents do not possess a High School Diploma, which would constitute almost 2,000 residents.
Health: 6.8% of residents under the age of 65 have a disability which could involve hearing, vision, cognition, or ambulation problems. Moreover, 11% lack health insurance. This can create a burden for residents, preventing them from accessing resources.
Houselessness: As the cost of housing skyrockets in La Plata County, the population of unhoused residents has significantly increased, from an estimated 100 unhoused residents in 2018 to over 400 by 2022, according to the unhoused count by the Neighbors in Need Alliance. Meanwhile, there are limited sheltering options for unhoused community members, especially since the closing of the Purple Cliffs community, as described in this Colorado Sun article.
Language: Among the community, 8.4 percent of households speak a language other than English. There is a language barrier between the communities which can alienate certain community members and can create barriers to access political and legal services.
Internet: 16.8% of homes in La Plata County do not have broadband subscriptions. Access to resources in both legal and political spheres is severely restricted without consistent internet access. 6% of homes in La Plata County do not have a computer, further limiting the ability of citizens to access said resources.
Income: 10.1% of La Plata County residents live below the poverty line.
Transportation: The median travel time to work in La Plata County is 21.7 minutes. This could suggest that, along with the high cost of living in Durango, commuting costs can create a barrier to accessing political and legal services.
Ethnic minorities: La Plata County is home to many diverse populations. La Plata County contains an 88% White population, 13.1% Hispanic/Latino, 7.7% American Indian and Alaskan Native, 0.9% Asian, 0.7% Black or African American, 0.1% Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, with 2.6% identifying as two or more races.
Education: 3.4% of La Plata County Residents do not possess a High School Diploma, which would constitute almost 2,000 residents.
Health: 6.8% of residents under the age of 65 have a disability which could involve hearing, vision, cognition, or ambulation problems. Moreover, 11% lack health insurance. This can create a burden for residents, preventing them from accessing resources.
Houselessness: As the cost of housing skyrockets in La Plata County, the population of unhoused residents has significantly increased, from an estimated 100 unhoused residents in 2018 to over 400 by 2022, according to the unhoused count by the Neighbors in Need Alliance. Meanwhile, there are limited sheltering options for unhoused community members, especially since the closing of the Purple Cliffs community, as described in this Colorado Sun article.
Research Design:
PAL students designed a multi-methods research project consisting of a brief online survey and a short series of open-ended questions to pose in person at the event in quick semi-structured interviews. The goal was to gain quantitative data on questions of particular importance to the ATJ and LWV while also gathering richer qualitative data from open-ended interview questions. The open-ended questions allow the professionals who serve La Plata County’s diverse communities to express their community’s needs in their own words.
Upon arriving at the Community Empowerment Summit, organizations were provided with a table in the FLC Ballroom where they set up to engage with and distribute their materials to any other community organizations and students in attendance. Representatives from the ATJ, LWV, and the FLC Political Science Club welcomed everyone to the event and introduced the purposes of the study. They then left a QR code on the projectors where anyone interested can complete the survey via Qualtrics, available in both English and Spanish. Meanwhile, students from the PAL circulated and invited any interested parties to take part in a brief interview discussion about their community’s needs and what resources or outreach might be useful.
Upon arriving at the Community Empowerment Summit, organizations were provided with a table in the FLC Ballroom where they set up to engage with and distribute their materials to any other community organizations and students in attendance. Representatives from the ATJ, LWV, and the FLC Political Science Club welcomed everyone to the event and introduced the purposes of the study. They then left a QR code on the projectors where anyone interested can complete the survey via Qualtrics, available in both English and Spanish. Meanwhile, students from the PAL circulated and invited any interested parties to take part in a brief interview discussion about their community’s needs and what resources or outreach might be useful.
Research Findings:
A comprehensive analysis of the needs of the constituents, gathered through surveys, interviews, and other data collection methods revealed several important results. We have separated results into those relating to political power and representation, as well as legal representation and justice. While both categories provide stand-alone data, many trends for disadvantaged communities transcend these categories. Many of the results are often congruent or perhaps repetitive, yet individually pertinent to both categories
Barriers to political power and representation
Figure 1
Political Barrier Graph (fig. 1): Interviewees were asked to identify obstacles/barriers that have interfered with political access. These responses were then ranked by the number of times they were mentioned.
The interviews and surveys agree that lack of access to voter education is the number one barrier to political participation in La Plata County (Fig. 1). Both methods also found that lack of organizations assisting in voter registration is the second most salient barrier to political participation (Fig. 1). Language access was another concern. Participants expressed inaccessibility in their native language and a lack of cultural sensitivity as a barrier to accessing politics. Moreover, there was an indication that communities are moderately knowledgeable in registering to vote overall in the survey (Fig. 2).
Figure 2
Responses to survey question.
Interviewees repeatedly raised barriers to voter registration and voting facing unhoused community members. They indicated the unhoused lack a central location with accessible political education, information, and resources free of charge. There are also misunderstandings regarding voter eligibility. For example, a respondent mentioned that the unhoused are unable to vote because they don’t have a permanent address. While Colorado does allow the unhoused to register even if they do not have a permanent address, the community and their representatives may be unaware of this or may see being unhoused as ubiquitous with other barriers such as lacking identification. It is also worth noting that many communities indicate a financial burden and a problem with mental health access and/or services (Fig. 3). Constituents facing these barriers may lack the bandwidth to invest time in voter registration, voting, and ballot research.
Figure 3
Responses to survey question.
Interviewees representing the LGBTQ+ and allies of that community expressed their fear and sadness over laws like the “Don’t Say Gay,” anti-trans, anti-drag, and bathroom legislation. It was revealed that these laws created a feeling of despair and fear surrounding politics because they affect their community members now and could affect themselves in the future. A community member representing survivors of domestic abuse, and women more broadly, conveyed their disapproval of reproductive access nationwide, which created a sense of fear that underpowers women. Overall, many respondents expressed that because of a lack of access and other challenges facing their community, accessing political power or voting may not be a top priority (or a priority at all) for their community.
Barriers to legal representation and justice
Within our interviews we found that awareness of available resources, the cost of legal resources, and language barriers were the most mentioned barriers within our interviewees. (Fig. 4). The lack of pro bono programs and high costs of legal representation were the largest barriers, as most individuals can’t afford legal services. This was mentioned nine separate times, followed by awareness of local resources which was mentioned seven times. This lack of awareness can point to lack of programs or lack of marketing of said programs.
Figure 4
Legal Barrier Graph (fig. 4): Interviewees were asked to identify obstacles/barriers that have interfered with access to legal justice and representation. These responses were then ranked by the number of times they were mentioned.
Figure 5
Legal Barrier Graph (fig. 5): Respondents were asked to rank the hurdles listed above from most to least impactful when their community sought to access legal representation. Barriers were ranked 1–9, with 1 representing the largest barrier and 9 representing the smallest barrier. The mean rank value of responses is used.
Throughout the twelve interviews, we were able to delineate two core categories of legal problems: structural or political problems, and tangible legal problems. Structural or political problems include things such as lack of access to legal resources, lack of knowledge of legal systems, lack of interpretation services, lack of representation, and legislation targeting LGBTQ+ communities. Tangible legal problems is more focused on what legal issues specifically communities are facing. The most common issues stated by the interviewed parties included the following: tenant-landlord issues (3), sexual assault or violence survivor issues (2), family law issues (2), anti-unhoused ordinances (2), and protection orders (2). The legal issues only mentioned once include labor issues, bankruptcy, criminal issues, immigration issues, stalking survivor issues, and attempted murder. It is important to understand the legal issues and structural issues facing the communities interviewed to understand what types of specific barriers face these communities and what problems may need to be centered in the discussion; such as housing tenant law or sexual violence/criminal law.
Figure 6
Responses to survey question.
A concluding interview question asked participants to make recommendations for increasing awareness of resources in the community, and two survey questions asked about the cost of legal problems and awareness of legal resources. The responses to these questions can generally be classified into cost (Fig. 6), language, and information accessibility (Fig.7). Under the category of cost, four participants encouraged increasing funding (the most common survey response) and two mentioned increasing pro bono provisions. Under the category of language, two respondents mentioned increasing language accessibility. Additionally, there may be a correlation between language access and responses promoting increasing access to immigration law and the Hispanic community. Another response suggested people-centered communication, including respect for different minority races, groups, and gender identities. For information accessibility, two respondents recommended directing legal resource information to community gathering places for at-need communities or targeted advertising to unique community groups. Other responses included providing information clinics. A few responses also indicated a need for systemic changes, such as increasing community-wide access to the internet and a larger volume of a wide variety of legal service providers (especially certain lawyers such as immigration lawyers).
Figure 7
Responses to survey question.
Recommendations:
As a result of our research, we have the following recommendations for the League of Women Voters and the Bar Association’s Access to Justice Committee:
- In the short term there is an enormous need for greater community access to legal representation. ATJ’s work to encourage pro bono representation is more important than ever, so urging the legal community to 1) provide as much pro bono time possible to rise to enormous demand and 2) going to communities and offering legal aid in addition to holding events where communities can come to ATJ is necessary.
- One recurring theme in discussions of barriers to voting and political representation was the effects of national legislation and even legislation in other states. Several participants discussed Supreme Court cases overturning the right to abortion or the ability to use affirmative action in college admissions, along with many laws in other states targeting queer and trans communities, as major barriers to their communities’ voting. We recommend that the LWV consider how national politics and news stories affect the willingness and ability of diverse communities in La Plata County to engage. These national stories can pose barriers, but thoughtful messaging leveraging issues in the news of interest to diverse communities may also represent opportunities to engage with new communities.
- Voter education and lack of organizations. Increasing community events and encouraging local organizations to have more public meetings or events to increase voting education. Things like the blue book are helpful but could be more mainstream and further creation of such helpful information by other groups could prove to help increase voter education.
- Because a significant portion of La Plata County residents do not have broadband access in their homes, we recommend increasing resources, both legal and political, that do not rely so heavily on internet access. Education to increase awareness of local resources should be curated with those who do not have easy access to internet in mind, whether this implies physical literature or in-person canvassing.
- Increased language accessibility: It was expressed multiple times that there is a need for increased access to a broader range of languages. Community members who need dire help cannot access the various resources or educational material. This may result in disproportionate access to political and legal resources.
- Local civic and legal organizations should increase sensitivity and awareness of specific cultures and identities within broader groups such as Hispanic, LGBTQ+, and Native American communities. Insensitivity for cultural differences within these broad groups was separately reported as a barrier to accessing both political and legal resources.
- Communication within communities was frequently expressed as a need by interview respondents. While there is a certain level of acknowledgment of the services provided by ATJ and LWV broadly, many feel that these general provisions do not reach certain disadvantaged communities. We recommend that ATJ and LWV attempt to provide specific resources for at-need communities in specific environments. Suggestions include creating a resource office at Manna Soup Kitchen where unhoused and low-income constituents can seek resources on a somewhat frequent basis. Additionally, community meeting spots should be identified based upon their visitation by everyday folk. For example, the Durango Community Recreation Center or the Durango Public Library may be a more applicable location for resource distribution or events compared to the La Plata County Fair Grounds because it experiences larger volumes of daily traffic. Finally, interview respondents mentioned a few key community organizations they frequently collaborated with: Compañeros, El Centro, Language Justice Community Resource Group, Gender and Sexuality Resource Center, Sexual Assault Services Organization, Alternative Horizons, Manna Soup Kitchen, Southwest Safehouse, Colorado Legal Services, Neighbors in Need Alliance, Good Food Collective. We recommend ATJ and LWV collaborate with these organizations as they may be able to provide community specific recommendations.
- While there are programs to give folks government phones, one interview noted that community members may require more guidance as to how to access and utilize this and other government benefits.
- Houseless shelters: Political and legal issues often require an address to which information can be sent. With there being a lack of consistent addresses for people experiencing homelessness it can be difficult to register to vote and know what legal issues they are involved in. We recommend the creation of shelters for those who are unhoused. This will allow them to have an address to register to vote and have an address for receiving paperwork regarding legal issues. Not having to worry about where they are going to sleep that night will allow the unhoused to focus on other issues pressing to their lives.
- Time (voting is not a holiday) - The people who require help or representation the most oftentimes are the groups of people who lack the time to seek out resources. This is due to poorer communities having to work as opposed to having time to search for political or legal resources. We recommend working towards making a holiday for voting. It is understood that a board does not have this power. A potential avenue for relief could be offering more hours and options both in the realm of political and legal events or resources. For example, events or places could be open more hours on more days to allow marginalized groups more time to seek these resources.
- Our discussions indicated a shortage of attorneys in Southwest Colorado, which is a systematic problem ATJ has little short-term control over. We recommend ATJ considering strategies to inculcate long-term pipelines for legal professionals from diverse backgrounds willing to serve in rural communities such as La Plata County.
Discussion:
Our research suggests several important avenues for the League of Women Voters of La Plata County and the Southwestern Colorado Bar Access to Justice Committee to pursue as they work to realize their important missions and to serve the diverse communities of La Plata County. We hope that these insights provide some productive avenues for future engagement by the LWV and ATJ.
In the effort to provide full transparency, a few considerations on limitations of the study must be noted. It is important to note that for the research conducted, our sample size for the survey was nine; with the least responses to a question being seven and the highest being nine. In the semi-structured interviews for this research a total of twelve responses were collected. We do not recommend making broad generalizations based upon this limited sample, but we hope these detailed qualitative interviews still may be beneficial in providing insight into what potential barriers to political power and legal justice may exist or affect communities in La Plata County. Our interviewees included community advocates with deep experience serving their diverse constituents, so we are confident in the validity of their insights, even where the reach of our sample is limited.
Another important insight from this fact could be that there is a lack of civic engagement in the community. Broader questions of how to reach community organizations and other community members to encourage more active engagement remain. The FLC Political Analysis Lab and Political Science Club are eager to continue to work in partnership with the LWV and ATJ to engage our community.
Signed:
In the effort to provide full transparency, a few considerations on limitations of the study must be noted. It is important to note that for the research conducted, our sample size for the survey was nine; with the least responses to a question being seven and the highest being nine. In the semi-structured interviews for this research a total of twelve responses were collected. We do not recommend making broad generalizations based upon this limited sample, but we hope these detailed qualitative interviews still may be beneficial in providing insight into what potential barriers to political power and legal justice may exist or affect communities in La Plata County. Our interviewees included community advocates with deep experience serving their diverse constituents, so we are confident in the validity of their insights, even where the reach of our sample is limited.
Another important insight from this fact could be that there is a lack of civic engagement in the community. Broader questions of how to reach community organizations and other community members to encourage more active engagement remain. The FLC Political Analysis Lab and Political Science Club are eager to continue to work in partnership with the LWV and ATJ to engage our community.
Signed:
- Grayson Baird
- Kaden Heitfeld
- Cole Johnson
- Madi McInroy
- Matthew Miller
- Jade Pruett
- Matthew Schaeffer
- Paul DeBell
