Paragraph: (Society_Law_and_Justice/oanc-Helping_Hands-1.txt)
Sent 1: Legal assistance for battered women is hard to come by.
Sent 2: But it just got a little easier to find in Tarrant County.
Sent 3: This month, the federal Violence Against Women Office awarded a two-year, $350,000 grant to the Women's Haven of Tarrant County.
Sent 4: The money will allow the shelter to add a second full-time attorney to its staff and contract with the law school clinic at Texas Wesleyan University for pro bono and student services.
Sent 5: Most important, the funds will help fill a frustrating gap.
Sent 6: The Women's Haven, which provides shelter and outreach to domestic-violence victims, already has a full-time attorney.
Sent 7: But that person is prohibited (by funding parameters) from representing women in matters of divorce or child custody.
Sent 8: That's not a problem for most of the shelter's indigent residents, who can access free legal aid locally from West Texas Legal Services.
Sent 9: But many of the clients served by the Women's Haven outreach programs are the working poor, who don't qualify for free legal services.
Sent 10: Divorces and custody battles are simply out of their financial reach.
Sent 11: "They can't begin to save up enough money for a divorce, so they're stuck," says Sonyia Hartwell, the Women's Haven's associate director.
Sent 12: "They're completely shut out of the civil-law system."
Sent 13: In Texas, unlike in some other states, women who aren't divorced can't gain full control over their portion of assets.
Sent 14: And they can't obtain child support.
Sent 15: The grant will also provide law students with valuable experience working these types of cases.
Sent 16: "They can't go to court, but they can interview clients and do all the initial intake work that needs to be done" as well as investigative work, says Hartwell.
Sent 17: And there's no shortage of abuse victims who need this kind of help.
Sent 18: "Within 60 days of hanging out her or his shingle," says Hartwell of the yet unhired new attorney, "we'll have an active caseload of 20 or more."