Food Donation Mobile Apps –What Has Been Done and How It Can Be Improved

poster abstractFood insecurity, a lack of access to healthy and affordable food, is a major issue within the US and many nonprofit organizations, like food banks and food pantries are unable to keep up with increased demand for food support . With smartphones progressively increasing their capability in their application to everyday life, how can they play a role in the supporting of people living with food insecurity? In this study, we reviewed multiple mobile applications available free on the iOS app store, including Food Bank, AmpleHarvest, St.Mary’s Food Bank, RoadrunnerFood Bank, and Wood Buffalo Food Bank, taking note of what features they possess, and how well they functioned. Our findings have shown that the most common features consisted of a map for locating food banks, and a contribution function for donating money and giving suggestions and information for donating food and volunteering. Further notable features found that were not as common include are sources page referring to other food support programs, a page for upcoming events, and social media integration. Notable issues included some apps being comparatively lacking in features, leading to gaps in opportunity. Furthermore, issues of long-term application and project sustainability were noticeable, where a lack of regular updates in some apps are suspected to be the cause of dated appearances , functions not loading, and crashes . It was important to note that the apps with more features and better functionality are more state specific, run by local organizations . This analysis suggests that the cost, production, and maintenance of free apps may b e a productive are a to explore. Over all, our initial research helps us understand the current landscape of donation technology among mobile applications. In further research, studies with core stakeholders, including donors and donation recipients, would help gain understanding and assessment in new donation methods and platform

Client Activism in Progressive Lawyering Theory

In this article the author argues that the aims, contexts, and methods of client activism are paramount in progressive lawyering theory, and as such precede and define the question of how progressives should lawyer. The author suggests precursory paradigms that 1) clarify the ultimate political goals to which activism is and should be directed; 2) analyze the social conditions shaping and defining grassroots activity; and 3) specify and systematize the myriad methods that can and should be used to further these ends. In critiquing prevailing theoretical formulations that relate to these considerations, the author argues that progressive lawyers need to go beyond law, lawyering, community organizing, mobilization and social movement-building and develop a framework for more finely analyzing political aims, contexts, and activist methods. Part I summarizes the various, at time conflicting, lawyering approaches to fostering activism. Part II traces the evolution of these approaches since people\u27s and poverty lawyers began addressing the question in the 1960s. Part III critiques the theoretical limitations identified and moves to situate the development of progressive lawyering theory in historical context and move it in a broader, interdisciplinary direction

Family Mediation after Hendershott: The Case for Uniform Domestic Violence Screening and Opt-In Provision in Montana

Hendershott is a welcome reaffirmation of Montana’s stand against domestic violence: domestic violence is a public matter requiring serious judicial attention. Without a systematic screening method, however, courts are ill-equipped to disqualify cases for mediation. Montana needs a method that not only diagnoses for domestic violence, but also distinguishes among different types as many, if not most, cases would benefit from mediation. An absolute bar is not the solution. What is required is a broad-based outreach and educational effort that would support what I suspect mediators across the state are already doing: tailoring mediation to address the needs of domestic violence victims. Instead of denying victims the opportunity to mediate, we should train mediators to empower survivors who choose to mediate. Domestic violence survivors should be able to choose the dispute resolution process that best suits their unique situations

Family Mediation after Hendershott: The Case for Uniform Domestic Violence Screening and Opt-In Provision in Montana

In Hendershott v. Westphal, the Montana Supreme Court held that § 40-4-301(2) of the Montana Code Annotated absolutely bars mediation in family law cases involving domestic violence. Yet neither the Court nor the statute prescribes a method by which to screen for such cases. In this article, the author argues that a uniform, statewide screening method is the only way by which to implement this policy. The author also argues that Hendershott should be interpreted narrowly and Montana should allow parties to opt in to mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution. The Court\u27s understanding of domestic violence is outdated: its opinion equates domestic violence with only one type of abuse -- the stereotypical case involving a pattern of violent or potentially violent coercive control. Family law cases that do not involve such a pattern may be appropriate for mediation and alternative dispute resolution. Part II summarizes the Court\u27s opinion in Hendershott. Part III discusses a survey the author conducted of Montana district court practices regarding their use of mediation in family law cases. Part IV addresses questions raised by Hendershott and outlines general features of a model screening method. Part VI makes the case for an opt-in provision and concludes that an absolute bar is founded upon an outdated concept of domestic violence and idealized view of litigation

Which Side Are You On? Unionization in Social Service Nonprofits

This article examines nonprofit union organizing from an institutional perspective. Specifically, the author asks a basic question: do unions belong in social service nonprofits or are such efforts somehow misguided? To answer the question, the article examines the dual institutional role social service nonprofits play and explores strategies to harmonize their conflicting tendencies. The author argues that the industry-wide unionization of social service nonprofits is the best means by which to actualize the nonprofit ethos and counteract these organizations\u27 tendency to lower wages and working conditions, thereby facilitating cuts in social spending. Part I discusses the factors that have led to increased unionization among social service nonprofit workers. Part II summarizes recurring issues and discusses this specific role conflict. Finally, Part III harmonizes this dual role, making the case for industry-wide unionization and concludes by discussing union organizing as a uniquely transformative process

Mediation and the Neocolonial Legal Order: Access to Justice and Self-Determination in the Philippines

In this article, the author examines how the process of U.S.-style alternative dispute resolution is unfolding in the Philippines, a former U.S. colony. Drawing from representative case studies, Part I highlights emerging practices in the global South counter-hegemonic to the fundamentals of U.S.-style mediation. Part II describes the Philippine community mediation experience, in particular the ideologies, structures, and practices of indigenous dispute resolution, the neighborhood justice system, and court-annexed mediation. Part III discusses access to justice and self-determination as they relate specifically to community mediation in a postcolonial context. Using qualitative research the author conducted in the Philippines in 2010, Part IV critiques the implementation of U.S.-style mediation in the Philippines as antithetical to access to justice and self-determination, proposes structural and other practical changes, and theorizes a framework for counter-hegemonic community mediation practice in the neocolonial setting. The author concludes by arguing that access to justice and self-determination in neocolonial settings requires community practices founded on a substantive normative agenda that collectivizes and socializes conflict, respects and improves upon indigenous dispute-resolution, and recognizes fundamental human rights

The Hendershott Ruling: When Mediation Runs into Domestic Violence

This article examines the Montana Supreme Court\u27s decision in Hendershott v. Westphal, a case of first impression in which the Court held that MCA 40-4-301(2) bars district courts in family law proceedings from authorizing or continuing mediation of any kind where there is a reason to suspect emotional, physical, or sexual abuse

The Hendershott Ruling: When Mediation Runs into Domestic Violence

This article examines the Montana Supreme Court\u27s decision in Hendershott v. Westphal, a case of first impression in which the Court held that MCA 40-4-301(2) bars district courts in family law proceedings from authorizing or continuing mediation of any kind where there is a reason to suspect emotional, physical, or sexual abuse

Client as Subject: Humanizing the Legal Curriculum

In this essay, I suggest that we create a distinct field of academic inquiry: clients, in particular subordinated clients. Rising to Professor L ´ opez’s challenge, I propose that we organize the disparate strands of practice and scholarship in this area and develop a theoretical framework by which to study them.4 I attempt a modest step in that direction here. After summarizing the current conception and treatment of clients in the legal curriculum, I harness and reconceive various strands of literature and weave them into one curricular model for client studies. We are well-familiar with the ways in which most people are denied access to the legal system, less so with the ways in which that marginalization begins in law school. Outside of clinical instruction, law students deal rarely, if at all, with actual clients. The study of law is dehumanized—literally. I argue that we ought to align legal education with human need and teach law and lawyering not from the surreptitious, purportedly objective, perspective of legal doctrine nor simply from the professional perspective of the lawyer, but from the basic interests of actual, subordinated human beings. Instead of deforming human reality to suit the requirements of a legal status quo or conceiving of clients purely as professionals, we ought to humanize legal study and practice by starting with our clients’ needs, sensitizing our students to them, and insisting that the legal system comply

Which Side Are You On? Unionization in Social Service Nonprofits

This article examines nonprofit union organizing from an institutional perspective. Specifically, the author asks a basic question: do unions belong in social service nonprofits or are such efforts somehow misguided? To answer the question, the article examines the dual institutional role social service nonprofits play and explores strategies to harmonize their conflicting tendencies. The author argues that the industry-wide unionization of social service nonprofits is the best means by which to actualize the nonprofit ethos and counteract these organizations\u27 tendency to lower wages and working conditions, thereby facilitating cuts in social spending. Part I discusses the factors that have led to increased unionization among social service nonprofit workers. Part II summarizes recurring issues and discusses this specific role conflict. Finally, Part III harmonizes this dual role, making the case for industry-wide unionization and concludes by discussing union organizing as a uniquely transformative process