Notice of Revisions to Performance Area One of the LSC Performance Criteria

Issuing agencies

Abstract

The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) announces revisions to Performance Area One of its Performance Criteria. In Performance Area One, LSC established the indicators that LSC will use to evaluate grant recipients' processes for identifying the most pressing and emerging legal needs in their service areas and determining how they will deliver legal services tailored to most effectively address those needs. LSC is adopting a new criterion assessing strategic planning in addition to revising the existing criteria examining grant recipients' conduct of needs assessments, implementation of strategies to address legal needs, and self-examination of their effectiveness in delivering legal services.

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 200 (Monday, October 19, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 200 (Monday, October 19, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66167-66169]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-21254]


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LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION


Notice of Revisions to Performance Area One of the LSC 
Performance Criteria

AGENCY: Legal Services Corporation.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) announces revisions to 
Performance Area One of its Performance Criteria. In Performance Area 
One, LSC established the indicators that LSC will use to evaluate grant 
recipients' processes for identifying the most pressing and emerging 
legal needs in their service areas and determining how they will 
deliver legal services tailored to most effectively address those 
needs. LSC is adopting a new criterion assessing strategic planning in 
addition to revising the existing criteria examining grant recipients' 
conduct of needs assessments, implementation of strategies to address 
legal needs, and self-examination of their effectiveness in delivering 
legal services.

DATES: The revised Performance Area will become effective on January 1, 
2027.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stefanie K. Davis, Deputy General 
Counsel, Legal Services Corporation, 1825 I Street NW, Suite 800, 
Washington, DC 20006, 202-295-1563, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0c7c697e6a637e616d626f696d7e696d3d4c607f6f226b637a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="79091c0b1f160b1418171a1c180b1c184839150a1a571e160f">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: LSC is revising Performance Area One of its 
Performance Criteria for the first time since 2007. The revisions to 
Performance Area One reflect trends in the delivery of legal services, 
particularly with respect to the evolution in non-profit management, 
including the increased use of technology; the increasing prevalence of 
state access to justice commissions; and a changed legal aid funding 
landscape. While the detail in and number of Areas of Inquiry and 
Indicators have expanded through this Revision, LSC's intention for the 
Performance Criteria has not changed. The Criteria remain, as LSC 
stated in 2007, ``a useful framework for internal program self-
evaluations, planning, and program development, as well as external 
peer reviews and expert assessments by other funding sources,

[[Page 66168]]

such as IOLTA programs and government agencies.'' Legal Services 
Corporation, Performance Criteria, p. 1 (March 2007).
    LSC undertook the Revisions to Performance Area One for several 
reasons. First, nonprofit management has evolved greatly in the last 
two decades focusing on increased professionalism, revenue 
diversification, data-driven accountability, and enhanced board 
governance and leadership practices.
    Additionally, in 2021, the American Bar Association adopted 
revisions to its Standards for the Provision of Civil Legal Aid 
(Standards). The 2006 Standards guided LSC's development of the 2007 
Performance Criteria. Consequently, LSC determined that it was 
appropriate to review and revise the Performance Criteria to the extent 
that they complement the Standards.
    In a similar vein, LSC was motivated to update Performance Area One 
to reflect the efficiencies developed by legal services providers and 
created by technology. The delivery of legal services has changed 
significantly since 2007, with case management systems becoming more 
sophisticated in terms of the data they can collect and aggregate; 
legal aid organizations and courts conducting more business through 
videoconferencing and providing more legal information via mobile apps; 
and the nascence of artificial intelligence in intake and case 
management. Technological changes have also affected the ways in which 
legal services organizations and their partners conduct needs 
assessments and engage in strategic planning. The revisions to 
Performance Area One take these changes into account and ask evaluators 
to consider whether, and to what extent, legal aid organizations are 
using these strategies in their planning and operations.
    Finally, LSC wanted to improve the structure and utility of 
Performance Area One as an evaluation tool. Although LSC has introduced 
new Areas of Inquiry and Indicators, LSC is presenting all Areas and 
Indicators in simpler, clearer language. LSC has also reorganized and 
renamed the four Criteria within Performance Area One to better reflect 
the needs assessment, strategic planning, implementation, and 
evaluation cycle.
    LSC published the revisions to Performance Area One for public 
comment in early October 2025. During the comment period, LSC received 
eleven unique comments from executive directors of LSC grantees, 
collectives of LSC grantees, and national legal organizations. These 
commenters raised several concerns centered around the idea that LSC 
was taking the Performance Criteria in a more prescriptive direction. 
First, they stated that the proposed language appeared to turn the 
Performance Criteria into another enforcement tool rather than 
guidance. Second, they expressed concern that LSC was emphasizing 
numbers of clients served rather than overall impact on the client 
population in a grantee's service area. Finally, they opined that it 
appeared LSC expected all grantees, regardless of size, funding level, 
or service area characteristics, to conform to the same rigid schedule 
and elements of needs assessment and strategic planning. LSC did not 
intend to change the evaluation-centered focus of Performance Area One 
or to require all grantees to focus only on serving as many individual 
clients as possible, regardless of the needs in their respective 
service areas. LSC appreciates the concerns raised by these commenters 
and has revised the introduction to Performance Area One, introductions 
to each of the Criteria, and the Areas of Inquiry and Indicators as 
needed to resolve those concerns.
    LSC has published the revised Performance Area 1 on its website at 
<a href="https://www.lsc.gov/our-impact/publications/other-publications-and-reports/lsc-performance-criteria">https://www.lsc.gov/our-impact/publications/other-publications-and-reports/lsc-performance-criteria</a>. LSC will begin using the revised 
Performance Area 1 on January 1, 2027. LSC recognizes that it may take 
time, guidance, and experience for all grantees to adjust to the 
revisions. LSC will, therefore, provide training and forums to discuss 
the implementation of the changes. When conducting program assessments, 
LSC staff will take the scope of the revisions and each program's 
capacity into consideration when making recommendations.

Overview of Changes

    LSC revised Performance Area One to clarify and enhance existing 
guidance by presenting a more structured and integrated framework for 
legal aid organizations to consider in carrying out their work. The 
current version of the Performance Criteria describes core concepts in 
a more narrative format. The proposed revisions reorganize these 
concepts to more clearly reflect the relationship among needs 
assessment, strategic planning, priority setting, and evaluation. This 
reorganization is intended to help grantees understand how these 
activities may operate together as part of an ongoing process, while 
preserving flexibility and not prescribing a single required approach.
    The proposed revisions also provide additional details to 
illustrate considerations that may inform an organization's approach. 
For example, under Criterion 1 (Needs Assessment), the proposed 
indicators describe a range of methods that organizations might use to 
identify the most pressing legal needs of their client communities, 
including consultation with community partners, review of available 
data, and use of information gathered during statewide assessments (see 
Proposed Indicators 1 and 2). The new indicators further describe ways 
in which organizations may consider the needs of different populations 
and the role that other service providers in the service area play in 
serving their shared client populations (see Proposed Indicators 3 and 
4). These revisions are intended to provide greater clarity regarding 
the types of information that may be relevant to a comprehensive 
assessment, without requiring the use of any particular methodology.
    Under Criterion 2 (Strategic Planning), the proposed revisions 
describe how organizations might use the results of a needs assessment 
to inform planning processes. For example, the proposed indicators ask 
questions about how the results of a grantee's needs assessment 
influence the grantee's development of a written strategic plan (see 
Proposed Indicator 1). Additional indicators describe considerations 
that may inform the planning process, such as stakeholder engagement, 
use of quantitative and qualitative data, and alignment with 
organizational capacity and resources (see Proposed Indicators 2 
through 4). These provisions are intended to identify factors that 
grantees may consider when structuring their planning efforts.
    The revisions to Criterion 3 (Priority Setting and Case Acceptance 
Policy) describe how organizations might translate planning decisions 
into operational practices. For example, the proposed indicators 
address the establishment of service priorities that reflect identified 
needs and strategic objectives, as well as the adoption of a written 
case acceptance policy to guide service delivery (see Proposed 
Indicators 1 and 3). The new indicators also describe alternative 
approaches that organizations may consider when full representation is 
not feasible, including referrals, collaboration with other providers, 
and the use of technology (see Proposed Indicator 4). These examples 
are intended to help organizations consider a range of options for 
delivering services within available resources.
    Finally, under Criterion 4 (Evaluation), the revised indicators

[[Page 66169]]

describe approaches that grantees might use to assess the effectiveness 
of their work and make appropriate adjustments over time. These include 
evaluating the alignment of services with established priorities, using 
data and stakeholder input to inform decision-making, and maintaining 
flexibility to respond to changing conditions (see Proposed Indicators 
1 and 2). The revisions also describe the role of ongoing review in 
supporting continuous improvement and responsiveness to emerging needs.
    Overall, LSC intended the revisions to improve the clarity, 
organization, and usability of the Performance Criteria by providing 
more detailed lists of factors that grantees may find useful. LSC did 
not intend to establish new requirements, but rather to offer guidance 
that legal aid organizations may adapt based on their individual 
circumstances, including their size, capacity, and the needs of the 
communities they serve.
    ChatGPT was used to draft this document. The generated content 
provided structural and content suggestions, which the author reviewed, 
adapted, and revised for LSC's specific needs and tone.

(Authority: 42 U.S.C. 2996g(e).)

    October 14, 2026.
Stefanie Davis,
Deputy General Counsel, Legal Services Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2026-21254 Filed 10-16-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7050-01-P


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