Abigail Coursolle will soon research how California counties administer their aid-related programs.
“I realized that in order to do the work that I wanted to do, and make the changes that our state and people needed, I needed more tools and education,” she said.
Coursolle, a fourth-year UCLA graduate student, recently received a fellowship from a law firm to ensure that those in need are receiving the aid to which they are entitled. She was selected as a public interest law fellow by international law firm Greenberg Traurig.
Coursolle said she will monitor California’s General Assistance and Indigent Health programs and work with the Western Center on Law & Poverty to ensure grants, income limits, access and due process protections.
The Western Center on Law & Poverty enforces the rights of low-income Californians in health, housing and public assistance, said Holly Skolnick, the president and founder of the Greenberg Traurig Fellowship Foundation.
Coursolle recognized the prevalence of impoverished citizens, specifically in Los Angeles and even right here in Westwood, which provided the impetus for her research.
“Los Angeles is the biggest county in California, and our poverty rate is the highest,” Coursolle said. “You see people who are really in dire need; this is definitely a place where our need is acute.”
She said she approached the organization early on when thinking of applying for the fellowship, which she said was the next step for her to achieve her goal.
Skolnick said the current economic situation and the large number of homeless people in Los Angeles makes Coursolle’s fellowship “a very timely project.”
“This is ensuring there is still a safety net and that people are at least getting adequate safety and health care,” Skolnick said.
She added that the General Assistance and Indigent Health programs call for California counties to provide subsistence aid to citizens who have no other means of support.
“She was taking a really systematic approach,” Skolnick said. “She couldn’t tell us how to solve the problem, but she said she was interested in working with other community organizations and that the solution may be political.”
Coursolle said she will study the problem and work through legal and political means. She gained experience with advocacy after graduating from Yale University with an undergraduate degree.
“It’s something that was sort of in my head all along, and in between undergraduate and law school, I worked for a nonprofit in the Bay Area doing advocacy for seniors and people with disabilities,” Coursolle said.
Greenberg Traurig named 10 individuals total from across the country to receive funding through the Greenberg Traurig Fellowship Foundation, according to a Greenberg Traurig statement. The law firm works with Equal Justice Works to provide funding to the fellows selected, Skolnick said.
The fellowships begin in September and last for two years. When Coursolle heard about the opportunity, she approached the Western Center on Law & Poverty for support to apply.
“It took some time, and it was a very collaborative process between me and the lawyers who were working at the center,” she said.
“They identified a need in this area, and we went back and forth talking about how to develop this.”
Coursolle hopes her research will serve as a stepping stone for future work.
“This is the kind of work that I want to do, and I want to find a way to keep doing it,” she said.