The NCBF Award for Bar Foundation Excellence in Public Service Programming recognizes a bar foundation for an innovative, imaginative program and/or grant award for public service projects in the legal arena. The award honors a bar or law foundation for its creative response to important societal issues.

The award emphasizes the following criteria:

• Innovation and creativity of the idea
  
• Efficiency of execution
  
• Outcomes of the project or grant; and
• The ability to be replicated by other bar foundations and to be flexible enough to change course as emerging needs arise.

The North Carolina Bar Association's program 4ALL is the 2009 award recipient.
The following programs were also submitted for the award competition:

State Bar Foundations
1. California Bar Foundation - Rosenthal Scholarship Program
2. Louisiana Bar Foundation - Courtroom Project
3. New Jersey State Bar Foundation – Introduction to Teasing and Bullying
4. New Jersey State Bar Foundation – What You Need to Know About Plagiarism
5. Ohio State Bar Foundation – Keys to the Courtroom
6. Oklahoma Bar Foundation – Court-Appointed Advocates for Vulnerable Adults (attachments 1/2)
7. Rhode Island Bar Foundation – Homeless Legal Clinic
8. Virginia Bar Association Foundation – Rule of Law Project

Local Bar Foundations
1. Columbus Bar Foundation – Child and Youth Law Program
2. Indianapolis Bar Foundation - Lawyers Care (attachments 1 / 2 / 3 )
3. Westchester County Bar Foundation (NY) – Public Interest Law Fellowship Program

The North Carolina Bar Foundation
2009 Award Recipient
Read more about the North Carolina Bar Association Foundation's 4ALL, a five-front program with a name that's a twist on "justice for all," and designed to involve all members of the legal profession in North Carolina.

Cincinnati Bar Foundation
2007 Award Recipient
The Cincinnati Bar Foundation's project, Out of the Crossfire, is a gunshot violence intervention program created to address the dramatic rise in the incidences of gun violence-a 500 percent increase in Cincinnati from 2000-05. During the year 2000, 75 gunshot wounds were treated at Cincinnati's University Hospital Trauma Center. For the 2005 calendar year, the hospital saw more than 350 gunshot wounds. This dramatic increase in gunshot wounds was accompanied by a staggering health care cost as well as an enormous personal impact on the injured victims. The purpose of Out of the Crossfire is to break the cycle of violence, help the participants lead a productive life and relieve the community of crime and the economic drain on limited resources. The program utilizes the expertise of social service providers, outreach workers, lawyers, business and faith-based organizations, community members, physicians, nurses and other members of the trauma team. Collaboratively, these individuals focus on the restoration of health and well-being of the gunshot victim. The program begins on the first day the patient is able to consent and continues for years during his or her recovery. Out of the Crossfire includes an evaluation of the survivor's social circumstances with specific attention to issues such as job and vocational rehabilitation, continuing education, substance abuse and/or mental health counseling, circumstances of living conditions, environmental factors and peer group, as well as legal and court responsibilities. Survivors are mentored and referred to local agencies providing educational and job training programs, employment opportunities, counseling, life skills training, legal assistance, medical coverage and follow-up care. In the first year of this program, a weekly life skills class for Out of the Crossfire participants, including in-patients, discharged patients and their family members, has been formed. Some participants receive assistance with completing their GEDs and help with relocation. A database of qualified community resources has been developed for referral-making purposes and volunteer peer role models have been recruited as volunteers to assist clients pursuing lifestyle changes.