I think they are intended to help with rebound, the top of the clip is supposed to keep the top leaf from separating from the other leafs, leaving it by itself to absorb rebound.
I found this:
http://www.suspensionspecialists.com/tech0004.html#9
Now, this raises the question, should I fix the spaced clip? According to the website in the link above, there should only be about a 3/32 between the top of the top leaf, and the clip.