BUDGET HEARING PRESENTATION OF ATTORNEY RICHARD AUSTIN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/CEO LEGAL SERVICES OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS, INC.

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1 BUDGET HEARING PRESENTATION OF ATTORNEY RICHARD AUSTIN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/CEO LEGAL SERVICES OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS, INC. BEFORE THE 31 ST LEGISLATURE OF THE UNITED STATES VIRGIN ISLANDS COMMITTEE ON FINANCE THE HONORABLE SENATOR CLIFFORD F. GRAHAM, CHAIR August 20, 2015 Good afternoon, Chairman Graham and other members of the Committee on Finance of the 31 st Legislature of the United States Virgin Islands. I am Attorney Richard Austin, the Executive Director and CEO of Legal Services of the Virgin Islands, Inc., (LSVI), commonly known as Legal Services. We would like to emphasize the Services in our name, because that is what we are all about, providing free high quality civil legal services to our client community. I am accompanied by Attorney Trudy Fenster, Chairperson of the LSVI volunteer Board of Directors; Attorney Shelby King Gaddy, the Managing Attorney/St. Croix office and agency wide Litigation Director and Mr. Kenneth Guye, Director of Finance and Administration and CFO. We are always pleased to have the opportunity to appear before this Committee to assure you and the taxpayers of our efficient and effective stewardship over the funds we receive from the Virgin Islands Government. We will be guided by the letter from the Committee Chair dated May 12, 2015 instructing testifiers to limit their testimony to budgetary matters. Nevertheless, in our communication to the Committee Chair dated April 30, 2015 we outlined our agency goals and objectives for FY16. We also included some success stories. 1

GRAHAM, CHAIR August 20, 2015 Good afternoon, Chairman Graham and other members of the Committee on Finance of the 31 st Legislature of the United States Virgin Islands.

2 We must first put what we do into a budgetary context. LSVI is the Equal Justice Advocate in the territory. Its mission as stated in the mission statement is as follows: To access justice, protect rights and educate people in poverty in order to empower them to move toward self-sufficiency. LSVI is a non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization (NGO). We are a public interest law firm, which must adhere to all of the Professional Responsibility and Ethic Codes as any other lawyer. LSVI help our clients access basic necessities such housing (i.e. public and private, evictions and foreclosure legal assistance), government benefits (i.e.tanf,snap, MAP), economic security (i.e. unemployment and wrongful discharge claims); and safety and stability (i.e. domestic violence, elder abuse and family law issues). Civil Legal Services is: central to our notion of equal justice under law. President Barack Obama. our shared responsibility equal opportunity for every citizen Former US Attorney General Eric Holder. Raising awareness about the vital role of civil legal services is critically important because recent research demonstrates the majority of low income individuals don t see the issues they re encountering as legal problems. They often see these issues as personal or social problems, or just bad luck; whereas a legal services lawyer can identify legal issues and solutions. LSVI local funding is part of the Governor s miscellaneous budget. Our FY2016 budget request to OMB was in the sum of $1,375,000. The Governor s FY2016 budget included the sum of $1,084,000. This is the same amount as last year and we very much appreciate the Administration s consideration. But, we feel that our request for the $291,000 increase in funding is needed, reasonable and justified. Our present total annual budget from all sources is approximately 1.4 million dollars. 2

LSVI is a non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization (NGO). We are a public interest law firm, which must adhere to all of the Professional Responsibility and Ethic Codes as any other lawyer.

3 We proposed to use the increase in funding to engage a development person to coordinate fundraising activities; fund much needed staff salary increases; and hire an additional attorney for each office. The staff, which is loyal and dedicated, has not had a wage increase in nearly 10 years. I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank the staff for their dedication and faithfulness to our mission and our clients. The attorney staff salaries are on average $25,000 annually less than a similarly experienced attorney in the VI Department of Justice and the Territorial Public Defender s offices. Our present staff of twelve (12) is at the lowest level in the history of the agency. We have only three (3) attorney s in each office. We have decided not to use any additional funds to hire additional staff attorneys until our present staff attorneys are compensated at a rate commensurable with their credentials. It is noteworthy to share with you the conclusion in the Federal Legal Services Corporation, Office of Program Performance Final Report for a Program Quality Visit, dated March 9, 2015, which states: LSVI is a well-run organization with a staff capacity to provide high quality, effective and efficient legal services to the eligible lowincome population of the Virgin Islands. The broader justice community is aware of the program s urgent need for greater financial resources and expresses a willingness to join LSVI in a strategic planning process to craft a bold plan of action. The executive director, board of directors, and staff acknowledge the program s challenges and demonstrate willingness to address them. (Emphasis added) We will soon embark upon a comprehensive strategic planning process to be conducted by the University of the Virgin Islands Institute for Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness. The goal is 3

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank the staff for their dedication and faithfulness to our mission and our clients.

4 to develop a LSVI Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan will include both a planned and emergency succession plan. We presently measure outcomes and effectiveness on quantitative bases, by the numbers. We closed 1275 cases agency wide in This has a multiplier effect of 3.5 (average number in a household) which means that we directly served approximately 4463 individuals. We also impacted the lives of thousands more through our community legal education outreach activities, which included media appearances and community legal education workshops. Further, we employ the maximum use of technology in all phases of our service delivery. We are exploring methodologies to better assess a more qualitative, or impact on the quality of life, approach to measure the value of our services rendered. We humbly request that you approved our request for the sum of $1, 375,000, which will allow Legal Services to continue to provide, Equal Access to Justice and high quality civil legal assistance free of cost to our client population, We thank you for the opportunity to make this presentation to this Committee and the observing public, and we would be most happy to answer any questions. Attorney Gaddy will address questions regarding case data and management matters; Mr. Guye will address fiscal/financial questions; and Attorney Fenster will address questions regarding the governance of the agency; and of course I will address any questions directed to me. Respectfully Submitted, Legal Services of the Virgin Island, Inc. Richard Austin, Esq. 4

5 (average number in a household) which means that we directly served approximately 4463 individuals.

5 Executive Director/CEO 5

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BUDGET HEARING PRESENTATION OF ATTORNEY RICHARD AUSTIN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/CEO LEGAL SERVICES OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS, INC.

What is the board of directors of LSVI?

How is Civil Legal Services to the notion of equal justice under law?

What is an example of a government benefit?