How To Help People In New York

Transcription

1 New York Legal Assistance Group Overview of Achievements, From 4/1/12 to 3/31/13, NYLAG handled 28,479 cases for 45,219 low-income individuals throughout New York City, Westchester and Long Island who cannot afford private attorneys. In addition, nearly 200,000 low-income people across the state benefited from NYLAG s successful impact litigation, either through active cases or ongoing monitoring. Over 9,500 individuals attended 204 community education workshops and professional trainings. Low-income clients received back awards totaling $4,474,022 and monthly benefits totaling $520,869 for public benefits, home care services, child support, spousal support and other payments. The total savings to taxpayers for the reporting period amounted to $204,338. NYLAG s pro bono program recruited 1,049 volunteer attorneys, paralegals, law students, and others who together donated 114,715 hours of service. Superstorm Sandy displaced NYLAG from its main office in Lower Manhattan for over two months, yet the agency resumed services within 48 hours of the storm thanks to donated office space and equipment from law firm partners and UJA- Federation of New York. Despite the lack of central office space, NYLAG not only maintained existing services but quickly rolled out a new Storm Response Unit to meet the emergency and longer-term legal needs of storm victims. The subsequent growth of this Unit to over 30 staff, along with the recent absorption of the Evelyn Frank Legal Resources Program of Selfhelp Community Services, has contributed to NYLAG s rapid expansion over the past year, adding 54 new staff positions. As a result of new grants in foreclosure prevention, immigration, elder law safety net services, and comprehensive stormrelated legal services as well as new partnerships made by NYLAG s Mobile Legal Help Center, NYLAG has expanded its presence in the underserved areas of Long Island and Staten Island as well as other isolated areas of New York. Thanks to these efforts, NYLAG now has 75 community-based intake sites throughout the City, Westchester, and Long Island. Service Area: N ew York City Metropolitan and Sur rounding Area This Provider At a Glance Population Served: General Low Income Population Area Served: New York City Metropolitan and Surrounding Area Total Funding: $14,360,566 Total IOLA Grant: $667,500 Staffing - Full Time Equivalents Total Staff: Lawyers: Paralegals: Other Staff: Types of Services Provided Direct Civil Legal Representation Brief Services Extended Services Hotlines and Other Phone-Based Services Technology and Other Innovations Community Legal Education Pro Se Assistance Collaborations With Other Service Providers Major Cases or Other Advocacy Projects New York Legal Assistance Group - 1

2 Outcomes 45,219 Individuals Benefited from 28,479 Closed Direct Civil Legal Cases Extended Representation Outcomes 1,133 People obtained a living will and/or health proxy or power of attorney 989 People obtained individualized education program and/or appropriate services consistent with special education law 580 Individuals obtained adjustment of legal status 508 Immigrants obtained employment authorization or obtained or replaced Green Card 11,711 People obtained benefits from other "extended representation" Brief Representation Benefits 24,384 People benefited from legal advice and counsel 1,320 People benefited from non-litigation advocacy services 4,594 People benefited by referral to other sources of help Dollar Benefits Achieved for Clients - Total $25,220,132 Social Security, SSI Benefits: $18,630,377 Other Federal Benefits: $272,414 Unemployment Compensation: $20,033 Family Law - Child Support: $401,562 Family Law - Maintenance/Spousal Support: $393,600 Family Law - Equitable Distribution of Assets: $30,000 Affirmative Judgments: $1,345,502 Other Benefits: $4,126,644 Total includes back awards and total monthly benefits, estimated over 6 months (unemployment compensation), 12 months (other federal benefits, equitable distribution of assets, affirmative judgements and other benefits), 60 months (Social Security, SSI) or 120 months (child and spousal support). Examples... Outcomes for Clients arlos was a disabled 65-year-old man who C was struggling to walk and lost his reading glasses when the surge of Superstorm Sandy washed away everything on the first floor of his home. He had no heat, hot water, or electricity, and his kitchen was destroyed. Carlos owned the home, and paid off the mortgage long ago. However, he had no home insurance because he could not afford it. A NYLAG attorney helped Carlos to complete a FEMA application, and also learned that he was likely eligible for additional monthly income from the Social Security Administration. Furthermore, he was eligible for the Medicare Savings Plan, which will provide Carlos with $105 every month. The attorney referred Carlos to NYLAG s Elder Law program for application assistance. na, an Ecuadoran immigrant, moved to the A United States to be with her husband. Shortly after their wedding and the birth of their second child, Ana s husband started physically, emotionally, economically and sexually abusing her. NYLAG assisted Ana in submitting a selfpetition under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) to USCIS, which was approved. Based on the approved VAWA self-petition, she also obtained Employment Authorization enabling her to work, study, and, most importantly, attain selfsufficiency and independence from her abuser. IPU successfully represented Ana at the adjustment of status interview. On May 4, 2012, Ana received her green card and became a lawful permanent resident of the United States. Breakdown of Cases by Legal Problem Area People Cases Total 45,219 28,479 Individual Rights 11,590 8,712 Housing 6,161 2,892 Income Maintenance 3,854 2,010 Family 3,822 1,852 Other 19,792 13,013 New York Legal Assistance Group - 2 Income Family Maintenance 6% 7% Housing 10% Individual Rights 31% Other 46%

3 Other Services Hotlines and Other Telephone Based Legal Services NYLAG s main intake line is open Monday- Friday, 9 am 3 pm, serving low-income New Yorkers from New York City, Long Island, Westchester and Rockland counties. On average, the intake line receives 250 calls per week, or 13,000 annually. In addition, NYLAG maintains hotlines for Storm Sandy victims, Holocaust survivors, DACA-eligible immigrants, homeowners facing foreclosure and individuals needing Connect-to-Care legal services in foreclosure prevention, consumer law, bankruptcy, unemployment insurance, employment law, and public benefits. Another hotline, launched in September 2012, serves those needing financial counseling and/or consumer law services. NYLAG s Special Litigation Unit maintained five hotlines this period for its class action cases. The LGBT Law Project also has its own intake line direct to the LGBT Project Attorneys. Altogether, these 12 hotlines and separate intake line served 5,562 individuals in the reporting period. Technology and Other Innovations NYLAG s use of LogMeIn to permit remote access to the agency s secure server and TIME database was indispensable when Sandy displaced NYLAG from its headquarters for two months. Within 48 hours, dispersed staff had access to the server, database, and NYLAG . The Robin Hood Foundation funded ipads, with data plans and pre-loaded with forms and websites for staff of the Storm Response Unit, enabling them to conduct intake at hard-hit community agencies with limited infrastructure and no Wi-Ficonnections. Attorneys also used them to take photos documenting damage, as well as photographing documents to store as electronic copies. NYLAG s Mobile Legal Help Center is equipped with audiovisual equipment for on-board community education, as well as videoconferencing capability. Emergency access to judges is critical in preventing evictions and securing orders of protection immediately, invaluable in underserved areas with little access to free legal services. NYLAG has also turned increasingly to webinars to multiply the numbers trained, and has installed high-speed scanners. Legal Services Other Than Direct Legal Representation Beyond direct legal services, NYLAG offers community legal education, pro se assistance, assistance provided through pro bono and law school clinics, and alternative dispute resolution. Community Education: The goal of community education is to teach low-income individuals about their rights, how to protect them, and the availability of free legal services so that individuals will avoid falling victim to unscrupulous providers or going to court without either counsel or the information they need to represent themselves. All divisions regularly conduct community legal education workshops in partnership with over 300 health and human service organizations as well as the offices of elected officials, government agencies such as the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, and schools. In all, 114 community trainings were attended by at least 5,069 participants. For example, in the reporting period, NYLAG s Total Life Choices Project provided 69 presentations and tablings on advance planning topics serving at least 1,915. These presentations were held at communityorganized events, Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities, Senior Centers, and other community-based organizations across all five boroughs. Pro Se Assistance & Volunteer Resources: Since its limited resources prevent NYLAG from representing all clients, NYLAG offers pro se assistance to enable these individuals to represent themselves more effectively. Pro se materials are developed for this purpose. For example, NYLAG runs a help desk staffed by volunteers in the Brooklyn Administrative Fair Hearing Center to answer questions on how to appeal wrongful termination or denial of their Number of People Benefited by Legal Services Other Than Direct Legal Representation Total: 92,738 People Community Legal Education: 17,657 People Pro Se Assistance: 10,067 People Web Usage: 64,414 People Legal Hotline Services: 600 People New York Legal Assistance Group - 3

4 Other Services, continued public benefits and to refer complex cases for representation. In the funding period, 2,447 received pro se assistance. Pro bono clinics have been used successfully in the last year by the Immigration Protection Unit for assistance with applications for Temporary Protected Status, serving 350 Haitian immigrants in the reporting period; applications for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, serving 249 undocumented youth since August 2012; and applications for citizenship, serving 40 in two clinics since the project s launch in the new year. In addition to providing pro se assistance, volunteers enable NYLAG to maximize its capacity through a variety of other programs. NYLAG s Volunteer Lawyer for the Day- Consumer Credit Project, based in the Bronx and Queens Civil Courts, coordinates volunteer attorneys to provide representation to individuals with consumer credit issues on the day of their appearance in court, as well as pro se assistance to clients they are unable to represent. From 4/1/12 through 3/31/13, the VLFD program served 1,669 clients, of which 50 were pro se cases. Since early March 2013, NYLAG s LGBT Law Project has co-run a Wills Clinic utilizing pro bono attorneys from Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe, serving 11 clients in the first clinic alone. NYLAG also works with area law schools to run law school clinics, offering assistance with fair hearings as well as family law. For example, NYLAG participates in the Courtroom Advocates Project, whereby students working under a student practice order and supervised by NYLAG attorneys help domestic violence victims to obtain orders of protection or apply for VAWA self-petitions or u -visas. In the reporting period, these students provided direct legal services to 63 domestic violence clients and legal advice to an additional 110 victims. Mediation/Alternative Dispute Resolution: NYLAG s Matrimonial and Family Law Unit offers a divorce mediation program on cases that do not involve domestic violence. Due to its success and the experience gained, a number of other attorneys volunteered to undergo professional training in mediation, and currently five staff attorneys are certified mediators. NYLAG is exploring the possibility of expanding its alternative dispute resolution services to other areas, including, housing, employment, and special education. Collaborations With Other Service Providers Virtually all of NYLAG s work is done in collaboration with other legal organizations, community groups, professionals and social services providers. NYLAG attorneys and management regularly meet with the heads of major legal services providers in New York to form collaborations and co-counsel relationships and to delegate responsibilities for necessary impact litigation to avoid duplication of effort. NYLAG also regularly receives clients referred from these agencies and participates in community panel discussions, training sessions and seminars. For example, NYLAG s new Robin Hood-funded Removal Defense Project is a collaboration of five legal service providers offering complementary Sources of Funding Other 16% IOLA Grant 5% Total $14,360,566 IOLA Grant $667,500 Foundations $6,227,947 State Funding $3,974,928 City and County Funding $1,179,675 Other $2,310,516 New York Legal Assistance Group - 4 City and County Funding 8% State Funding 28% Foundations 43%

5 Other Services, continued legal services for immigrants in danger of removal or already in removal proceedings. Partners include Legal Aid Society, Make The Road, Bronx Defenders, and MinKwon Center for Community Action. Similarly, NYLAG s Volunteer Lawyer for the Day Consumer Credit Project is a partnership with the NYS Office of Court Administration s Access to Justice Program, the NY County Lawyer s Association and the Brooklyn Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Program, targeting low-income unrepresented individuals with consumer debt in the Bronx and Queens Civil courts. NYLAG operates 75 community-based intake sites located at partner agencies throughout Greater New York. Twenty of these are new sites with agencies in areas badly hit by Storm Sandy in Long Island, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island. In addition, NYLAG s new Mobile Legal Help Center is constantly reaching out to entities in underserved areas that are unable to host legal services but are more than willing to help conduct outreach and schedule clients for the vehicle. For example, the MLHC and DACA Assistance Project reached out to 11 high schools and colleges with large immigrant populations that would welcome attorneys to disseminate information to students and parents, screen for eligibility, and answer questions. NYLAG operates several new programs by which it provides legal services to clients of a consortium of other service providers. For example, NYLAG recently contracted with the NYC Office of Financial Empowerment to provide legal services and technical assistance to its network of Financial Empowerment Centers and their clients. NYLAG is the legal services provider for UJA s Safety Net program agencies across all five boroughs and Long Island. The agency is also the ONA Legal Services Provider for the NYS Office of New Americans new network of Opportunity Centers, providing legal services in citizenship and deferred action for eight centers in Queens, Staten Island, and Long Island. The LegalHealth Unit operates 20 formal hospital partnerships where it trains healthcare professionals and offers onsite legal clinics for patients. The Division recently added two new partnerships with Veterans Administration hospitals in New York and is exploring a plan to work with upstate partners to expand the medicallegal partnership model to VA hospitals statewide. Through its collaborations, NYLAG implements joint services, enhances outreach and community education, coordinates referrals for complementary services, learns about emerging community needs, and engages in cross-training. NYLAG attorneys train social workers, healthcare professionals, community advocates and other stakeholders on the legal rights and options of low-income New Yorkers across a spectrum of legal areas, as well as how to identify their legal needs and make appropriate referrals for legal services, and conduct more effective advocacy. Through such training, NYLAG again maximizes its impact, leveraging its partners to help more individuals in need get access to justice. In the funding period, NYLAG held 90 staff trainings for 4,494 professionals. Major Cases or Other Advocacy Projects Hercules v. Doar In March 2013, the Court approved a negotiated settlement in this class action against the NYC Human Resources Administration (HRA) and NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) on behalf of over 15,000 Safety Net Assistance recipients living with minor children, whose benefits were reduced or discontinued for excessively long periods when they were sanctioned for alleged violations of public assistance employment requirements. As a result of Hercules negotiations, defendants have corrected their computer systems, modified their sanction notices to include necessary information, and lifted improper sanctions. Under the settlement, defendants will delete sanctions resulting from these improper notices from class members records and pay benefits lost because of the computer errors. Defendants will delete sanctions from more than 15,000 class members records so they will not count against class members in future public assistance determinations. Approximately 7,150 Safety Net Assistance recipients will receive Hercules benefits payments on their EBT cards in April 2013; approximately 8,000 additional households may receive Hercules payments if and New York Legal Assistance Group - 5

6 Snapshot of Accomplishments continued from page 1 when they return to the public assistance rolls with the next 34 months. Pro Bono Volunteer Involvement NYLAG s pro bono program now has three components. First, NYLAG recruits in-house volunteer attorneys from private law firms, retired lawyers, and law graduates who work on-site under NYLAG supervision at least three half-days per week. In the funding period, NYLAG hosted 66 pro bono attorneys. Second, NYLAG has begun offering an off-site, program-specific group component. As part of this, NYLAG has begun offering webinars as a superior way to train large numbers of pro bono attorneys rapidly, conveniently, and cost-effectively. NYLAG first used this approach for its Haitian TPS clinics in 2010 and recently used it successfully to train over 1,000 attorneys to provide disaster response legal services. This new tool is revolutionizing the way NYLAG leverages volunteer resources to launch a large-scale response to urgent community needs. Some 124 pro bono attorneys and six law students worked 856 hours off-site for the Storm Response Unit in the reporting period, at a value of $81,900. Third, NYLAG maintains relationships with over 60 top NY law firms, and refers thousands of pro bono cases to these firms in their respective areas of expertise, providing supervision. NYLAG also hosts non-attorney volunteers to handle a variety of tasks depending on their education and skill level. In the funding period, NYLAG hosted 99 such volunteers. NYLAG also has a renowned law school internship and externship program that attracts the most talented law students for summer and year-round placements. NYLAG s move to larger space in 2011 enabled the summer intern program to expand to 50 students. NYLAG also operates formal law school clinical programs with multiple law schools. Pro Bono Statistics During , the following volunteers provided services in our program: Attorneys: 769 Volunteers 36,465 Hours Law Students: 183 Volunteers 60,004 Hours Other Volunteers: 97 Volunteers 18,246 Hours Dollar Value of Attorney Services*: $9.12 million *estimated at $250 per hour Recently, seven students from Harvard Law School and UCLA School of Law spent their spring break working with NYLAG s Storm Response Unit to assist storm victims. In the funding period, NYLAG hosted 177 law students. Together, all inhouse volunteers worked 92,120 hours at a value of $5,112,405. New York Legal Assistance Group - 6