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Governor Rell approved funding to help stabilize legal assistance by $7.7M against the $9M needed. See full article from New Haven Register on July 6, 2009:
www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/07/06/news/a3_mon_nelegal.txt
By Mary E. O’Leary, Register Topics Editor
Emergency legal aid funding, passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. M. Jodi Rell, will go a long way toward stabilizing funding for the three agencies that serve the state’s poor.
Connecticut Legal Services, Greater Hartford Legal Aid and New Haven Legal Assistance Association handle about 15,000 cases every year for very low-income individuals. Their main source of funding — interest earned on certain types of trust accounts held by lawyers — took a huge hit this past fiscal year when the housing market collapsed and fewer accounts were held in escrow.
New legislation expands the kinds of accounts that can earn interest, while another bill increased court fees and attorney occupational fees to help fund the agencies. The arrangement will bring in about $7.7 million to help close the $9 million shortfall.
Steve Eppler-Epstein, executive director of Connecticut Legal Services, said other grants and donations are still in play and he hopes it all comes together to stabilize the agencies.
“It is still rickety, but we hope there will be no more cuts,” Eppler-Epstein said of staff at the three legal aid agencies.
In the past six months, they were forced to lay off some workers, as well as cut programs and decrease benefits. A number of senior staff also voluntarily took pay cuts to minimize more staff loses.
Eppler-Epstein said they want to get back to rebuilding the services they had to cut and focus on the poor hit hard with job losses and foreclosures in this tough economic climate.
Social service agencies often make referrals to the lawyers who handled cases for children, the elderly, the disabled; people facing domestic violence or homelessness; people with medical issues and those facing abusive collection practices.
Mary E. O’Leary can be reached at 789-5731 or moleary@nhregister.com
Connecticut Legal Services, Greater Hartford Legal Aid and New Haven Legal Assistance Association handle about 15,000 cases every year for very low-income individuals. Their main source of funding — interest earned on certain types of trust accounts held by lawyers — took a huge hit this past fiscal year when the housing market collapsed and fewer accounts were held in escrow.
New legislation expands the kinds of accounts that can earn interest, while another bill increased court fees and attorney occupational fees to help fund the agencies. The arrangement will bring in about $7.7 million to help close the $9 million shortfall.
Steve Eppler-Epstein, executive director of Connecticut Legal Services, said other grants and donations are still in play and he hopes it all comes together to stabilize the agencies.
“It is still rickety, but we hope there will be no more cuts,” Eppler-Epstein said of staff at the three legal aid agencies.
In the past six months, they were forced to lay off some workers, as well as cut programs and decrease benefits. A number of senior staff also voluntarily took pay cuts to minimize more staff loses.
Eppler-Epstein said they want to get back to rebuilding the services they had to cut and focus on the poor hit hard with job losses and foreclosures in this tough economic climate.
Social service agencies often make referrals to the lawyers who handled cases for children, the elderly, the disabled; people facing domestic violence or homelessness; people with medical issues and those facing abusive collection practices.
Mary E. O’Leary can be reached at 789-5731 or moleary@nhregister.com
Comments
Thank you Gov. Rell for maintaining the legal resources available to the state's poor. The judicial system is supposed to protect us all and not just the few. With that said, it is imperative that we support what little resources we have, in order for us all to able to utilize the law that is designed to protect the rights of ALL its citizens!
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