Page 87 - Impact: Collected Essays on Expanding Access to Justice

In stark contrast to the federal government’s failure to increase funding for civil legal services, there has been a renaissance in funding for civil legal services in New York State in recent years .27 All three branches of State government, and locally New York City as well, have engendered a sea change in the provision of free civil legal services . Most notably, former Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman has led on the State level with steadily increasing amounts of Judiciary Civil Legal Services funding, set to reach $100 million annually in State fiscal year 2017 .28 These efforts culminated in the establishment of the Permanent Commission on Access to Justice .29
There have also been more specific funding initiatives at the State and City levels . The New York City Human Resources Administration has dramatically increased its funding for eviction prevention and anti-harassment tenant protection legal services . HRA doubled and then redoubled its funding for its Homelessness Prevention Law Project to $25 .8 million annually, and more recently added an additional $33 million annually to provide anti-harassment and tenant protection legal services in specific zip codes in each of the five boroughs .30 Other government initiatives that have increased civil legal services funding have included State foreclosure prevention funding,31 immigrant opportunities,32 Citywide legal services,33 legal services for the
27 Former Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman has termed this the “access-to-justice” revolution. See hon. Jonathan Lippman, The Judiciary as the Leader of the Access-to-Justice Revolution, 89 n.y.u. l. reV. 1569 (2014).
28 The Judiciary Civil Legal Services funding increased each year as follows: $12.5 million in State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2012; $25 million in SFY13; $40 million in SFY14; $55 million in SFY15; $70 million in SFY16; and $85 million in the Judiciary Budget for SFY17. This is on top of $15 million in IOLA rescue funding; this fund was designed to supplement the more limited and less reliable sources of funding. See id. at 1573. Remarkably, the Chief Judge commenced and expanded this funding at a time of constrained State budgets. See id. at 1574 (noting that the Judiciary budget increased funding for civil legal services at the same time that the budget was reduced by $170 million, which resulted in layoffs, reduced court hours, and program cutbacks).
29 See Press Release, New York State unified Court System, Chief Judge Announces Creation of Permanent Commission on Access to Justice (July 22, 2015), https://www.nycourts.gov/PRESS/PDFs/PR15_07.pdf. The Chief Judge originally created this as the Task Force to Expand Access to Civil Legal Services in New York in 2010. See Press Release, New York State unified Court System, Task Force to Support Chief Judge’s Efforts to Ensure Adequate Legal Representation in Civil Proceedings Involving Fundamental human Needs (June 9, 2010), https:// www.nycourts.gov/press/pr2010_09.shtml.
30 See Testimony of Commissioner Steven Banks, New York City human Resources Administration, Oversight hearing Addressing the homelessness Crisis, New York City Council Committee on General Welfare (Dec. 9, 2015), available at http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/hra/downloads/pdf/news/testimonies/2015/dec/Oversight%20 hearing_homelessness120915_final.pdf.
31 New York State’s Division of housing and Community Renewal (DhCR) launched its Subprime Foreclosure Prevention Services Program in 2008. See New York DHCR Announces Grants to Address Subprime Foreclosure Crisis, naT’l council of sTaTe housing agencies (Apr. 6, 2010), https://www.ncsha.org/story/new-york-dhcr-announces- grants-address-subprime-foreclosure-crisis. Later the New York State Attorney General’s Office assumed funding for foreclosure prevention legal services.
32 The Immigrant Justice Corps was launched in 2014 with its inaugural class of 25 two-year fellows and expanded with an additional 35 fellows in its second year. See Liz Robbins, Program Providing Legal Help to Immigrants Will Expand Beyond New York City, n.y. Times (May 13, 2015), http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/14/nyregion/program- providing-legal-help-to-immigrants-will-expand-beyond-new-york-city.html. The City Council also launched an unaccompanied Minor Children Initiative in 2014, with $1.9 million in funding. See Press Release, New York City Council, NYC Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, the Robin hood Foundation and New York Community Trust Announce New $1.9 Million unaccompanied Minor Initiative (Sept. 23, 2015), http://council.nyc.gov/html/ pr/092314um.shtml.
33 New York City allocated $3.75 million in Citywide legal services in Fiscal Year 2016. ciTy council of The ciTy of new york, fiscal year 2016, adoPTed exPense budgeT 65 (June 26, 2015), available at http://council.nyc.gov/html/ budget/2016/skedc.pdf.
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