Business Wire
State's Poor to Lose $2 Million in Legal Aid
Wednesday, November 13, 2002
DETROIT-(BUSINESS WIRE)-Nov. 13, 2002-Michigan will lose $2
million in federal funding and $600,000 in state funding to provide
legal aid to the poor in 2003, according to Deierdre L. Weir,
executive director of the Legal Aid and Defender Association, Inc.,
the state's largest provider of legal services to the poor.
Current federal funds of nearly $10.7 million from the Legal
Services Corporation (LSC) will drop to $8.7 million for next year,
according to Weir. She said that the reductions reflect a decline
in the number of persons in the state who are living in poverty,
according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2000 census.
LSC uses census data to determine funding across the nation, and
according to the census, the state's poverty population fell from
an estimated 1.2 million in 1990 to an estimated 968,000 in
2000.
The state's legal aid agencies are also bracing for yet another
cut in 2003 of some $600,000 of state funding. A portion of filing
fees paid by litigants in the state's circuit courts, and a portion
of interest on lawyers trust accounts (IOLTA) are earmarked for
Michigan legal aid programs. These funds are expected to drop from
currently $7.5 million in 2002 to $6.9 million when the Michigan
State Bar Foundation makes distributions next year. Most of the
decrease is attributed to the past year's low interest rates.
"The irony of these funding cuts is that while there may be
fewer poor people in Michigan today, the demand for service will
not change because the poverty population remains so large and the
legal aid funding so little that local providers will never able to
serve all who need our service," said Weir. "It's as if the poor
will be victimized twice-once for being poor and again as victims
of these funding cuts."
The U.S. Census Bureau, in spite of its best efforts, cannot
locate every poor person living in a census tract, therefore the
poor are also undercounted, added Weir.
The brunt of these cuts will be felt most in Wayne County where
according to the census some 333,000 poor people live, the largest
concentration of poverty in the state. LAD will lose more than
$870,000 for legal aid in Wayne County, nearly half of the state's
total loss, said Weir.
While difficult to measure, the loss of funds will mean that
several thousand of Michigan's poor in need of legal service will
not receive it, or they will receive significantly limited service.
Cutbacks will include service in such civil legal matters as
landlord-tenant, bankruptcy, consumer, child custody, predatory
lending, mortgage foreclosure, utility shutoffs, social security,
wills, and probate.
"Local providers will have to work harder and smarter and use
more technology instead of staff to provide as much service as we
can with fewer dollars," said Weir. "We will be providing more
selfhelp training to clients enabling them to navigate the legal
system on their own in routine matters, more assistance on the
telephone, and less direct representation by attorneys in specific,
high impact matters.
Currently, Michigan has 13 legal aid agencies covering the
state's 83 counties. Eight receive LSC funding in addition to
receiving charitable gifts and grants from various local
supporters. Most of the eight providers rely on LSC funding for at
least 40 percent of their annual operating budgets. Some of these
providers have already laid off attorneys and support staff in
anticipation of next year's reduced funding, according to Weir.
Weir added that the legal aid agencies will also recruit more
attorneys from private practice to handle legal aid cases for free,
and accelerate efforts to find alternative funding.
LSC is a private nonprofit organization established by Congress
in 1974 to provide legal services to the poor. Last year Congress
appropriated $329 million to LSC to distribute to local programs
across the country and LSC has requested the same amount for
2003.
LSC's funding request from Congress is essentially unchanged,
says Weir, because the poverty population has decreased in some
states such as Michigan, but has risen in others, and the number of
persons in the U.S. living in poverty has changed little over the
past decade.
According to the U.S Census Bureau, 33.6 million persons in the
U.S. were living below poverty level in 1990, compared to 31.6
million in 2000.
However, the census bureau's adjusted estimates for 2001 show an
increase in poverty nationally. "The poverty rate and the number of
poor both rose in 2001, to 11.7 percent and 32.9 million, up
from
11.3 percent and 31.6 million," states Poverty in the United
States: 2001, a recent bureau report.
Weir says that traditionally LSC sticks to the 10-year census
data, and will not change its funding based on the 2001 data,
however it is possible that LSC will make an adjustment in the
future.
LAD was established in 1909 as the Legal Aid Society of Detroit
and today is the largest legal aid provider in Michigan and one of
the largest of its kind in the U.S. With a staff of 80 attorneys
and 90 support staff, the organization provides civil legal
services and criminal representation of indigent defendants in both
state and federal courts. LAD services more than 15,000 citizens
annually.
In addition to LSC, LAD is funded by United Way for Southeastern
Michigan, Michigan State Bar Foundation, Detroit Area Agency on
Aging, The Senior Alliance, City of Detroit, Wayne County, U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development, Administrative Office
of U.S. Courts, and private donations.
