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Special Message Regarding Legal Services in Metro Detroit |
Nearly everyone in the Metro Detroit community has felt the negative consequences of our nation's economic recession and Legal Aid and Defender (LAD) has been no exception. For the past several years we have experienced small but steady decreases in funding to provide civil legal services to low-income and poor residents of Macomb, Oakland and Wayne Counties including within the city of Detroit. But 2011 was a watershed year in terms of funding cuts.
In November 2011, the United States Congress cut funding to the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) 14.8 percent or $56 Million for fiscal 2012. Also, low interest rates have reduced income from Michigan's Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts (IOLTA) -- the major source of legal aid funding in the state -- by more than 30 percent for fiscal 2012. These are the two major sources of funding upon which we rely, and their reduction will mean a reduction in staff and overall reduction in civil legal services that we provide in Metro Detroit.
Simply put, this means thousands of individualls and their families will not receive legal representation in critical matters affecting their ability to earn a living, and provide the basic needs of food, housing and medical care.
While all three of our offices will remain open in Detroit, Mt. Clemens and Pontiac, our services will focus only on meeting the most critical of our clients' needs. This will include housing and foreclosure matters, landlord-tenant issues, consumer matters, and public benefits such as Social Security, disability income, and food stamps. Because of separate funding sources, we will also be able to continue our Wayne County Expungement Program and the Legal Aid for Children and Families at Beaumont Hospital.
We realize that we are not alone in this struggle to help our needy residents. We wanted to apprise community leaders, elected officials and human services providers of our need to reduce services as a result of a significant reduction in resources. I will be happy to answer any questions, or you can contact Joan Glanton-Howard at 313-967-5678 or jhoward@ladadetroit.org.
Sincerely,
Deierdre L. Weir
President & CEO |
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