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Legal Services of Greater Miami
EQUAL JUSTICE
BULLETIN
May 4, 2006
PROGRAM NOTES
The 40th Anniversary Luncheon for Legal Services of Greater Miami will be held on June 9, 2006 at the JW Marriott, located at 1109 Brickell Ave, from 12:00 noon until 1:30 pm. There will be an alumni reception beginning at 11:00 am. Contact Amorette Hinds for more information (305 438 2507).
LSGMI's Cuban-Haitian Entrant Project was recently selected as the first runner up of the Florida Bar Foundation's 2006 Steven M. Goldstein Award for Excellence. CLICK HERE to learn more about the award.
FEMA ADVOCACY
LSGMI attorney Jose Fons has created an advocacy manual that can be used by attorneys (or non-attorneys) for handling hurricane related cases where FEMA has denied benefits. As we prepare for the upcoming storm season many residents are still trying to get their lives together in the aftermath of the disasters that befell them over the past two years. Jose has created a step by step guide describing how to handle such cases. To view the manual
CLICK HEREAttorney Jose Fons recently was able to help a client obtain FEMA benefits. The client had been living with her mother and grandparents. Hurricane Wilma severely damaged the home and it was declared uninhabitable by local code enforcement officers. The grandfather collected the insurance proceeds and then left without telling the others. FEMA denied benefits because the there had been an insurance policy and, also, because only one member of a household is allowed to apply for benefits. The client was not aware that she could apply to FEMA as separate household. Jose advised her to fill out an a new application. As a result FEMA approved an award of $3644 in personal property losses and an additional $1305 for 2 months rental assistance. The client was able to purchase new clothing and start working again.
Attorney Jose Fons helped a disabled client who had been living in a boarding home that was severely damaged by Hurricane Wilma (there was a large hole in the roof). Because he had no where else to go, he continued to live there, staying at a relative's house or in a local homeless shelter on cold or rainy nights. His application for FEMA assistance was denied due to "insufficient damage". Jose assisted the client with the appeal. As it turned out FEMA incorrectly believed that the client was the owner and not a renter. With Jose's assistance FEMA re-inspected the dwelling and the was claim approved. The client received the funds to pay for the replacement of the items that were damaged, as well as the funds to pay rent.
HEALTH CARE ADVOCACY
Attorney Lissie Salazar recently represented an indigent client with over $64,000 worth of medical bills from Jackson Memorial Hospital. Some of the bills were 6 years old. After providing documentation regarding the client's low income during the relevant years and negotiating for a reclassification of her Public Health Trust care card, Jackson agreed to discharge $63,802. As a result, the client now only owes $322 for a 1999 medical bill. In a similar case, Lissie was able to negotiate a discharge of over $15,000 in Jackson hospital bills for another client.
Attorney Lizel Gonzalez represented an indigent client who had over $90,000 in Jackson Memorial Hospital bills. The hospital had obtained a lien against the client for over $87,000. Lizel was able to convince the hospital that the client was eligible for free care due to her indigent status at the time the services were rendered. The hospital reduced the $87,000 lien to $0 and provided a satisfaction of lien. In addition, the remaining $3,000 debt was reduced to a little over $1,000. The client is now working and repaying the debt.
MEDICAID ADVOCACY
Attorney Beth Papir-Haspel recently represented a client in an assisted living facility. The client was over income for receipt of Medicaid, but had been advised that she could qualify by setting up an income trust. Beth drafted the trust and submitted it to the Florida Department of Children and Families for approval along with all of the requisite documentation. The Department lagged for a time but finally granted initial approval. After additional negotiations over the amounts to be placed in the trust and confirmation of the onset date of eligibility, the Department eventually gave its final approval. The client now has Medicaid. and is still at the assisted living facility and doing well. She can keep all but approximately $100 of her Social Security check to pay for expenses (the $100 goes into the trust).
LSGMI attorneys are representing Marlon Barrera in his efforts to obtain Medicaid waiver services so that he can be cared for in his home. A newspaper article about Marlon's legal battle can be found at
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/14305266.htmDISABILITY BENEFITS ADVOCACY
Paralegal Jackie Michel-Chow recently assisted a client who had not received her Social Security checks for 2 months due to a direct deposit problem and recent address change. During the intake interview, Jackie made several calls to the Social Security Administration and, discovering the checks had been re-sent by mail, contacted the local Post Office branch. She found that one of the checks was still at the Post Office. The client was advised to immediately go to pick it up, which she did. The client received the second check shortly thereafter.
Nancy Sutton, an attorney with Legal Services of the Florida Keys, recently won disability benefits for her client using innovative advocacy before the Social Security Administration's Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA). She requested an "on the record" decision to bypass the usual lengthy appeal process which can take two years or more, and quickly won benefits for her client . The judge in the case complimented her on the quality of her legal brief.
LOW INCOME TAXPAYER ASSISTANCE
Attorney Kimberly Sanchez represented a client with a tax matter in which the IRS denied the Earned Income Tax Credit and had been withholding the client's refunds for the past 3 years. After trial had been scheduled in Tax Court, Kimberly met with the IRS and resolved the case. The IRS conceded and gave Kimberly's client every credit that had been requested. This will result in the client receiving approximately $12,000. The client plans to use the money as a down payment on a house.
Attorney Kimberly Sanchez recently participated as a guest on the weekly television show Teleskopi, which is aimed at a Haitian American audience. The broadcast was part of a continuing series on Financial Literacy, Kimberley's segment was entitled "Income Taxes and the Law - Consequences of Intentional and Unintentional Filing Errors". Her presentation focused on the costs of tax filing errors and included tips on how to resolve disputes with the IRS in the event of an audit due to filing mistakes.
HOUSING ADVOCACY
Attorney Carolina Lombardi recently won a victory on a Writ of Certiorari to the Circuit Court which overturned an administrative decision of the Hialeah Housing Authority. Carolina's client had been terminated from the Section 8 rent subsidy program because a police background check had revealed that the client's son had been arrested in 2003. The client had been terminated despite the fact that this same police background check had indicated that the case had been dismissed without prosecution. The Circuit Court held that the termination did not comply with the requirements of the federal regulations governing the Section 8 program.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Attorney John Little was recently a featured speaker at a conference sponsored by the University of Georgia School of Law. The conference was entitled "Working in the Public Interest: Challenging Poverty Through Law."
FAMILY LAW
Attorney Laverne Pinkney recently achieved victory for her client after a trial involving some innovative issues. The judge agreed with Laverne’s contention that the "Section 8" voucher was a marital asset. Based upon the federal regulations and testimony presented at trial, the judge awarded the voucher to Laverne's client as equitable distribution in the divorce. (Section 8 is a federal rent subsidy program administered by the City of Miami Beach).
Attorney Lissette Labrousse recently won a victory on behalf of a disabled father who was having almost half of his social security check garnished each month for alleged child support arrears owed to the mother of his 2 children. Prior to Lissette's intervention in 2005 the client had been unrepresented in the proceedings. The judgment was unfair because the father had paid his child support obligation by qualifying his children for dependent social security benefits. In addition, the children had been living with their paternal grandparents since the time of the original 1998 child support order and not with their mother. Beyond that, the children had both become emancipated by the year 2002 and no further child support should have been owed. Lissette filed a motion to vacate the arrears determination and terminate continued payment. The motion was denied as was a request for rehearing. After a notice of appeal was filed, the state attorney’s office stipulated to remand the case for a full evidentiary rehearing. At the hearing Lissette's motion was granted and payment on the arrears was terminated. The father’s social security is no longer being garnished and his arrears of over $16,000 was reduced to zero. He now receives his full benefits of $747 per month.
CITIZENSHIP
LSGMI’s Employment and Economic Security (EES) Unit has noticed a large scale delay on the part of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services office in processing naturalization applications and scheduling oath ceremonies for its clients. In addition to delaying the client's ability to enjoy the benefits and rewards of being a citizen, it also affects the client's ability to receive SSI. To remedy this, LSGMI attorneys have filed eight cases in federal court challenging the legality of the delays.
PRISONER RE-ENTRY ADVOCACY
Champagne Girten, a third year law student at the University of Miami, has been selected for a prestigious Equal Justice Works Fellowship. Starting in the Fall of 2006, Champagne will be working with LSGMI to provide legal help with civil matters to women who are leaving the Homestead Correctional Institute. This competitive Fellowship was first started in 1992 to help remedy the shortage of attorneys working with under-served populations across the United States. The Fellowship Program has now become the nation's largest post-graduate legal Fellowship program supporting 86 fellows for 2004 and 2005. This prestigious two-year Fellowship offers salary and generous loan repayment assistance along with a national training and leadership development program.
EDUCATION ADVOCACY
Attorney Laverne Pinkney was able to help a severely handicapped 18 year old girl obtain placement in a school that is allowing her to fulfill her dream of a computer related career. The client is blind in the left eye and has a rare cancerous tumor of the brain. She had previously been adopted by her foster parent but ran away from home after suffering abuse. She found her biological mother through Internet searches and moved in with her. The School system denied her re-admission application to the the technical school that she had been attending because she no longer lived in the correct region. Laverne intervened and was able to convince the School Board to admit her to the school and arrange for transportation. The client is currently in the process of setting up a web site for children with cancer. She contacted the Miami Herald and was able to persuade them to donate a computer. She then persuaded a law firm to donate Internet service for one year.
Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc.
3000 Biscayne Blvd., Ste 500
Miami, FL 33137
Marcia Cypen, Executive Director
John Little, Editor