May-June 2008 Clearinghouse Review

Cover

 
  • Strings Attached: The Power of the Federal Purse Waives State Sovereign Immunity from the Rehabilitation Act

    After years as, essentially, a sidekick to the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act has become the sole avenue for obtaining damages from state employers for employment discrimination based on disabilities. The Rehabilitation Act is valuable for obtaining damages from states in the context of public programs and services. Particularly in light of recent cases holding that state sovereign immunity does not limit the relevance of the Rehabilitation Act, understanding the advantages and disadvantages of using the Rehabilitation Act to sue state entities is key to obtaining damages for clients with disabilities.

    By Rochelle Bobroff and Harper Jean Tobin

  • Local Land-Use Advocacy: Inclusionary Zoning to Achieve Economic and Racial Integration

    Inclusionary zoning offers housing as well as access to better education, economic opportunities, transportation, and more environmentally sound development for households of all income levels. Legal Services of Northern California contributed to the passage of Sacramento County’s inclusionary zoning ordinance, which provided for a set-aside for extremely low-income households. A coalition of stakeholders, including LSNC, discovered that applicability, enforceability, possible buyouts and in-lieu fees, and long-term affordability were among the factors determining an ordinance’s effectiveness.

    By Valerie Feldman

  • Beyond Green Roofs

    While many may agree that development, including affordable housing, should seek to be environmentally sensitive, developers, public agencies, and the general public disagree on what this commitment to green development should be. Blueprint for Greening Affordable Housing advocates an integrated design approach, gives best practices in green development, lists green affordable-housing developments across the country, and presents a dozen in-depth case studies of model projects.

    By Peter Levavi

  • Interplay Among Workers' Compensation, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act

    Low-income workers injured on the job may lose income, health care, and even their jobs if they or their advocate do not understand the relevance and interplay of laws often unfamiliar to legal aid attorneys: workers’ compensation insurance laws, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act. These laws may help injured workers preserve their jobs while they recover and allow them to return to their preinjury jobs or, with reasonable accommodations, go to other jobs. Safety net programs such as Social Security Disability Insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid may provide income and health care to the injured worker whose claims under those laws are denied or delayed.

    By Kevin Liebkemann and Ray Cebula

  • Public Benefits Privatization and Modernization: Recent Developments and Advocacy

    More states are contracting with private vendors to administer benefit programs and “modernizing” program administration by closing welfare offices in favor of “call centers” and online access. These changes affect low-income people—changes that are potentially beneficial but too often harmful, especially for vulnerable population groups such as those with disabilities or limited English proficiency. Advocates in four states that have implemented privatization or modernization have had some successes in protecting clients from harmful effects and have gained experience relevant in other states that pursue similar policies.

    Shriver Center

    By Mary R. Mannix, Cary LaCheen, Henry A. Freedman, and Marc Cohan

  • News and Notes

  • A State Court Remedy for the Keffeler Problem: A Call to Action

    Washington State Department of Social and Health Services v. Guardianship Estate of Keffeler, 537 U.S. 371 (2003), allows the use of a foster child’s Supplemental Security Income to reimburse states for the cost of the child’s foster care. Yet In re John G., 652 S.E.2d 266 (N.C. 2007), bars the state agency’s taking of social security benefits and brings into question the practice of converting a child’s social security benefits into a funding stream for state institutions. John G. suggests that advocates use a state court remedy to stop the taking of benefits from foster children. This is an opposing view to that of Angie Schwartz and Diana Glick’s article in the March-April 2008 Clearinghouse Review.

    By Lewis Pitts

  • Using Student-Run Banks to Promote Financial Education and Community Economic and Workforce Development

    Student-run banks are a practical form of financial education. They train students in skills needed to succeed, introduce parents to mainstream banking, and serve as a catalyst for community economic and workforce development. Advocates can help in developing student-run banks and in translating bank benefits to the community and state.

    By Dory Rand and Kelly E. Slay

  • Reconstructing the Constitutional Case Against Mandatory Welfare Home Visits

    The unconstitutional-conditions doctrine holds that government may not condition benefits on the surrender of individual constitutional rights. Nonetheless, since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1971 decision in Wyman v. James, welfare recipients have been subject to mandatory home visits despite the Fourth Amendment’s protection from unreasonable searches. However, the essential nexus test, which is rooted in Fifth Amendment takings claims and measures the fitness between the condition and the government goal, may offer an alternative theory for challenging mandatory home visits.

    By Steven D. Schwinn

  • Instituting a Race-Conscious Practice in Legal Aid: One Program's Effort

    Disparate treatment on account of race and ethnicity persists, and legal aid advocates regularly confront the effects of such disparity on their clients. Recognizing the pervasiveness of social and institutional racism, Legal Services of Northern California developed a programwide, race-conscious approach to advocacy through its Race Equity Project. The lessons learned from this effort offer both a race-based lens through which to view a legal aid practice and a road map for other legal aid programs in adopting their own, similar projects.

    By Mona Tawatao, Colin Bailey, Gary Smith, and Bill Kennedy