Poverty Law News

Shriver Center Sets National Agenda

The Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law has been helping poor people in courtrooms and setting policies at the state and national level for forty years, but now is a time when the country may be ready for deep and broad change. At this time of renewed promise in the fight against poverty, the Shriver Center puts forth twelve ways to lead the change. Each policy idea cites opportunities for action that all antipoverty advocates can take on both the federal and state levels in 2007.

Education

The Changing Landscape of American Public Education
This report from the Pew Hispanic Center examines the intersection of two trends that have transformed the landscape of American public education in recent years: a rapid increase in enrollment and a surge in the opening of new schools. The report describes the racial and ethnic components of enrollment growth at various levels of the K-12 system. It also examines the composition of enrollment in newly opened schools and older schools still in operation as well as the impact of rapid growth in Hispanic enrollment.

Employment

Court of Appeals Rules on FMLA Leave
In Repa v. Roadway Express, the Seventh Circuit has held that defendant employer violated the Family and Medical Leave Act when it required an employee on FMLA leave who was also receiving disability benefits to concurrently use her sick and vacation leave.

Health

Where Do the Uninsured Live in Illinois?
A new report, released by Health & Disability Advocates in collaboration with Heartland Alliance and other partners, identifies where Illinois’ 1.4 million  adults who lack healthcare coverage live by legislative district and by poverty level.

Housing

Justice Department Reaches Settlement with Racetrack Owners
The Justice Department has reached a settlement with the owners of the Arlington Park Racecourse in Arlington Heights, Illinois, resolving claims that the owners violated the provisions of the federal Fair Housing Act that prohibit discrimination on the basis of familial status. In 2004, HOPE Fair Housing Center, a fair housing advocacy organization based in Wheaton, Ill., filed a complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development alleging that the owners had a policy in place that restricted families from living in six residential buildings on the track’s “backstretch,” in violation of the Fair Housing Act. At the time HOPE filed its complaint, five of the six buildings had private bathrooms and air conditioning, and these five buildings were the only residential buildings on the backstretch that had these amenities.

Social Security/SSI

EAJA Filing Deadline
In Van v. Barnhart, the Ninth Circuit has held that Equal Access to Justice Act’s 30-day filing period does not begin to run until after the 60-day appeal period in Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a) has lapsed, even when the Commissioner of Social Security Administration, following a sentence-six remand, has awarded benefits to a claimant who then obtains a judgment to which the Commissioner consents in the district court.

Welfare

Between Welfare Reform and Reauthorization
This report, part of MDRC's Project on Devolution and Urban Change, describes how — in the early 2000s, a time marked by an economic downturn, state budget cuts, and welfare time limits — Cleveland and Philadelphia met the three main challenges of welfare reform: how to assist recipients in moving from welfare to work, how to serve recipients who have multiple or severe barriers to employment, and how to provide work supports to low-income families.

Poverty Law News
March 10, 2007