Poverty Law News

Federal Practice Manual for Legal Aid Attorneys--New Edition

The Federal Practice Manual for Legal Aid Attorneys, an invaluable resource for legal aid and public interest lawyers, has recently been updated. The 2006 edition, edited by Jeffrey S. Gutman, Professor of Clinical Law and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at George Washington University Law School and published by the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, is now available in PDF format. Individual chapters from the manual are available for download free of charge from the Shriver Center's online Poverty Law Library.

An HTML version of the manual, which will include links to hyperlinks to statutes, case documents, and model pleadings is forthcoming on eJustice.org, the Shriver Center's national technology project.

Disability

Justice Department Challenges Discriminatory Ordinance
The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against the City of Boca Raton, Florida, alleging that a city ordinance discriminates against individuals with disabilities. The suit alleges that zoning ordinance passed by the city in 2002 and amended in 2003 excludes housing for persons recovering from alcohol or drug dependency from residential areas of the city and unreasonably restricts their operation in commercial zones in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

Disaster Assistance

Settlement Reached in Suit Seeking Accessible Trailers for Hurricane Evacuees
The district court has approved a settlement in Brou v. FEMA, a class action lawsuit brought to ensure that evacuees from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita who have disabilities are provided accessible trailers. Although approximately 25 percent of Katrina evacuees have disabilities, at the time suit was filed, only 1 to 2 percent of evacuees from Louisiana and Mississippi were provided with accessible trailers. As a result of the settlement, FEMA has created special, toll-free numbers for evacuees who need accessible trailers.

Food Programs

Confidentiality of WIC Information
The Food and Nutrition Service has published a final rule that amends a number of existing provisions in the WIC Program regulations to address issues raised by WIC state agencies, other members of the WIC community, and the Government Accountability Office. In particular, this rulemaking streamlines the federal requirements for financial and participation reporting by state agencies and clarifies the requirements pertaining to the confidentiality of WIC information in order to strengthen coordination with public organizations and private physicians.

Health

CMS Ordered Not to Collect Incorrect Payments Sent to Medicare Beneficiaries
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the Medicare program from recovering Part D premium refunds mistakenly sent out by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) until the affected beneficiaries are given the opportunity to seek a waiver of recovery. CMS sent out a letter in late August demanding that the 230,000 beneficiaries who received the premium refunds repay them by September 30, 2006. The letter did not include a statement that the Medicare statute requires recovery of incorrect payments such as these to be waived in specified circumstances.

No Shelter from the Storm: America's Uninsured Children
This report from the Campaign for Children's Health Care finds that more than nine million children--one out of every five in the U.S.--are uninsured. The report notes that racial and ethnic minority children are at greater risk of being uninsured.

Medicare Part D Enrollment
The annual open enrollment period for Medicare Part D begins on November 15, 2006. The Center for Medicare Advocacy has published a tip sheet of factors to consider when renewing membership in a Part D plan or choosing a new plan and a timeline for Part D enrollment.

SCHIP Financing Update
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports that 17 states will face federal funding shortfalls of $800 million in their State Children's Health Insurance Programs in 2007.

Housing

Fair Market Rents
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has published notice of final Fair Market Rents for fiscal year 2007 for the Housing Choice Voucher Program and the Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy Program.

Juveniles

Basic Facts About Low-Income Children
The National Center for Children in Poverty has updated its popular fact sheet series, Basic Facts About Low-Income Children, with the most recent Census data. Millions of children with low-income parents find themselves without the basics, even though the majority of these parents work.

Unemployment Compensation

Confidentiality and Disclosure of State UC Information
The Department of Labor has published a final rule to set forth the confidentiality and disclosure requirements of Title III of the Social Security Act and the Federal Unemployment Tax Act concerning unemployment compensation information. The final rule also amends the Income and Eligibility Verification System regulations, a system of required information sharing primarily among state and local agencies administering several federally assisted programs.

Welfare

Cost Allocation Methodology in the TANF Program
The Administration for Children and Families has published a proposed rule to regulate the cost allocation methodology to be used in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. The proposed rule would require states to use the "benefiting program" cost allocation methodology required by OMB Circular A-87 (2 C.F.R. Part 225) and previously required under HHS's Office of Grants and Acquisition Management Action Transmittal 98-2. Comments are due November 27, 2006.

Women's Poverty in the United States
Legal Momentum has released analysis of recent Census data finding that a woman in the United States is 45 percent more likely to be poor than a man. In 2005, 14.6 million adult women and 9.4 million adult men were poor.