Poverty Law News

Attorneys/Legal Services

LSC Revises Regulation Prohibiting Discrimination on Basis of Handicap;
Defers Action on Client Grievance Procedure Regulation
The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) has adopted a final rule revising LSC's regulation prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability (45 C.F.R. Part 1624). The final rule updates the terminology used to refer to persons with disabilities, adds a reference to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and adds language to the enforcement provision setting forth LSC policy regarding investigation of complaints of violation of this regulation. LSC's Board also deferred consideration of the draft final rule revising LSC's regulation on client grievance procedures (45 C.F.R. Part 1621). The comment period for this regulation will be reopened for a period of 45 days after publication of the notice in the Federal Register. The Board will resume consideration of the draft final rule at its meeting in January 2007.

Civil Legal Justice Gap for People in Poverty in New Jersey
Legal Services of New Jersey has released a new report on the extent of the unmet need for such civil legal assistance in the state. “People Without Lawyers: New Jersey’s Civil Legal Justice Gap Continues” updates a similar report released by LSNJ last year.

Model Rule on Provision of Pro Bono Legal Services to Disaster Victims
The American Bar Association Standing Committee on Client Protection has circulated for comment a proposed new Model Rule that addresses the provision of pro bono legal services by out-of state lawyers in a jurisdiction that has been devastated by a catastrophic event. The proposed Model Rule also addresses the issue of lawyers whose practices have been disrupted by a catastrophic event continuing their law practices on a temporary basis in a jurisdiction in which they are not admitted to practice law.

Health

Health Care in America Survey
The Kaiser Family Foundation, ABC News, and USA Today jointly conducted a survey between September 7 and 12, 2006, to examine Americans' views and experiences related to health care costs and quality, as well as their attitudes toward possible solutions. One in four respondents said that they or a family member had had problems paying medical bills during the past 12 months.

Juveniles

Child Care Assistance
This set of state-by-state data published by the Center for Law and Social Policy includes new individual state pages analyzing 2005 child care spending from CCDBG and TANF funds, along with data (published in March 2006) on states’ use of community-based child care to provide Pre-K. An accompanying report finds that s tate spending on child care assistance declined in 2005 for the second consecutive year. Twenty-two states made cuts to their child care programs, as the number of children living in low-income families that received help from these programs continued to decline.

Social Security/SSI

Cost-of-Living Increases and Other Determinations
The Social Security Administration has announced cost-of-living increases in social security benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act, effective December 2006. This notice also announces an increase in SSI monthly benefit amounts, changes to the national average wage index, the earnings threshold for a trial work period, and other changes.