Poor find it harder to get free legal help for civil cases

Posted June 7, 2017

Since she became homeless two years ago, Renee has felt invisible. And without a copy of her birth certificate, she essentially is invisible to government agencies.

Renee, who didn’t want to give her last name, said she lost her belongings — including her purse with identification and government paperwork — when the Bristol Township tent city where she was living was bulldozed in January. She recently moved into the Family Service Association's Bucks County Emergency Homeless Shelter, which requires residents obtain proof of identification — but works with people like Renee to help them get it.  

“I’m starting over,” she explained. “Everything you do, you need ID. I have nothing.”

Renee is among countless Pennsylvanians who face life-changing legal problems but can't afford a lawyer. She's also one of a dwindling number of people who can get free assistance through Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania, a private nonprofit that provides civil legal services to the lowest income residents of the Philadelphia suburbs, including Bucks and Montgomery counties.

“Not surprisingly, people who have to go to court or have legal problems and don’t have the benefit of legal counsel, let alone advice, are put in a much more vulnerable position to be taken advantage of (by plaintiffs and their lawyers)," said Elizabeth Fritsch, executive director of the Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

And the situation could get worse, she and others worry.

By the numbers

In his 2018 federal budget proposal, President Donald Trump would eliminate funding for the Legal Services Corp., a federally funded national organization that provides most funding for civil legal services for the poor.

Danielle Voight talks to an attorney at a Legal Aid event

That cut, combined with proposed reductions in federal Community Development Block Grants, would reduce Legal Aid funding by 40 percent, according to Ann Tydeman-Solomon, development director for Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania. The result of those cuts alone would be "thousands" fewer people who could be served, she said, and a widening of the civil "justice gap" experienced by the poor.

The proposed federal funding loss would follow a decade of significant erosion of civil legal resources for the poor in Pennsylvania. 

State appropriations for civil legal services for the poor have dropped 26 percent since the 2007-08 fiscal year, to about $20 million, according to Sam Milkes, executive director of the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network, which distributes funding for indigent civil legal services in the state.

Other government and private funding also has declined significantly since 2008, according to a 2014 report to the Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee.

One of the most dramatic declines was in the Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts, which fell to $1.45 million last year — down from $12.2 million in 2009. The account is a pool of money generated from interest on lawyer trust accounts. Attorneys aren't legally able to make money from client funds, so the funds are deposited in the IOLTA when they'd earn less interest than the cost of opening and closing an interest-bearing account.

Before the recession, money from the attorney trust fund accounted for roughly one-third of the state's Legal Aid funding, Milkes said. Now, it's one-tenth. 

The one exception to the losses was a $200,000 increase in Pennsylvania's appropriation for civil legal services for the poor. That raised the state's contribution to $2.66 million, but that's less than half of what is needed, Milkes said. And Gov. Wolf's budget proposes no additional money for 2017-18.

One of the most dramatic declines was in the Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts, which fell to $1.45 million last year — down from $12.2 million in 2009. The account is a pool of money generated from interest on lawyer trust accounts. Attorneys aren't legally able to make money from client funds, so the funds are deposited in the IOLTA when they'd earn less interest than the cost of opening and closing an interest-bearing account.

Before the recession, money from the attorney trust fund accounted for roughly one-third of the state's Legal Aid funding, Milkes said. Now, it's one-tenth. 

The one exception to the losses was a $200,000 increase in Pennsylvania's appropriation for civil legal services for the poor. That raised the state's contribution to $2.66 million, but that's less than half of what is needed, Milkes said. And Gov. Wolf's budget proposes no additional money for 2017-18.

Less money; less help

Lack of funds means fewer attorneys to provide free legal assistance. 

Statewide, about 100,000 Pennsylvanians receive free legal representation each year, but nearly 2 million who sought help and qualified didn't get it due to lack of Legal Aid funds. Last year alone, Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania reported that it turned down more than 12,000 otherwise eligible residents because it didn’t have enough staff to assist them.

“We have to pick and choose those cases where we think we’ll have the most impact. It’s hard to say no to people, but we have to do it,” Fritsch said. “The bottom line is that we have had less funding over the past several years and so have had to cut back on our cases."

Those who get help are the poorest of the poor, earning no more than 125 percent of the federal income poverty level, or $15,075 for a one-person household this year, according to Legal Aid. That number doesn't include domestic violence victims, who are assisted regardless of income, according to the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network.

Civil legal matters can include child custody disputes, mortgage foreclosures, tenant disputes, personal bankruptcy, unemployment or Social Security Disability claims, and other such matters.

Even something as seemingly mundane as obtaining a copy of a birth certificate can require legal help -- and Renee was one of nearly 50 people who registered for free legal help at an event that was co-sponsored by Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania and the Bucks County Bar Association. Legal Aid staff attorneys and volunteer lawyers from the bar association provided the help at the May event. 

How hard can it be to get something as seemingly simple as a copy of your birth certificate?  

Karl Johnson and Justina Brewington, who were among two dozen walk-ins seeking help at the May event, offered an explanation.

Without state identification, they couldn't get copies of their birth certificates. Without his birth certificate, Johnson couldn't get a state ID card, which he needed to get a job. And without a job, he couldn't afford the $20 the state charges for a birth certificate.   

“We’re stuck,” said Brewington, who recently moved into the homeless shelter with Johnson and their infant son.

Fighting for funds

State Sen. Stewart Greenleaf Jr., R-12, of Willow Grove, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has been a staunch advocate for improved funding for indigent civil defense and has introduced legislation to continue the 2002 Access to Justice Act and ensure it provides adequate funding.

The Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network found the $53.6 million invested in Pennsylvania’s indigent civil legal services in 2011 yielded $594 million in income and savings for state residents and supported 2,643 jobs by helping people access federal programs that provide housing, unemployment, disability or Social Security benefits. 

The Legislature hasn't taken any action on recommendations to boost funding for civil justice representation, Greenleaf said.

Meanwhile, people who can't get help from Legal Aid are referred to local bar associations, which refer them to private attorneys who have agreed to charge reduced rates for financially qualified clients. 

The Bucks County Bar Association has 36 attorneys in its Civil Marginal Income Program, said Lynn Abbonizio, the referral service administrator. The agency doesn't disclose income guidelines to the public and considers only people who are referred from Legal Aid. Last year, the program referred 139 individuals to participating attorneys, down from 207 in 2010, Abbonizio said.

The Modest Means Legal Access Project is a joint project of the Montgomery County Bar Association and Legal Aid. Participating attorneys offer reduced fees to qualified clients for civil matters, according Nancy Walsh, coordinator of the association’s Access to Justice program. Last year, about 300 people qualified under the program, which refers individuals to private attorneys who charge a discounted $75 an hour. 

Recently, the program was overhauled to better address the growing gap in access to civil attorneys, Walsh said. It almost doubled the qualifying income threshold from 125 percent of the federal poverty limit to 200 percent, which is $24,120 for a one-person household this year. The Montgomery County Bar Association also hired a coordinator to work with nonprofit agencies and recruit more attorneys.

“This will allow us to reach more people in need of affordable legal assistance than ever before,” Walsh said
.

House lawmakers pass bill to create voluntary regulations for recovery houses

Posted June 7, 2017

Pennsylvania lawmakers have taken a step toward establishing a statewide voluntary certification process for homes for newly sober drug and alcohol abusers, but two Bucks County representatives said the bill needs tweaks to make it stronger.

Leonard Spearing

The state’s Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs would be responsible for creating the guidelines for inspection and certification of recovery homes, under House Bill 119, which the House unanimously passed Wednesday. DDAP is responsible for the licensing and oversight of drug and alcohol treatment programs and centers in the state. 

Introduced by Rep. Aaron Kaufer, R-Luzerne, the bill would disqualify recovery house operators and owners who fail to obtain certification from receiving state or federal funding, and require licensed treatment centers and programs to refer clients to only certified recovery homes. The bill would bar recovery house owners or employees from requiring residents to sign over any public assistance benefits.

The bill also would limit a single owner to operating no more than five recovery homes, require criminal background checks for owners and employees, and bar individuals convicted of specific crimes from operating certified homes.

An array of recommendations from the state’s Certified Drug and Alcohol Recovery Housing Task Force released last year — ethical standards, physical and structural requirements for houses, procedural and organizational standards, safety, good neighbor and enforcement policies — also are included in the bill.

Kaufer’s bill now moves to the Senate, where a similar bill has been introduced. 

Like most states, Pennsylvania has no operating standards, employee training requirements or review protocol for recovery and sober living homes, which are supposed to provide structured, drug-free housing and support for recovering substance abusers as they rebuild their lives after treatment or prison. Recovery house residents are protected from discrimination under federal housing and disability laws, which makes imposing regulations difficult, local and state officials have said.

The lack of government oversight has made it difficult for recovering addicts, their families and local officials to learn much about recovery houses, including where they're located, who runs them and if they provide the sober and safe environment that those who treat substance abusers say is critical to lasting sobriety.

At least 122 confirmed recovery houses were operating in Bucks County last year, according to an analysis by this news organization. More than three-quarters of them were in Bristol Township, where they have faced intense public scrutiny.

Bristol Township police responded to 17 medical dispatch calls for overdoses at recovery houses last year, including two deaths, according to Lt. Ralph Johnson. Last month, Bucks County detectives charged a 25-year-old man with selling drugs in the Middletown recovery house where he lived. The charges came after two house residents survived overdoses of heroin mixed with fentanyl and other residents claimed they bought drugs from the man.

On Wednesday, Rep. Frank Farry, R-142, of Langhorne, who has advocated for recovery house regulation since 2013, called the House bill a good first step, but said that both it and a companion Senate bill need work. He wants to see stronger language in the bill, including a provision that county probation and parole offices could place offenders under its supervision only in a state certified recovery house.

“It’s absolutely a step in the right direction,” Farry added. “There is good stuff in (the bill) but it doesn’t get fully to where I think it needs to be. It needs to be tightened up.”

Rep. Tina Davis, D-141, of Bristol Township, said that she worked with Kaufer on his bill and that some of its amendments came out of recovery house bills that she had also introduced.

“I’m happy that it’s a start. At least we’re on the books for something,” Davis said.

But Davis is disappointed that two major provisions in her bills are not included: a mandatory annual inspection of houses to maintain certification and language that would include penalties for licensed treatment centers that refer to uncertified recovery residences. She also expressed concern that DDAP has indicated it wants to limit the number of certifications to 500 homes.

Recovery house owner Bryan Kennedy said he and other members of the Bucks County Recovery House Association provided insight and direction to lawmakers drafting the certification bill.

"We support certifications of recovery houses in hope that it shuts down some of the poorly run rogue houses in our community that give the recovery house community at large a negatively tainted reputation as a whole," said Kennedy, who chairs the recovery house association. "A recovery house should be held accountable in providing what they claim to provide."

Local parents whose adult children had fatal overdoses in places they thought were regulated recovery houses said the effort to bring standards and oversight to recovery houses and sober living homes is long overdue.

Horsham resident Leonard Spearing lost his son, also named Leonard, 33, from a drug overdose in November 2015, less than a week after he left drug rehab and entered what Spearing believed was a recovery house in Bristol Township. The home’s owner, whose application to open a recovery house was denied for zoning reasons, has denied the shared residence was a recovery house, though county 911 records as far back as 2012 listed it as one.

Spearing said he is glad the recovery house legislation is moving forward, but strongly believes it needs to include language that would require any resident receiving any public assistance, such as food stamps or Medicaid, to only live in a certified recovery or sober living home. Similarly, he believes that treatment centers should recommend only certified recovery homes and inform clients or family if a home is not state certified.

Middletown resident Angelina Lafaro Mundy was pleased to learn the House bill would bar house owners and employees from requiring residents to turn over public benefits. Her daughter Katelynne Sheaf, 27, who fatally overdosed in the same house as Spearing’s son in June 2015, used her food stamps to pay rent in recovery houses, she said. Lafaro Mundy also called criminal background checks for owners, operators and employees crucial.

She added that she cannot see why a legitimate recovery home operator would not get state certification.

“Even as a first pass, which may need tweaking, this bill is a step toward securing a safer and more regimented environment which will encourage continued growth towards recovery,” she added.

State report issued on child welfare agency in Grace Packer case

Posted June 7, 2017

Sara Packer at her January 2017 arraignment

A for-profit foster care agency that is under state scrutiny appears to be following the rules necessary to maintain its Pennsylvania license as a child welfare provider, according to an interim report from the Department of Human Services.

The IMPACT Project, based in Lehigh County, drew the attention of state and local child welfare officials earlier this year for its connection to Sara Packer, the former IMPACT child welfare worker accused in last year's rape, murder and dismemberment of her 14-year-old adopted daughter, Grace.

The state review was prompted by IMPACT’s prior practice of permitting employees to foster children under the agency's care without state approval, along with recent allegations from former Packer foster children that staff members ignored complaints about abusive behavior a decade ago, DHS spokeswoman Rachel Kostelac said.

Packer, and then-husband David, provided foster care for children under IMPACT's supervision in 2000, while she was an employee. The couple continued taking in foster children after Packer began working at the Northampton County Division of Youth and Families, first as a case manager and later an adoption supervisor.

Grace and her two siblings were among the 30 foster children the Packers cared for between 2000 and 2010; all but seven of them were placed with the couple through IMPACT, records show. The Packers adopted Grace and her brother in 2007.

The state revoked the Packers’ foster care license in 2010 after the conviction of David Packer for sexually abusing Grace and another foster child in the home. Sara Packer was terminated from her job with Northampton County that year. The couple divorced in 2016.

Grace Packer

In its investigation of IMPACT, senior regional DHS investigators found no current IMPACT employees were fostering children for the agency. The agency's foster care handbook states it doesn't “condone” the practice. Investigators recommended IMPACT clarify that policy.

IMPACT Executive Director Courtney Wagaman said no employees have provided foster care for the agency for at least six years, though the policy wasn't added to the handbook until 2015 at the earliest. 

Pennsylvania regulations don't ban employees of licensed child welfare agencies from providing foster care services for their agencies, but a state waiver is required. DHS has no record of such a waiver for Sara Packer or any other IMPACT employee, Kostelac said.

Neither Bucks nor Montgomery counties' children and youth departments allow staff to foster children in their agencies' custody.

The DHS investigation found IMPACT foster family records were updated and accurate, the report said. None of the foster families or foster children interviewed by state investigators expressed complaints or concerns about IMPACT.

Wagaman called the report a “fair assessment" and the findings a positive for the agency, which serves 65 to 70 children in Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Cathleen Palm, executive director of the Center for Children’s Justice in Berks County, said she was pleased DHS took the initiative to investigate IMPACT before the state-mandated death review for Grace Packer, but questioned the scope and depth of its report on IMPACT. 

She said she anticipates the state child-death review, called an Act 33 Review, will provide more information about the Packers as foster parents.

She also said the Packer case is a powerful illustration of why the child welfare system needs third-party oversight, something Palm has advocated for years.

“Children and youth in our child welfare system experience abuse, removal from home, court-ordered services, often with their voices so diminished and, even if they can speak up, the concerns get voiced, not to an independent child protection ombudsman, but instead to the very system that controls the fate and future of the child,” she said.

Bucks County authorities have charged Sara Packer, of Horsham and Richland, and boyfriend Jacob Sullivan, 44, of Horsham, with killing Grace Packer. The teen was raped, drugged, beaten and strangled to death in July, authorities say, and her dismembered remains were found Oct. 31 in a remote section of Luzerne County.

In the months that followed the murder, Sara Packer reported her daughter missing to police and continued to collect government checks for Grace’s care, according to authorities. The couple remains incarcerated without bail in Bucks County's prison awaiting trial on homicide and related charges scheduled for next year.