Advocacy and legal services organizations, currently facing urgent staffing and operating funding needs, are advocating for increased funding in the FY 2023 budget to ensure equal access to justice for all New Yorkers.
The Legal Aid Society, The Bronx Defenders, Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, New York County Defender Services, Brooklyn Defender Services, and Queens Defenders, among a number of organizations that provide constitutionally and/or legally required defense and civil legal services representation , asked Mayor Eric Adams, City Council President Adrienne Adams and Councilmembers to prioritize fully funding their staff’s invaluable work and operational needs.
In 2019, the City Council committed to addressing recruitment and retention issues in these offices when it agreed to supplement existing program revenue with a “parity” supplement for younger attorneys in these organizations, bringing them to parity. with attorneys who represent the City in legal matters. The city’s public announcement of funding to raise salaries for more junior staff came with a commitment to continue to address recruitment and retention issues for more senior staff during a “four-year full implementation plan.” However, the City never followed through on that commitment.
And, while the City seeks to expand mandated legal services, it has not provided additional funding to cover the costs of rent, health care, salaries and pensions, technology, and other operational needs that, year after year, have continued to rise.
That lack of funding has prevented organizations from replacing departing staff and has delayed essential investments critical to the safe and effective delivery of services to clients, such as technology.
Chronic funding shortages have contributed to a significant outflow of staff from these organizations and widespread vacancies. According to internal data from these organizations for the fiscal year ending June 30, they may lose at least 348 employees.
“A budget reflects values and priorities, and if the City Council values the critical role that public defenders and civil legal service providers play in New York City, any agreed budget must include funds to fully compensate staff and meet demands. operational functions of these organizations,” said Twyla Carter, the incoming Chief Counsel and Executive Director of The Legal Aid Society.
For her part, Justine Olderman, executive director of The Bronx Defenders, believes that the City is failing low-income people in the Bronx who depend on the organization’s legal and social support services.
“Our staff of 400 help more than 20,000 Bronx residents each year and reach hundreds more through community engagement and involvement. Our work has been shown to reduce evictions, incarceration rates, sentence lengths, deportations, and time in foster care,” he maintained. “But we can’t deliver high-quality, holistic defense without full funding. The inability to provide our staff with competitive compensation, coupled with the chronic underfunding of our work, threatens our ability to serve those who need us most.”
These organizations agree that all New Yorkers deserve high-quality representation, regardless of their ability to afford an attorney, and work to ensure your rights. However, “when the city budget underfunds and undervalues these critical services and constitutionally guaranteed rights, New Yorkers suffer,” said Lisa Schreibersdorf, executive director of Brooklyn Defender Services.
“Advocacy organizations play a critical role in ensuring that our city’s justice system works and that New Yorkers have equal access to high-quality legal representation and community programs to reduce crime,” said Hettie Powell, CEO of Queens Defenders. “We encourage the city to demonstrate to its lower-income citizens that it values their right to legal counsel as much as an overfunded police force and its own staff of attorneys.”
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