Empire Justice Center is a non-profit law firm dedicated to making the law work for all New Yorkers. Through our 360-degree approach – practicing the law, teaching the law, and changing the law – we achieve justice for the people who need it most.
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Top Priorities
Reform NYS Contracting and Payment Processes: Legal services providers are a critical part of New York’s social safety net. Along with our not-for-profit sector colleagues, New York State contracts with Empire Justice Center to provide civil legal services to low income and marginalized New Yorkers facing homelessness, hunger, loss of income and more. Challenges in the not-for-profit contracting and payment processes result in financial crisis, staffing instability and fewer services for clients, undermining the goals of the contracts.
ASK: Reform New York’s contracting and payment processes through uniformity, streamlined systems, identifying best practices and efficiencies to be implemented across contracts and agencies
Achieve Pay Parity for Civil Legal Service Providers: New York’s civil legal services providers, including Empire Justice Center, provide legal services to low–income New Yorkers on behalf of the state, but are funded at levels that hold salaries at least 30% lower than other government funded legal services providers. This is driving a growing inability to recruit and retain attorneys and other staff to provide legal services in critical matters including eviction, immigration, foreclosure and domestic violence prevention. While we are on the cusp of significant progress toward this goal, more work remains.
ASK: All branches of government work together to bring civil legal services salaries in line with other government–funded legal services salaries
Expanding the Right to Counsel: Empire Justice Center supports all efforts and progress toward providing a right to counsel in civil matters, including in immigration and eviction matters and for veterans. Addressing the recruitment and retention crisis in the civil legal services – notably by achieving pay parity — is a critical step to having attorneys to serve clients.
Maintain Funding for the Homeowner Protection Program (HOPP): As New York wrestles with the current housing crisis, supporting struggling homeowners in retaining their homes must be part of the solution. The Homeowner Protection Program (HOPP) is New York State’s only homeowner retention program. This network of 89 nonprofit legal services and housing counseling agencies provides assistance to homeowners in mortgage default and facing property tax foreclosure in every county of the state. Historically, every $1 million invested in HOPP yields a return of over $5 million in tax and property cost savings. HOPP is essential in preserving homeownership in Black and Brown communities, and to helping homeowners grapple with ongoing post-COVID issues such as inheritance, increased interest rates, mortgage and tax foreclosures, and a lack of rental options. The need to preserve homeownership in New York State is a constant, and funding the only program dedicated to homeownership protection needs to be constant as well
ASK: Maintain $40 million in funding for HOPP without sweeping the Interest on Lawyers Account (IOLA)
Office of Court Administration/Legislative Funding for Legal Services: Empire Justice Center and other civil legal services (CLS) providers represent low-income people in the essentials of life helping to protect their health, livelihoods, shelter, and families. The Office of Court Administration’s proposed budget for civil legal services, the Legislature’s Legal Service Assistance Fund (LSAF) and Senate Upstate Legal Services funding are essential to supporting access to justice. Notably, OCA’s proposed increase will help close New York’s estimated $1 billion Access to Justice gap and will help address a staffing crisis in the civil legal services.
ASK: Support the OCA budget as proposed, including the increase to civil legal services, targeted to address recruitment and retention challenges, for a total of $150 million
ASK: Maintain last year’s Legislative commitment to LSAF
ASK: Maintain Upstate Legal Services funding at $3.5 million
Non-Budget Priorities to Ensure Civil Rights and Economic Justice
Ensuring Privacy in Name Changes: While all other types of name changes – such as for marriage, divorce, immigration, or adoption – have categorical privacy, court-ordered name changes do not. This poses a safety and privacy concern for all petitioners, and particularly for transgender, and nonbinary people, and those who are victims of domestic violence. The Office of Court Administration recently implemented a new rule, which is a positive step, however, OCA can only go as far as the law allows. We must change the law to treat name changes in court the same way as all other name changes. There is no reason for New York state to allow confidential information – including home addresses, birth certificates, birth dates and medical records – available to the public. Especially considering that online filings are scraped and data is re-published online, and proposed changes at the federal level, this is of utmost urgency.
ASK: Pass Privacy in Name changes (S2431 Hoylman-Sigal)
Protect minors fleeing hostile states: The law currently allows people in certain circumstances such as those fleeing domestic violence and child abuse in other states – to seek jurisdiction in custody matters in a New York family court. This bill will provide families with minors who need medical care access prohibited in other states this same access. It would also close loopholes in our existing shield law and strengthen protections against information sharing with hostile states and the federal government, including by private entities like hospitals and clinics. It would further ensure that our shield law protections extend to everyone who needs them.
ASK: Pass the Shield Law (2024 numbers: S7506 Hoylman-Sigal / A7687 Bronson)
Protecting New York Consumers and Small Businesses: While 43 states and the federal government ban “unfair and deceptive” businesses practices, New York consumer law does not prohibit “unfair” practices. When bad actors take advantage of New York consumers – such as if a lender does not send a bill then charges people for late payment – New Yorkers have limited recourse. New York consumers and small businesses deserve protection from unfair practices.
ASK: Pass the Consumer and Small Business Protection Act (S105 Comrie)
Ensure Safe and Fair Traffic Enforcement: Study after study establish there are racial disparities in who gets stopped and who gets searched for low-level, non-safety traffic violations, with Black and brown people being stopped far more often than white people. These stops, often referred to as “pretext stops” or “secondary stops,” do not lead to greater road or public safety and reduce availability of police for efforts that enhance road and public safety while also leading to numerous harms to individuals and communities of color.
ASK: Pass Safe and Fair Traffic Enforcement (SAFTE) Bill, (2024 number: S 7111-A HoylmanSigal)
Access to Justice
Ensuring consistent funding to serve NY crime victims: Federal VOCA funds are the largest and most crucial funding source for the OVS Grant Funding to Victim Assistance Programs – but due to shrinking federal funds, crime victim services in New York state may be at risk. We are grateful that the state made a multi-year commitment to help ensure New York victims of crime had access to the services they need in last year’s budget.
ASK: Continue the multiyear commitment from SFY25 of $100M to cover contracts through 2028
ASK: Enact legislation, such as a law adopted in Maryland, to automatically close gaps caused by reductions in federal funds and to ensure critical funding and services remain consistent
Stable Funding for Disability Advocacy Program (DAP): DAP provides legal assistance to approximately 4,000 low-income disabled New Yorkers seeking Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits. In addition to helping disabled individuals access the much-needed federal benefits to which they are entitled, this program reduces state costs.
ASK: Maintain funding of $13.52 million, including the county match, for DAP
Expand Legal Representation for Non-Parent Caregivers: Currently, most low-income nonparent caregivers are left on their own to navigate New York’s complex justice and social services systems without the assistance of counsel, which makes it harder for them to care for vulnerable children. Building on the successful Kinship Navigator, a Kinship Legal Network will help the Office of Children and Family Services achieve their goals and ensure that New York state is meeting federal mandates. It would yield cost savings by supporting relatives who are willing and able to step in as caregivers, include research so policymakers can identify the needs and living arrangements of children who do not reside with their parents , and – most importantly – yield better outcomes for caregivers, children, and families in crisis.
ASK: Allocate $2 million to establish a Kinship Legal Network pilot program
Community Health Advocates (CHA): CHA helps New Yorkers navigate today’s complex health care system by providing individual assistance, outreach, and education to communities throughout New York State. Since 2010 CHA has handled over 500,000 cases, saving $180 million for consumers individuals, families, and small businesses.
ASK: Increase funding to $6.5 million for CHA
Social and Economic Justice
Cut New York State’s Unacceptably High Rates of Child Poverty: Empire Justice Center supports the Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council’s recommendations, which are intended to cut the child poverty rate in half. Notable pieces of the recommendations include a much-needed increase in the Basic Needs allowance, an increase in the Empire State Child Tax Credit, the creation of a housing voucher, removal of the asset limit, and the creation of a state food benefit to reach people who are not eligible for federal SNAP benefits. These investments will dramatically improve the life trajectories of half a million New York children. As reducing child poverty strengthens the economy, enhances public health, and fosters safer communities, the benefits of this will be felt across the spectrum of New Yorkers.
ASK: Include the full CPRAC recommendations in the Executive Budget and the Final Budget
Increase Benefits to Reduce Housing Instability and Homelessness: Public Assistance grant amounts have not been updated in decades and are completely inadequate. There are no rental units in the private market priced at or below the Shelter Allowance, as illustrated in our report, No Keys to Safe and Decent Housing. Increasing the rent allowance to be in line with HUD’s Fair Market Rents will help the lowest-income New Yorkers obtain and retain safe and decent housing, thereby reducing housing instability and homelessness. While the Shelter Allowance is the gold standard, we note that not everyone is eligible for public assistance; additional programs should support those populations.
ASK: Increase the shelter allowance to HUD fair market rent, (S1454 Kavanagh / A1507 Rosenthal). Until that goal is achieved, all public assistance households experiencing housing instability should be entitled to rent supplements at HUD fair market rent
ASK: People experiencing housing instability who are not eligible for public assistance should receive a supplement and/or voucher at HUD fair market rent
Maintain Funding for the Education Debt Consumer Assistance Program (EDCAP): EDCAP provides free, unbiased assistance to student loan borrowers struggling to manage their debt. Amid a changing federal administration and increasingly limited repayment and relief options, EDCAP’s services are more critical than ever.
ASK: $3.5 million in funding for EDCAP
Managed Care Consumer Assistance Program (MCCAP): The MCCAP network provides essential assistance to low-income seniors and people with disabilities. MCCAP educates vulnerable populations about their Medicare options and the federal and state programs that help them afford and access their healthcare. Each enrollment into Medicare cost-saving programs we process saves an individual approximately $8,420 in annual out-of-pocket health care costs. More help is still needed to help New Yorkers fully leverage the recent expansion of the Medicare Savings Program.
ASK: Increase funding to $2.767 million for MCCAP
