ORAL TESTIMONY – Empire Justice Center Testifies at Joint Legislative Hearing on Public Protection

Empire Justice Center President and CEO Kristin Brown Testifies at Joint Legislative Hearing on Public Protection.

In our testimony, we respectfully ask for the following:

1. Progress toward achieving pay parity for civil legal service providers to address the recruitment and retention crisis;
2. Support of the Office of Court Administration budget as proposed, including the increase to civil legal services, targeted to address recruitment and retention challenges;
3. Support of the Legislature’s Legal Service Assistance Fund (LSAF);
4. The need to protect the Interest on Lawyer’s Accounts in the Executive Budget;
5. Reforming New York’s contracting and payment processes through uniformity, streamlined systems, identifying best practices and efficiencies to be implemented across contracts and agencies;
6. Continue to ensure support for Victims of Crime;
7. Ensure privacy for people with court-ordered name changes.

You can find the video of the full testimony on YouTube, with Kristin’s testimony starting at the 10:22:52 mark as well as the PDF version for your convenience.