SILICON VALLEY CAMPAIGN FOR LEGAL SERVICES
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Mission Statement
The Silicon Valley Campaign for Legal Services gives low-income individuals access to civil legal counsel by assuring a stable, diverse network of legal service providers across all civil matters. Civil representation is provided for life-affecting issues such as food, safety, shelter, health, immigration, consumer and education access. SVCLS is the institutional fundraising arm for eight, non-profit legal service providers based in Silicon Valley. The eight organizations in the collaborative are: Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center; Bay Area Legal Aid (San Jose office); Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto; Law Foundation of Silicon Valley; Legal Aid of San Mateo; Pro Bono Project Silicon Valley; Senior Adults Legal Assistance and Santa Clara County Asian Law Alliance.
About This Cause
LEGAL SERVICES ARE BASIC SERVICES Now more than ever, our support for the basic legal needs of our low income neighbors is essential to maintaining services for the most vulnerable members of our community. The number of people in Silicon Valley seeking assistance from legal services agencies continues to increase. Currently, assistance requests are up 10-25% depending upon the legal area of need. The 2013 Joint Venture Silicon Valley Index stated, it [is] clear that our current economic growth, however widespread, is not a cure-all. The rebound has not reached all our residents, and it is not addressing the most serious challenges that were here before the recession and which remain with us today.” Basic services – food, shelter, heath care and access to education are preserved when low-income individuals have access to civil legal services. The definition for basic services may vary among government agencies and service providers; however, there is no dispute that food, shelter, health care and access to education and financial stability are among them. This year, for example, United Way Silicon Valley identifies three program focus areas of basic services ¬– education, income stability and health – as building blocks for a good life. The California Department of Human Services defines basic services as providing health and social services to the most vulnerable and at-risk residents. Among these basic safety-net programs are SSI, Medi-Cal and Cal-Works. Still others focus on singular programs like feeding the hungry. The involvement of civil legal services providers often is necessary for low-income people to legitimately access services to which they are legally entitled, but may have been declined due to a variety of circumstances. Here are a few examples of countless cases where legal intervention made the difference for low-income individuals to obtain food, shelter, health case, educational services and financial security. You will note from these real case examples -- drawn from the files of the eight legal service agencies in the Silicon Valley Campaign for Legal Services collaborative -- address multiple needs, which are often linked within a family or individual’s case. The names, below, have been changed to protect these individuals from retaliation. Food, Safety and Shelter Legal Services agencies typically resolve individual cases of clients receiving public assistance: in-home supportive services, AFDC, TANF, SSI, child care, food stamps, transportation vouchers and health insurance. They involve enforcement of benefits and rights, resolving disputes, and determining or maintaining eligibility. Many cases identify systemic problems. • Wing Lang shares this story: “When I sought help from a legal services agency, I was living in a domestic violence shelter and was hopeless about my future. After we legally immigrated to the U.S. at the invitation of my son, my husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and became increasingly violent. My son blamed me for my husband’s condition and kicked me out of his home. I was in and out of hospitals and shelters for over six months. I did not speak English and knew nothing about America. I just went where my social worker told me to go, and applied for things she told me to apply for. I did not know my rights. The California disability benefit program denied my claim for help. My case was appealed while I was staying at a shelter. I remember the anxiety and fear that would grip my heart every afternoon at 3 p.m. when they called out the names of the people who had won the lottery to stay in a bed that night. My case was won on appeal. I am grateful to the legal services agency for helping me gain a sense of security, with a roof over my head and food on the table. I don’t have to wait until three o’clock to find out if I will be safe tonight. From now on, I will be safe. * Guardianship assures well-being of grandchildren. Maria, a 64-year-old grandmother has been caring for her three grandchildren for a year. The grandchildren, age seven to fifteen years old, has been molestaed and witnessed drug use by their parents. They were now living in a safe home, but their future remained uncertain. Maria's daughter, the children's mother, was in drug rehab and scheduled to return home. A legal aid attorney first filed a temporary, emergency guardianship to keep the children in California when their mother wanted to move out of state and refused to give written consent for the guardianship. Then he attorney helped Maria gain permanent guardianship. The children are now in school and leading stable lives. Health Care In Santa Clara County, the majority of individuals requiring public health benefits are children and seniors. There are coverage enforcement and eligibility issues related to obtaining basic benefits a client is qualified to receive. * Unsafe Housing Conditions Lead To Health Disability: Nine-year-old Miguel endured years of frequent doctor visits, regular steroid infusions and other medicines, ultimately costing Miguel's mother her job as she cared for her sick child. The cause of Miguel's asthma was determined to be their home's mold and pest infestation problems but they had no income to make a change. A doctor could only address the asthma. With the help of a legal services attorney, they were able to apply for disability benefits for Miguel based on his severe asthma. The income provided by these benefits made it possible for Miguel and his mother to move to a mold and pest-free apartment. • David, a teenager, received medical treatment for emotional problems after the loss of both his parents in an auto accident. His source of income, a small SSI survivor’s benefit, qualified him for Medi-Cal managed care. A managed care, mental health program, however, wrongfully denied him participation because of a categorical coding error. As a result, he coudn’t obtain the necessary medication prescribed by his doctor. After David’s emotional problems flared-up, he dropped out of school. An administrative law judge determined that Congress had expanded “categorical edibility” to all children below the federal poverty level in 1996 legislation. With the help of a legal services advocate, the Santa Clara Superior Court ordered his immediate reinstatement of benefits. Under a doctor’s care, David went back on medication and returned to a regular classroom. Reducing Homelessness: Shelter and Financial Stability Legal Service agencies typically resolve individual housing problems. Legal services agencies help keep families and individuals stay in their homes. With the housing crisis of recent years, legal services organizations are helping families address problems with predatory lending that had the potential to push them into homelessness, resolve issues of habitability and more. This is an area of critical need for legal assistance. More legal aid lawyers are needed to take on additional cases. • Mr. D. tells this story: “I am a senior citizen and have owned my own home for over 35 years. I worked hard all of my life, but even with a part-time job and Social Security, each month it seemed I was short of money. I heard about reverse mortgages and how you could use home equity to provide extra money each month. This sounded like the answer to my problems. But because of dealing with an unscrupulous mortgage broker who forged my signature, I was left with a monthly home payment twice my monthly income of $1,500 and a mortgage in default. I still worry that I might lose my home, but now an SVCLS-supported legal services agency is helping me work with the bank to cancel the loan and remain in my home. • Forced Out Of A Home - Living In A Car: Ms. A., a five-year tenant of an apartment complex, woke to a tree falling through her bedroom ceiling. She received temporary emergency housing through the Red Cross but after a few weeks was homeless and living in her car. In situations like this, landlords are required by California law to provide tenants with two months rent to enable them to secure housing after their rental unit becomes uninhabitable. The landlord refused this assistance. A legal services advocate negotiated a settlement with the landlord's insurance company. Educational Access Legal services organizations typically resolve individual access to educational services cases. • Adrienne is a six-year old girl with developmental delay who was recently diagnosed with autism. Largely non-verbal, Adrienne communicates with the world around her by shrieking, grunting and pulling on people to express her desires. Despite the emotional impact of the formal autism diagnosis upon her parents, they were cheered by the neuropsychiatrist's recommendations for specific educational services that should help break through the walls created for Adrienne by autism. However, after presenting their local school district with the neuropsychiatrist's report and recommendations, they were devastated to have the district deny their request for services based on the district's opinion that Adrienne was basically too mentally retarded to benefit from any autism services. We are not meeting the need of the low-income population for legal assistance despite assisting 39,143 people in 2013, up from 12,500 in 1999. In any given year 93,000 of our neighbors need help in life-affecting circumstances. Over 500,000 people in Silicon Valley -- 25% of the population -- qualify for special help due to income, age or disability. This population includes families, children, seniors, and adults of all ethnicities. The people who receive SVCLS assistance have "poverty level" incomes far below the amount actually needed to live in Silicon Valley. Many of these individuals are the working poor. In 2014 for a family of four (two adults and two children) the federal poverty level is $23,850/year -- well below the Self-Sufficiency Standard for Santa Clara County of $95,508. Many such families cannot afford even their basic needs without assistance. The number of children living in poverty grew 23% in 2011 even after the recession.