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Funding sources for legal aid agencies are drying up, and firms that provide legal services to low-income people are cutting staff and decreasing the services offered.
Patricia Kaplan of New Haven Legal Assistance of Connecticut, says her organization has 32 employees, including 20 lawyers and seven paralegals. She estimates that eight of the professional positions will be cut, along with one secretary's job. Because New Haven is unionized, any cuts in jobs, benefits or working hours will have to be worked out through collective bargaining.
Kaplan acknowledged that some of her people are already looking for new jobs and she's written them letters of reference.
Connecticut Legal Services, the largest of the state's legal services organizations, has 87 staff members, 56 of whom are lawyers. Executive Director Steven Eppler-Epstein said the organization may have to lay off between 20 and 30 people. He also plans to cut hours and pay significantly.
The end result is that the group may serve 30 percent fewer clients than the 6,000 it served in the past year.
In a dismal economy, legal aid agencies are even busier than usual. Poor people are struggling to keep their homes during a nationwide foreclosure epidemic. As unemployment rises, so do episodes of domestic violence. And impatient creditors step up efforts to collect overdue bills.
