April 18th 2011-- This morning Interim Executive Director Michael Young and Director of Communications and Government Relations Edwina Frances Martin joined Mark Riley on the WWRL NY Morning Show to discuss recent cuts in State and Federal Funding for civil legal services, and the potential impact on low-income New Yorkers.

An April 12th New York Times article focuses on a lawsuit alleging that the five Queens judges who hear appeals of Social Security disability cases have been biased against applicants, many of whom are poor or immigrants, and have systematically denied benefits to the disabled by making legal and factual errors. Queens Legal Services (a program of Legal Services NYC) Deputy Director Ann Biddle, who represents several of the plaintiffs in their efforts to obtain disability benefits is quoted. Update: NY1's Angela Chen followed up with Ann and several of the clients for a piece which aired on April 15th.

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio yesterday launched an 8-point housing plan to hold the city’s worst landlords accountable for repairing their buildings. The set of initiatives will bar chronically bad landlords from receiving taxpayer dollars and mobilize tenants in deteriorating buildings. The plan also includes an innovative partnership with South Brooklyn Legal Services (a program of Legal Services NYC) to provide pro bono help in housing court, and will alert apartment-hunters on Craigslist.org about landlords with a history of neglect. SBLS Housing Unit Co-Director Brent Meltzer appeared on NY 1 to talk about the obstacles tenants face when they try to hold landlords responsible for repairs.

An article in the March 30th, 2011 New York Times looks at a Treasury effort at the heart of the Obama administration’s foreclosure-prevention effort, the Home Affordable Modification Program. The program is widely considered to have fallen short of expectations, and the House of Representatives voted this week to eliminate it. In their investigation, the Times examined eight cases where homeowners seemed to qualify for the program yet still have not been able to obtain a permanent modification despite advocacy by Staten Island Legal Services.