Practice Areas and Resources
Family Law
Government Benefits
Foreclosure Prevention
Immigration
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Family Law
Staten Island Legal Services’ Family Law Unit provides legal advice and representation to low-income residents in all areas of family law. Our priority is helping domestic violence survivors with orders of protection, custody, visitation, child support and divorce. Our team of lawyers and a social worker collaborate to provide a wide range of services to help survivors become independent – including housing, benefits and immigration matters. Our social worker works closely with our clients, providing necessary support, guidance on safety planning and help accessing a wide array of social services.
Domestic violence is an acute problem on Staten Island where nearly one in four homicides over the past five years involved domestic abuse, double the rate for the rest of New York City. The Family Law Unit works closely with immigrant services providers to serve the many immigrant women living on Staten Island who are in abusive relationships and lack the resources to obtain legal and other assistance. Research has demonstrated that the only service that reduces domestic abuse in the long term is legal assistance. When women have access to legal help to obtain protective orders, custody, child support and public benefits, they are more likely to achieve the physical safety and financial independence necessary to escape their abusers.
Government Benefits
Staten Island Legal Services assists low-income Staten Island residents in need of government benefits, including disability (SSI or SSD), welfare, food stamps, medical benefits and unemployment insurance. We also provide assistance with utility shut-offs and rental subsidies for needy families.
Foreclosure Prevention
Staten Island Legal Services launched the Homeowner Defense Project in 2006 to address the pressing legal needs of homeowners affected by the mortgage lending crisis. We are the only organization in Staten Island providing free legal assistance to low and middle-income homeowners in foreclosure. Our goal is to keep families in their homes and prevent foreclosures from destabilizing Staten Island neighborhoods. In addition to providing legal advice and representation in state and federal court, we offer assistance with newly required court settlement conferences, loan negotiations, and applying for refinancing or relocation assistance. And we work with other community groups and housing counselors to help distressed borrowers obtain suitable workouts of unaffordable mortgages.
If you have been served with a foreclosure summons and complaint, you may find the following guide and sample answer form useful. The guide explains how to “answer” a foreclosure complaint without an attorney using the sample answer form.
This guide and the attached form should not replace finding professional assistance from a non-profit housing counselor or legal services attorney. If you are facing foreclosure, you should dial 311 and ask for a referral to free foreclosure prevention services.
Immigration
Staten Island Legal Services provides help with immigration matters. Its focus is helping eligible immigrants apply for citizenship. We also help domestic violence survivors file self-petitions under the Violence Against Women Act and prepare and file U-Visa applications, which are designed to aid undocumented crime victims who have assisted with law enforcement investigations. Staten Island has a fast growing and diverse immigrant community. From 2000 to 2005, Staten Island experienced a 24% increase in limited English proficient residents, the largest rate of increase in all of New York City. Twenty-seven percent of Staten Island residents do not speak English at home; 42% of these residents speak Spanish. With the help of our citywide Language Access Project, we also assist individuals who need interpreting services and try to monitor implementation of the laws requiring agencies to provide interpreters to people with limited English proficiency.
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