Texas legal aid services face dramatic drop in funding

[babylonsister]

Texas legal aid services face dramatic drop in funding
By DARREN BARBEE and MARTHA DELLER


A heart-stopping drop in funding has created a "crisis of epic proportions" for programs that provide legal aid to the poor, according to Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson.

In 2007, a special fund provided Texas legal aid agencies with $20 million to support services for people at or below the federal poverty line. This year, the fund is projected to plummet to $1.5 million, Jefferson said.

That will force some legal aid programs to greatly scale back services, and other programs may close, said Betty Balli Torres, executive director of the Texas Access to Justice Foundation, which distributes the money.

Affected are 40 nonprofit organizations across the state that rely on the funding to help the poor with issues such as landlord-tenant disputes, foreclosures and domestic violence.

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http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1209956.html

[Baby Snooks]

1. They're a mixed bag...

I used an attorney from one of these organizations last year in a wrongful eviction and in the end to protect my right to sue I had to force him to withdraw. They will not and do not go up against the "deep pockets" which of course the poor are usually up against.

Just the same they are often the only way for many to have any representation. Even if the representation isn't always the best.

It will be interesting to see how much the legislature comes up with to supplement the funding. There will probably be a lot of lobbying against it by various special interest groups including the Texas Apartment Association.