Oversight Hearing Addresses LSC Inspector General's Report on California Rural Legal Assistance, Problems Caused by LSC Private Money Restriction and Reporting Requirements, and Possibility of Implementing Client Co-Payments
Monday, April 12, 2004
- Organization: The Brennan Center's Legal Services E-lert
On March 31, 2004, the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law of the House Judiciary Committee held an oversight hearing regarding LSC. Among various issues addressed during the hearing, the Committee considered:
With respect to the LSC IG's report, CRLA Executive Director Jose Padilla testified about the organization's work on behalf of low-income Californians and about the IG's findings. Representative William Delahunt (D-MA) noted that even if the IG's findings were to be taken as true, the amount of disputed funds is only $511, and then asked Padilla how much it cost him to fly to Washington D.C. for the hearing. Padilla responded, "It cost about $1,211 . . . and some change." Separate from the hearing, LSC's Acting IG Leonard Koczur had announced on March 31 that the IG would not pursue a criminal investigation of CRLA, effectively rejecting a request by the Western United Dairymen. Koczur stated: "Our extensive and thorough audit did not disclose any evidence of criminal conduct by CRLA . . . and we consider the matter closed."
In their written testimony, LSC Chairman Frank Strickland and LSC President Helaine Barnett explained that it has been difficult for LSC to attract new programs interested in competing for grants, in part because "extensive reporting requirements attached to LSC funding are a deterrent to applying for LSC funds," and in part because of the funding restrictions with which LSC recipients must comply. "In particular," they stated, "some applicants have noted that the restriction on accepting attorneys' fees makes it difficult to stay financially competitive as a potential LSC services provider." They also touched on a number of other topics, including LSC's role in enforcing Congressional restrictions, and LSC's new Quality Initiative, aimed at "identifying and subsequently spurring the development of certain core quality standards in its grantees."
At the Subcommittee's request, Strickland, Barnett, and Jeanne Charn, director of Harvard Law School's Hale and Dorr Legal Services Center, all testified about the possibility of instituting a co-payment requirement for clients of LSC grantees. Strickland and Barnett explained such a requirement would be contrary to the LSC Act and the 1996 LSC Appropriations Act (which both provide for LSC clients to receive "free" service). Charn described how a co-payment system has operated at the Hale and Dorr Legal Services Center.
Taken from
Michael Doyle, Legal Aid Group Focus of Hearing; California Rural Legal Assistance Examined for Its Use of Federal Funds, Fresno Bee (California), Apr. 1, 2004, at B1; Email from Don Saunders to NLADA Legal Aid News listserv (Apr. 2, 2004) (on file with the Brennan Center); House LSC Oversight Committee Holds Hearing on CRLA and Client Co-Pay, NLADA Update (Apr. 7, 2004), at 1; LSC Testifies on Behalf of FY 2005 Budget Request, NLADA Update (Apr. 7, 2004), at 1; Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, Oversight Hearing on Legal Services Corporation, at http://www.house.gov/judiciary/commercial.htm (last visited Apr. 7, 2004).
- a December 2003 LSC Office of the Inspector General (IG) report on LSC grantee California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. (CRLA);
- LSC's enforcement of federal funding restrictions
- LSC's system of competition for grants; and
- whether LSC should implement a co-pay system.
With respect to the LSC IG's report, CRLA Executive Director Jose Padilla testified about the organization's work on behalf of low-income Californians and about the IG's findings. Representative William Delahunt (D-MA) noted that even if the IG's findings were to be taken as true, the amount of disputed funds is only $511, and then asked Padilla how much it cost him to fly to Washington D.C. for the hearing. Padilla responded, "It cost about $1,211 . . . and some change." Separate from the hearing, LSC's Acting IG Leonard Koczur had announced on March 31 that the IG would not pursue a criminal investigation of CRLA, effectively rejecting a request by the Western United Dairymen. Koczur stated: "Our extensive and thorough audit did not disclose any evidence of criminal conduct by CRLA . . . and we consider the matter closed."
In their written testimony, LSC Chairman Frank Strickland and LSC President Helaine Barnett explained that it has been difficult for LSC to attract new programs interested in competing for grants, in part because "extensive reporting requirements attached to LSC funding are a deterrent to applying for LSC funds," and in part because of the funding restrictions with which LSC recipients must comply. "In particular," they stated, "some applicants have noted that the restriction on accepting attorneys' fees makes it difficult to stay financially competitive as a potential LSC services provider." They also touched on a number of other topics, including LSC's role in enforcing Congressional restrictions, and LSC's new Quality Initiative, aimed at "identifying and subsequently spurring the development of certain core quality standards in its grantees."
At the Subcommittee's request, Strickland, Barnett, and Jeanne Charn, director of Harvard Law School's Hale and Dorr Legal Services Center, all testified about the possibility of instituting a co-payment requirement for clients of LSC grantees. Strickland and Barnett explained such a requirement would be contrary to the LSC Act and the 1996 LSC Appropriations Act (which both provide for LSC clients to receive "free" service). Charn described how a co-payment system has operated at the Hale and Dorr Legal Services Center.
Taken from
Michael Doyle, Legal Aid Group Focus of Hearing; California Rural Legal Assistance Examined for Its Use of Federal Funds, Fresno Bee (California), Apr. 1, 2004, at B1; Email from Don Saunders to NLADA Legal Aid News listserv (Apr. 2, 2004) (on file with the Brennan Center); House LSC Oversight Committee Holds Hearing on CRLA and Client Co-Pay, NLADA Update (Apr. 7, 2004), at 1; LSC Testifies on Behalf of FY 2005 Budget Request, NLADA Update (Apr. 7, 2004), at 1; Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, Oversight Hearing on Legal Services Corporation, at http://www.house.gov/judiciary/commercial.htm (last visited Apr. 7, 2004).
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