TESTIMONY
Kathy Kramer, CEO of Family Legal Care on Addressing Challenges in Family Court for Unrepresented Litigants
4:22:08
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156 sec
Kathy Kramer, CEO of Family Legal Care, highlights the dire need for resources and support for unrepresented litigants in New York City's family courts.
- Kramer outlines the struggle faced by unrepresented litigants in family court, many of whom are low-income, from communities of color, or non-English speaking.
- She stresses the under-resourced state of family courts and points out that 80% of litigants lack legal representation, affecting their access to justice in critical issues like child support and custody.
- Family Legal Care, the only organization in New York City focusing on this issue, serves nearly 30,000 families annually through legal advice, consultations, and innovative digital tools.
- Kramer raises concerns about potential significant funding losses from the mayor's office and calls for increased council discretionary funding to continue their support for families.
- She underscores the significance of strong families as the foundation of a thriving city and the vital role of Family Legal Care in ensuring their well-being.
Cather Cramer
4:22:08
Good afternoon.
4:22:10
So nice to see you deputy speaker, Iela, and thank you for letting me have the opportunity to testify.
4:22:16
My name is Kathy Kramer, and I'm the CEO of Family Legal Care, which is formally lift.
4:22:23
I'd like to thank the New York City Council for its long term support of us without which we could not do our vital work to assist unrepresented litigants and families and caregivers who are confronting issues in New York City Family Court.
4:22:38
At the heart of their well-being, including child support, custody, visitation, domestic violence, guardianship, and parentage.
4:22:47
The New York City family courts have been under resourced and overburdened for decades, and 80% of litigants come to family court without a lawyer.
4:22:56
Unrepresented litigants are disproportionately low income from communities of color and are often undocumented or speak monolingual Spanish.
4:23:05
The underinvestment in the family courts and particularly in its failure to prioritize child support services has significant effects for the families in New York City.
4:23:16
Childs Pippeword can be a literal lifeline for many families, but it is not uncommon for custodial parents to receive none of the money that they are entitled to.
4:23:26
Family Legal Care is the only represent only organization in New York city doing this work.
4:23:32
We reach almost 30,000 families every year.
4:23:36
We have attorneys that give legal advice and consultations.
4:23:40
And provide legal information in the court houses and are on our helplines through our library of over 60 legal resource guides in 9 languages and our in innovative digital justice tools.
4:23:53
But despite the pivotal role we play to increase access to justice and family court, Family Legal Care is now facing a potential significant loss of critical funding from the mayor's office.
4:24:05
Due to a transition of our contract from the mayor's office of criminal justice to the mayor's office to engine gender based violence.
4:24:14
We urge the council to increase discretionary funding in the upcoming budget cycle to ensure that we can continue to serve the thousands families who rely on us.
4:24:24
We wrote much more about that in our written testimony.
4:24:27
Strong families are essential building blocks for a thriving city, And with your increased support, family legal care can continue to be part of the solution.
4:24:38
You've always been very generous to us, and we so appreciate that.
4:24:41
Look forward to working with you in the future.
4:24:43
Thank you.
