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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Jack Boyle, Staff Attorney at Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem
4:48:28
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Jack Boyle, representing the NDS staff union, testified about challenges facing Right to Counsel attorneys and staff. He urged the City Council to address two main issues: stopping HRA's threats of budget cuts and ensuring pay parity with city and state employees.
- HRA's new contract system demands higher caseloads without additional resources, leading to overworked attorneys and staff.
- Legal services workers are severely underpaid compared to city and state counterparts, with some even qualifying for housing court services themselves.
- The testimony highlights the psychological toll on staff who protect others from eviction while facing housing insecurity themselves due to low wages.
Jack Boyle
4:48:28
My name is Jack Boyle, and I work as staff attorney at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem in our Right to Counsel housing practice.
4:48:34
I'm testifying today on behalf of the NDS staff union.
4:48:38
We have two basic asks for the City Council today.
4:48:41
First, tell HRA to stop threatening to fire Right to Counsel attorneys and staff.
4:48:46
And second, ensure that we're paid at parity with city and state employees.
4:48:50
HRA recently moved all providers onto a contract system where we're threatened with significant budget cuts unless we take on more cases every single month than we ever have since Rights of Counsel began.
4:49:03
HRA now does not give us any credit for the many complicated years long rollover cases that our attorneys have to litigate to fully protect tenants.
4:49:11
And HRA does not account for the substantial advocacy work that is required to get the public benefits that are necessary to resolve a case.
4:49:19
And HRA did not provide additional funding to hire more staff to process the higher caseload.
4:49:25
Instead HRA produced a flat demand for a set number of cases that we have to take on every single month no matter what.
4:49:32
As a result, caseloads for our attorneys have exploded over the last year.
4:49:37
Many are carrying 30% or more cases than they have in previous years, and we do not have 30% more free time during the workday to complete these assignments.
4:49:50
Due in part to the significant delays at HRA with issuing benefits like city FEPs, cases today actually take substantially longer to resolve than they have in the past.
4:50:00
HRAs directly threatened several offices with budget cuts, and it was only through extensive advocacy that those cuts were in the end reversed.
4:50:08
We understand that we're at risk again of these cuts in June, and as staff who would be affected by these cuts, we implore the council to advocate with HRA to stop these threats so that we can actually focus on our job, which is defending affordable housing in the community.
4:50:23
Second, we're asking that the council ensure pay parity between legal services workers and city and state employees.
4:50:29
Currently, some of our members are so severely underpaid as to income qualify and require our services in housing court to protect their homes.
4:50:38
It is psychologically overwhelming for our staff to show up every day to stop evictions when the funders of our work are placing those same staff at direct risk of eviction themselves by failing to pay a living wage.
4:50:53
We are paid substantially less and receive fewer benefits than our counterparts who work directly in the city and state governments.
4:50:59
There's simply no justification for this gap, and the council should advocate for a tent.
4:51:04
Thank
Gale A. Brewer
4:51:05
you.