Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Lisa Rivera, President and CEO of New York Legal Assistance Group
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Lisa Rivera, President and CEO of the New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG), testified about the growing need for legal assistance services and the challenges faced by their clients in accessing benefits and navigating city agencies. She highlighted persistent issues with the Department of Social Services (DSS) and Human Resources Administration (HRA), including system failures, processing delays, and wrongful denials.
- Rivera emphasized the interconnected nature of their clients' legal needs, spanning areas such as shelter, benefits, healthcare, and housing access.
- She called for increased funding for various legal service initiatives, including support for no-income New Yorkers, veterans, immigrants, and low-wage workers.
- NYLAG's testimony underscored the urgent need for improvements in staffing and training at HRA and DSS to better serve vulnerable New Yorkers.
Lisa Rivera
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helps.
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Okay.
4:35:35
Good afternoon.
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Deputy speaker, council members, staff, thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
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My name is Lisa Rivera.
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I'm the president and CEO of the New York Legal Assistance Group, also known as NILAG.
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Last year we worked with approximately 130,000 individuals in pursuit of justice.
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And as you know, the need in our communities is only growing, both in volume and in urgency.
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While this hearing is an important opportunity to speak about NILAG's work regarding the agencies in your purview today, we must also acknowledge the broad web of intersecting budgetary funding needs we see from all aspects of our organization, including, but not limited to, getting paid on time.
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None of the work that we do with New Yorkers exists in a silo, whether around shelter and benefits or healthcare and housing access.
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Our clients' interaction with any of the agencies in your purview that we heard from today depend on countless other aspects in their lives and legal needs.
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For this reason, our testimony is gonna include a broader view of our ask to serve New Yorkers in need of our services.
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On the access to benefit front, we unfortunately have seen little to no progress for our clients applying for public assistance or SNAP benefits.
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They still encounter problems completing their applications and recertifications because of systems either failing to function or being altogether inaccessible.
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And processing delays and more frequent wrongful denials still persist.
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It is a common theme year after year.
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The staffing and training needs at HRA and DSS alike remain at a crisis point and New Yorkers already struggling to get by are the ones that who pay the price for this.
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This is a challenging landscape to navigate even with New Yorkers who have the benefit of a legal advocate in their corner.
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The purpose and goal of our partnership is to ensure they don't have to fight dysfunctional systems alone to get what they need to live a dignified life.
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It's not hard to imagine how much more challenging this becomes when someone is also contending with the stress and instability of intimate partner violence, ongoing immigration matters, or low wages.
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So in addition to drastically improving experiences in New York City's general welfare agencies, we're also imploring you to support our related request for FY '26 which include increased funding for legal services for no income New Yorkers, legal services for veterans, the immigrant health initiative, immigrant opportunities initiative, low wage worker support, and legal services for low income immigrants.
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Thank you for your time and consideration.
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I look forward to our continued work together.
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Thank you.