Public Interest Law Project, Bay Area Legal Aid, and Paul Hastings Announce Lawsuit Challenging Contra Costa County's Illegal Delays in Providing General Assistance Benefits to Eligible County Residents

Homeless, Indigent Residents Forced to Wait Months for Last Resort Subsistence Benefit


MARTINEZ, Calif., July 22, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Public Interest Law Project (PILP), an Oakland, Calif.-based advocacy group, Bay Area Legal Aid (Bay Legal), the largest provider of free legal services in the Bay Area, and Paul Hastings Janofsky and Walker LLP ("Paul Hastings), on behalf of six indigent residents of Contra Costa County, today filed suit against that County, alleging that the County unlawfully delays subsistence benefits for hundreds of eligible, indigent residents who need General Assistance ("GA") to survive. In a lawsuit filed today, the petitioners assert that the County delays applications for GA for an average of six months, and sometimes much longer, and that the county also denies any retroactive benefits to those who are ultimately found to be eligible. The petitioners also assert that Contra Costa County insists upon numerous meetings, disability assessments, job applications, and other steps before it acts on aid applications, forcing indigent applicants to survive for months without any help, or causing them to abandon their attempts to get the help to which they are entitled.

GA is a county program that provides a small monthly stipend for indigent adults, about $336 a month. (A person who does not pay rent receives only about $155 per month.) Most recipients lack education and job skills, and/or have physical and mental disabilities, and many lack stable housing. Contra Costa County's Employment and Human Services Department has acknowledged that its time to process GA applications, already about three months in 2008, would double in 2009. Its budget documents stated that staff cuts and other budgetary measures were necessary. But the lawsuit charges that continuing to deny aid to indigent, eligible applicants for many months will lead to a surge in other public costs, and is unlawful.

The petitioners are represented by Judith Gold and Stephen Ronfeldt of the Public Interest Law Project, Grace Carter of Paul Hastings, and Katherine Siegfried of Bay Legal. Siegfried said, "The County's treatment of its least fortunate residents has devastating consequences. It's just not possible for many of our clients in this economy to find enough work to survive. GA is an essential safety net for the lowest income members of our society."

The petition alleges that the County forces applicants to perform onerous job search efforts before their GA applications will be considered. It describes the experience of one indigent applicant with severe learning disabilities, who was required to apply in person for three jobs. The petition alleges that the County arbitrarily disqualified all three of his job applications, forcing him to start his attempt to obtain GA over at the beginning. Another petitioner waited nearly half a year to begin receiving a monthly grant of $134. A woman, who lost her job because of the recession, waited almost five months for her application to be approved; her water was turned off, her phone was disconnected, her utility service was threatened with disconnection, and her mortgage lender began to foreclose on her home of 15 years.

Petitioners will ask the court to order the county to act upon GA applications promptly, and to pay benefits going back to the application date. They allege that, although it may be appropriate for the county to require disability evaluations and job search efforts after the County has begun to pay aid, these are not proper conditions for starting aid for desperate applicants.

According to facts alleged in the petition, the number of persons receiving GA in Contra Costa is disproportionately low. For example, as of October 2008, 329 Contra Costa residents received GA, as compared to more than 9,000 people in Alameda County (which has a total population only about 50% higher). San Louis Obispo, with about 1/4th the total population, had about the same number of GA recipients as Contra Costa, about 340. Steve Ronfeldt, Co-Director of the Public Interest Law Project, said, "The delays in Contra Costa County are inexcusable. Many counties process GA applications in thirty days or even much less time than that. This county simply is not doing its fair share to support the indigent."

Judith Gold of PILP said, "We know the county is having financial problems. But when it forces people to live in overcrowded, unsafe housing, or on the streets, that costs much more than the county 'saves' by not paying eligible people GA. As just one example, people who must live without adequate shelter wind up ill, or injured, in county-funded emergency rooms. The County's practices are not just unlawful, but pennywise and pound foolish."

About The Public Interest Law Project:

Since 1996, The Public Interest Law Project has provided litigation and advocacy support to legal services and public interest law programs throughout California. PILP's work brings affordable housing to lower income families and homeless people, provides access to public benefits for lower income persons and persons with disabilities, and protects neglected and abused children and persons displaced by major disasters.

About Bay Area Legal Aid:

Bay Area Legal Aid is the largest provider of free civil legal services in the Bay Area. Its seven regional offices provide legal assistance to low-income people regardless of their location, language, or disability. Bay Legal is uniquely positioned to help people across county lines. We assist people in the areas of housing, public benefits, health access, and domestic violence.

About Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP:

Founded in 1951, Paul Hastings is a commercial law firm with 18 offices in major business centers across Asia, Europe, and the U.S. It is one of the world's leading law firms, ranked 15th in the United States and 20th in the world, according to the 2008 American Lawyer survey. Paul Hastings has a longstanding and deep commitment to pro bono work on behalf of underrepresented members of our community.



            

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