More People Seeking Help from LSC-Funded MidPenn Legal Services May Be Turned Away Due to Funding Cuts; Courts Seeing More Unrepresented Litigants Legal Services E-lert
Reading Eagle states: "The [Mercado] family stopped paying rent to
protest the poor living conditions [including rats and leaking water] and was
evicted in December 2007. The Mercados
then turned to [LSC-funded] MidPenn Legal Services for help. ‘We don't know what we would have done
without MidPenn,' Vazquez said . . . ‘We
would not be able to survive. They have
helped us learn how to live.' Legal
services has helped the family fight the eviction, rent a car and get a new
house. Valerie West, manager of MidPenn
Legal Services Reading office, said she is worried about being forced to turn
away families such as the Mercados because of potential funding cuts. The agency is threatened with losing $500,000
in state funding, which would cripple the already strapped agency, she said. The Reading
office, which has an annual budget of $997,000, could lose $70,000 . . . . West said the office already is turning away
about 100 clients a month because it lacks resources. ‘Losing the money will have a catastrophic
effect on our ability to represent our clients,' she said."
"Berks County President Judge Jeffrey L.
Schmehl said the courts are setting up new forms for people representing
themselves in family and civil court matters . . . . ‘The courts are seeing more and more people
who don't have the ability to hire attorneys,' Schmehl said. ‘The very poor get help from MidPenn Legal
Services, but there are others who can't afford to hire attorneys.' The forms will provide simple instructions
for filing custody, divorce and license suspension cases . . . . Schmehl said it's frustrating for judges when
people represent themselves without following proper legal procedures. He said the problem is not as severe in
criminal cases because those procedures aren't as complicated."
