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Mission Statement
MidPenn Legal Services is a non-profit,
public-interest law firm dedicated to providing equal access to justice
and high quality civil legal services to low-income residents and
survivors of domestic violence in 18 counties in Central
Pennsylvania.
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Vision
Statement
As
members of the communities we serve, we strive to help our clients to
become independent and self-sufficient members of the community by
strengthening families, stabilizing housing, securing and maintaining
income, providing access to health care and education, protecting
personal safety and protecting individual rights.
We are
committed to treating our clients with dignity and respect as we
provide access to the courts through direct representation, advice, pro
se clinics, and community education in a broad range of civil legal
matters. We seek results that will improve the lives of our
clients by providing individual representation and assistance as well
as by seeking solutions to systemic problems that affect our clients.
We will not let a changing
political climate, nor financial uncertainties, dampen our zeal to
advocate on behalf of our clients.
We will anticipate change and respond with creativity and
flexibility. We will reach out
to and teach the community about MPLS in an effort to increase both
popular and political support.
By doing so, we hope to
diversify our funding sources, allowing MPLS to become more financially
self-sufficient and permitting us to offer our clients a wider
array of legal services.
Within MPLS, we will treat each other with respect,
compassion, and trust and venture to never allow the stress of our
lives and jobs stifle our sense of humor. We will work with each other, not
against each other, in an effort to better ourselves and our
program. We will explore the use
of technology to strengthen communication between our offices and
staff, as we are often our own best resource. We will encourage board involvement
and cooperation, in the hopes that we can learn from each other.
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 Our Services
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Program Services Include:
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MidPenn Legal Services is
committed to the continued development of a computer-assisted centralized
intake, brief advice system.
This system is already in place in the Berks, Schuylkill, York and State College
offices, provides greater access to legal assistance. It is not intended to be a substitute
for individual representation but as an appropriate method, based on
modern telephone and computer technology, to quickly and efficiently
serve more low-income people.
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- Advice
- Referral
- Counseling
- Community
education
- Representation
before administrative bodies
- Representation
in court
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Assistance
from the private bar enables the law firm to stretch its own limited
resources. MidPenn Legal Services is a leader in pro bono development
and participation. During 2001, more than 1,000 members of the private
bar in eleven of the twelve counties participated in organized pro bono
projects or made financial contributions to provide thousands of
volunteer hours to low-income clients in the service area.
MidPenn Legal Services cooperates with a number of significant partners
to deliver services including Widener Law
School, The
Dickinson School of Law, the Community Justice Project, the National
Association for Public Interest Law, and a variety of community
organizations and advocacy groups.
The majority of MidPenn Legal Services' funding comes from the Legal
Services Corporation and Title XX monies administered by Pennsylvania
Legal Services in Harrisburg.
Additional program support comes from the Interest on Lawyers Trust
Account; local governments; private foundations; The United Way;
Department of Housing and Urban Development grants and Community
Development Block Grants; lawyers; individuals; and other community
sources.
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Goals, Priorities, and
Strategies
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The organization's caseload covers such areas as:
domestic violence, welfare, consumer, elder law, housing, homeless
outreach, Social Security/disability, health, AIDS, education, custody, divorce,
and other poverty related issues. Our clients include children,
minorities, senior citizens, homeless persons, victims of abuse, and
people with disabilities.
The mergers MidPenn Legal Services has gone through in the past year
added an important strategic value and expertise to the three
organizations whose vision, values, and history are very similar.
Agencies with already high reputations for providing valuable services
were further strengthened as a result of the recent mergers. The new combination
also provides access for clients to more advocates, allowing attorneys to
bring their areas of expertise to work for all clients throughout the new
expanded service area. Improved administration and savings in
efficiencies are also expected, in that more resources will be devoted to
client services.
MidPenn Legal Services aims to become a premier provider of legal
services in civil matters to people who can least afford them and
strengthen its role in helping to bring about wider access to the justice
system in our current eighteen-county service area.
As a result of the mergers MidPenn serves an eighteen (18) county area,
including: Adams, Bedford, Berks, Blair, Centre, Clearfield, Cumberland,
Dauphin, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon,
Mifflin, Perry, Schuylkill, and York counties.
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Eligibility Requirements
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Both financial
and client-eligibility compliance audits are performed annually by an
independent auditing firm. Staff supervisory systems serve to eliminate
frivolous or non-meritorious cases and to promote the effective utilization
of resources. Referral of fee-generating cases to the private bar is
required. All current attorneys are hired on a full-time basis and are
prohibited from engaging in any private practice.
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Financial Eligibility
Guidelines 2008
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Household
Size
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Monthly
Income
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Annual
Income
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1
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$1,083
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$13,000
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2
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$1,458
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$17,500
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3
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$1,833
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$22,000
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4
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$2,208
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$26,500
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5
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$2,583
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$31,000
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6
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$2,958
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$35,500
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7
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$3,333
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$40,000
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8
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$3,708
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$44,500
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Each
Additional
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$375
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$4,500
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Effective February 2008
These income guidelines are equivalent to 125% of the current
Federal Poverty Guidelines as published by the Department of Health and
Human Services.
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History of MidPenn
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MidPenn Legal Services is a private
non-profit Pennsylvania corporation established on July 1, 2000 through
the merger of Central Pennsylvania Legal Services (CPLS) and Keystone
Legal Services Inc. (KLS) On January 1, 2001, MidPenn merged with Legal
Services Inc. (LSI) making MidPenn the largest organization providing
free legal representation to low-income people in civil matters in
central Pennsylvania. On April 1, 2001, MidPenn assumed full
responsibility for civil legal work in Blair and Bedford counties under
a federally funded grant from the Legal Services Corporation and
contracts from Pennsylvania Legal Services IOLTA (Interest on Lawyers
Trust Account).
CPLS was established in 1974 from the 1974 merger of Dauphin County
Legal Services, incorporated in 1967 and Tri-County Legal Services,
created in 1969 to serve Berks, Lancaster and York counties. In 1979 CPLS opened an
office in Lebanon.
In 1997 CPLS added Schuylkill county.
KLS was incorporated in 1974
in Centre county with assistance of local
community leaders to serve the residents of Centre county as well as
the counties of Hungtington, Clearfield, Mifflin and Juniata. LSI began
in 1969 under the name "The Dickinson School of Law Legal Aid
Clinic". In 1972 Adams county joined Cumberland County Legal
Services Association with services being extended to Franklin county in 1973 after which
the name of the organization was was changed to Legal Services,
Inc.
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MidPenn Legal Services serves residents of a eighteen
county area in Central Pennsylvania
including:
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Of
the 17,772 cases handled in 2003-2004 by MidPenn, 53.3% were family
issues - domestic abuse, custody, etc.; 18.4% involved housing problems
- evictions, lock-outs, discrimination, etc.; 12.2% concerned consumer
affairs - bankruptcies, foreclosures, tax sales, utility terminations,
etc.; 0.1% were employment issues; 1.2% were education or health
issues; 12.5% involved income maintenance - social security, welfare
problems such as reduction, denial or termination of assistance
programs, etc; and 2.2% were miscellaneous issues.
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- Adams
- Bedford
- Berks
- Blair
- Centre
- Clearfield
- Cumberland
- Dauphin
- Franklin
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- Fulton
- Huntingdon
- Juniata
- Lancaster
- Lebanon
- Mifflin
- Perry
- Schuylkill
- York
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History of Legal Services
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The
present day legal service programs such as MidPenn Legal Services trace
their roots to the Legal Services Program in the Office of Economic
Opportunity (OEO), which was established in 1966 as part of President
Lyndon Johnson’s war on poverty.
In the early 1970's political opposition sought to eliminate the
OEO entirely, including the legal services program. These efforts to dismantle the program
failed, however. On July 25, 1974,
President Richard Nixon signed into law the Legal Services Corporation
Act, which created a congressionally funded but politically independent
Legal Services Corporation (LSC).
The
purpose of the Act is to provide “equal access to the system of
justice...for those who would otherwise be unable to afford adequate
legal counsel." The Act
recognizes that for most low-income individuals the costs of retaining an
attorney are prohibitive. Without
access to legal counsel, low income individuals are, for all practical
purposes, excluded from a system of justice that claims to be available
to all.
Congress
designed the legal services program to be highly decentralized. While LSC provides funding, it does not
represent eligible clients. The
actual delivery of legal services is done by locally controlled,
non-profit corporations located throughout the country. In 1983, LSC published new regulations
outlining the composition of the governing bodies of local LSC
grantees. Boards must be composed
of sixty percent attorneys and these attorneys need to be appointed by
local bar associations.
In
1996 Congress passed legislation that made significant changes to the
Legal Services Corporation Act.
Federal funding was reduced by 30 percent and enacted significant
restrictions on the services local programs would be able to
provide. Recently much effort has
been focused on state-wide planning in legal services. The goal is to create more and better
services for eligible clients through integrated full service legal
services systems. Pennsylvania’s
plan for the future of legal services was submitted in late 1998 and the
merger of Central Pennsylvania Legal Services and Keystone Legal
Services, Inc. is one of the first outcomes of state planning.
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Board Members
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Andrew
Shubin, Esq.
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Centre County
Bar Association
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Ann
Fruth, Esq.
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Weidner University School of Law
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Colleen
Gallo, Esq.
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Lebanon
County Bar Association
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Jerry
Philpott, Esq.
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Perry County
Bar Association
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Debra
A. Smith, Esq.
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Schuylkill
County Bar Association
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Donald
F. Smith, Jr., Esq.
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Berks County
Bar Association
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Gregory
Jackson, Esq.
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Huntingdon
County Bar Association
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Leslie
Wilson
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Dauphin County Client
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James
DeAngelo, Esq.
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Dauphin
County Bar Association
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Jane
Muller-Peterson, Esq.
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Dickinson School of Law
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Andrew
Murray, Esq
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Blair County
Bar Association
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Jennifer
Hoffman, Esq.
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Franklin County
Bar Association
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Jessica
Worthington
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Cumberland County Client, Head
Start of Shippensburg
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John
H. McCullough, Esq.
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Mifflin
County Bar
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Julia
Romig
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Mifflin County Client
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Justine
Boatwright
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Community
Progress Council, Inc. of York
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Lee
Rager, Sr.
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Fulton County Client
Representative
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Leonard
McKinnon
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Berks County, Penn's
Common Court
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Matthew
Eshelman, Esq.
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Cumberland
County Bar Association
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Patrick
Quinn, Esq.
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Adams County
Bar Association
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Robert
Wee, Esq.
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Lancaster
County Bar Association
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Samantha
Crane
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Dauphin County Client
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Thomas
O’Shea, Esq.
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York County
Bar Association
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Sylvia
Aviles
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Berks County Client
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Key Personnel
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Title
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Name
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President,
Board of Directors
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Matthew
Eshelman, Esq.
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President-Elect,
Board of Directors
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Justine
Boatwright
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Vice
President, Board of Directors
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Donald
F. Smith, Jr., Esq.
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Secretary,
Board of Directors
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Lee
Rager, Sr.
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Treasurer,
Board of Directors
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James
DeAngelo, Esq.
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Executive
Director
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Rhodia
Thomas, Esq.
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