| In normal times, Family Court is a resource for unrepresented litigants to address sensitive matters of child support, custody, visitation and domestic violence. But the pandemic has created huge challenges for the courts and they are operating with limited capacity — working overtime to virtually handle thousands of cases. Nine months into this devastating pandemic, New York’s safety net is increasingly frayed. Litigants with new cases who physically come to court, cannot enter the courthouses except for emergency matters. Recognizing the special circumstance and needs of unrepresented litigants, LIFT acted. Through the support of an anonymous foundation who knew of LIFT’s close relationship with the courts, we stationed an outreach team at each of the five NYC courthouses – distributing 500 newly created Covid-19 Legal Resource Guides and referring 1,800 people to LIFT’s helpline. We also donated over 7,000 masks to sister legal organizations who work with litigants in Family Court. Our trained team, comprised primarily of students from John Jay and CUNY schools, has documented that over 8,000 people came to court over this fall. LIFT has been at the epicenter of data gathering which has allowed us to work more closely to support the Family Court and help litigants navigate the system. As with all of our work, our goal is reducing barriers to access to justice and providing specific support to litigants without lawyers during this difficult time. |
- LIFT NEWS & UPDATES
LIFT outreach team reduces barriers to justice
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