In the News
January 29, 2025
Boston launches legal aid program for families facing eviction
“[Ana Cruz], a representative for Greater Boston Legal Services, who receive grants from the Access to Counsel Program to work pro-bono, emphasized the timeliness of the Access to Counsel Program in an email to The Daily Free Press.
‘Boston is facing unprecedented housing challenges, including an extreme lack of affordable housing and many people unable to afford the cost of living now. We’re at a tenuous time for a lot of households and their ability to avoid evictions and homelessness. This pilot comes at a pivotal moment,’ [Cruz] wrote.”
Please click here to read the full Daily Free Press story.
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January 26, 2025
Key lesson of ’07 immigration raid: There could be legal recourse
“…[I]n response to the government’s enforcement action, Greater Boston Legal Services and others were able to obtain relief for more than half of the 361 arrested undocumented immigrants based on a variety of legal defenses.”
Please click here to read the full opinion piece in the Boston Globe.
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January 21, 2025
Wu announces Access to Counsel Pilot Program to combat housing displacement
“Through BPS’ Early Homelessness Intervention Program, school homelessness liaisons will identify at-risk families, according to the release. FamilyAid Boston, a homelessness non-profit, will then coordinate with Greater Boston Legal Services to provide these families with the necessary guidance, the release said.”
Please click here to read the full boston.com story.
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January 21, 2025
Boston launches free legal aid program for families facing eviction
“ ‘Access to stable, safe, and healthy housing is a basic need for every child and a cornerstone of equity and justice in our City; yet, right now, less than five percent of families facing eviction have legal representation,’ said Hed Ehrlich, managing attorney of the Housing Unit at Greater Boston Legal Services.”
Please click here to read the full MassLive story.
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January 21, 2025
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu Launches Legal Aid Initiative to Protect School Families from Eviction
“The Early Homelessness Intervention Program connects families to legal aid through school referrals, with FamilyAid Boston and Greater Boston Legal Services providing support during eviction cases.”
Please click here to read the full Hoodline story.
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January 16, 2025
‘Hard times are coming.’ An immigration raid in New Bedford 18 years ago may offer a glimpse of what’s to come
“…[I]t would not be OK, for her small family and hundreds of others in New Bedford whose lives were fractured forever after that late winter morning almost 18 years ago, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents swarmed the Michael Bianco Inc. leather goods factory and arrested 361 undocumented immigrants…‘It was like a bomb had gone off,’ said John Willshire Carrera, assistant director of the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic at Greater Boston Legal Services, who represented many of the families in their legal cases, pro bono.”
Please click here to read the full Boston Globe story.
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January 16, 2025
Massachusetts progressives boo Gov. Healey’s proposed emergency shelter changes: ‘Disconnected from reality’
“ ‘The governor justifies these changes with rhetoric that blames immigrants much of the time…’ said Liz Alfred, senior attorney for the Greater Boston Legal Services. ‘Immigrants are not responsible for the housing crisis.’ ”
Please click here to read or listen to the full Boston Herald story.
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January 10, 2025
A ‘Clean slate’: Lawmakers, advocates push for automatic sealing of criminal records
“A coalition of lawmakers, advocacy groups, and business leaders are backing legislation to automatically seal certain criminal records in an effort to help people with years-old convictions more easily access jobs, housing, and education...Clean Slate Massachusetts is a coalition of 11 advocacy groups and nonprofits, including The Fountain Fund, Greater Boston Legal Services, Justice 4 Housing, and the national Clean Slate Initiative.”
Please click here to read the full Boston Globe story.
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January 9, 2025
Boston Police Engage Spanish-Speaking Community in East Boston for Safer, More Inclusive Policing
“Police officers from District A-7, along with local representatives, hosted an event for the Spanish-speaking community to address topics such as reporting crimes, immigration status, scams, and victim assistance. The Boston Police, Suffolk District Attorney’s Office, Massachusetts Office of Victim Assistance, and Greater Boston Legal Services gave presentations.”
Please click here to read the full Hoodline story.
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January 1, 2025
Local organizations prepare for the challenges expected from a second Trump administration
“Cantabrigian Schuyler Pisha, an immigration lawyer with Greater Boston Legal Services, said that [with a new administration—or—with changing immigration enforcement,] ‘every case that we have becomes more difficult and also increases demand to take more cases.’ ”
Please click here to read the full Cambridge Day story.
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December 14, 2024
She didn’t get an apartment because of an AI-generated score – and sued to help others avoid the same fate
"Tenant-screening systems like SafeRent are often used as a way to 'avoid engaging' directly with applicants and pass the blame for a denial to a computer system, said [GBLS Senior Attorney] Todd Kaplan, one of the attorneys representing Louis and the class of plaintiffs who sued the company."
Please click here to read the full The Guardian story.
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December 12, 2024
Policy shifts in how Mass. handles its homelessness crisis took effect this week. Advocates have mixed reactions
" 'These changes mean many eligible families will never be able to access an Emergency Assistance shelter placement,' Liz Alfred of Greater Boston Legal Services said in a statement."
Please click here to read the full Boston Globe story.
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December 10, 2024
Latest changes to Mass. emergency family shelter system take effect
The changes to MA's shelter system are still insufficient to meet the need. "'Even if you don't have another place to stay and even if you and your child have met this pretty high standard for shelter placement, you won't be placed in shelter,' said Elizabeth Alfred, with Greater Boston Legal Services."
Please click here to read the full NBC10 Boston News story.
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December 9, 2024
Viewpoint: Small businesses need better tax amnesty
GBLS Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic tax attorneys Luz Arévalo and Angela Divaris wrote this opinion piece that includes, “It will be impossible for many low- to moderate-income taxpayers and small business owners to take advantage of the tax penalty amnesty. Amnesties targeting a class of individuals who can pay up do not take into account individual circumstances.”
Please click here to read the full opinion piece in the Worcester Business Journal.
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December 5, 2024
Proposed shelter changes don't ‘match the realities' families face, opponents say
"Liz Alfred from Greater Boston Legal Services said the majority of families deemed eligible for the Emergency Assistance shelter program will now instead be steered into short-term shelters. 'You will be found eligible for shelter, and then you will never be offered shelter. This is many, many families. Just so that people are clear -- this is a lot of people. This is the majority of people who are found eligible for shelter. They will never be offered shelter under this program that they are currently talking about,' Alfred said."
Please click here to read the full NBC10 Boston News story.
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December 4, 2024
Tenants shouldn’t be forced to pay broker fees
" 'There’s no question [broker fees are] creating huge barriers for low-income people and people with housing subsidies to enter the rental market in huge segments of available housing,' said Todd Kaplan, senior attorney in the consumer rights unit at Greater Boston Legal Services."
Please click here to read the full Boston Globe editorial.
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November 26, 2024
New director, members named for Access to Justice Commission
“A new director and four new members have been announced for the state Access to Justice Commission…The commission named Boston lawyer Deborah M. Silva as its next director, effective Dec. 9…The Supreme Judicial Court also has appointed four new members to the commission:
Probate & Family Court Judge Dana S. Doyle;
Ilana Gelfman, advocacy director, Greater Boston Legal Services;
Inês Kenney, managing attorney of the Fitchburg Office of Community Legal Aid; and
Dr. Natoschia Scruggs, chief access, diversity and fairness officer for the Trial Court”
Please click here to read the full Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly story.
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November 21, 2024
SJC finds state housing office can’t require outside verification for families seeking emergency shelter
"One attorney representing the plaintiffs [along with advocates on GBLS' shelter team], Ilana Gelfman, said Greater Boston Legal Services, where she is advocacy director, was relieved by the decision. 'Most families applying for shelter do have third-party verifications of eligibility, but in our experience this policy has created barriers for the most traumatized and vulnerable homeless families,' she said in a statement. ‘We have primarily seen the policy affect families and children fleeing domestic abuse, as well as families who have been unexpectedly or illegally evicted.' Greater Boston Legal Services, she said, has ‘seen whole families turned away from shelter because they were missing a birth certificate for one of their children.' ”
Please click here to read the full Boston Globe story.
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November 20, 2024
Class action lawsuit on AI-related discrimination reaches final settlement
In the first lawsuit of its kind, SafeRent, a tenant credit screening provider, has settled after plaintiffs challenged its algorithms as racially discriminatory against Black and Hispanic renters–specifically those with housing vouchers. “A federal judge approved a settlement in the lawsuit, one of the first of it’s [sic] kind, on Wednesday, with the company behind the algorithm agreeing to pay over $2.2 million and roll back certain parts of it’s screening products that the lawsuit alleged were discriminatory...GBLS senior attorney Todd Kaplan said of the settlement: ‘Management companies and landlords need to know that…these systems that they are assuming are reliable and good are going to be challenged.’ ’’
Please click here to read the full Associated Press story.
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November 8, 2024
‘Amnesty’ Offered to State Tax Payers, but Some Say More Help Is Needed
" 'It is good for (the state government) to do this,' said Luz Arevalo, an attorney at the Greater Boston Legal Services, a firm that provides free legal assistance to low-income Boston residents. However, as someone who has seen many of her clients struggle with their taxes, Arevalo believes the state should do much more. She and her colleagues are pushing for a bill — an Act Providing for Settlement in Tax Liability — that they feel will bring more benefits to Massachusetts’ low-income taxpayers."
Please click here to read the full Sampan story.
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November 8, 2024
My Turn: Tax amnesty is good policy, but leaves out some distressed taxpayers
GBLS Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic tax attorneys Luz Arévalo and Angela Divaris wrote this opinion piece that includes, “The Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) announced a tax amnesty program that will…forgive penalties for some taxpayers who are able to pay in full their tax balances and interest…Amnesties targeting a class of individuals who can pay up do not take into account the individual circumstances of a taxpayer who can’t.”
Please click here to read the full opinion piece in the Greenfield Recorder.
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November 1, 2024
State lawmakers hope to reduce arrests for debtors during informal sessions
“ ‘People don't realize that they have legal rights. They don't realize…who the debt collector is and the relationship with the original creditor and that there's an opportunity for them to still show up, explain their story and win even if they may have owed a debt to this original creditor.’ ”
Please click here to read or listen to the full GBH News story shared on NPR.
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October 31, 2024
Residents sue assisted living facility over fees that drain their income
“Sean Ahern, a senior attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services, which is bringing the suit, says that it’s unclear what the fees are for that is not already paid for from separate sources. ‘It seems to be that this is an arbitrary and unfair and deceptive fee,’ Ahern said. ‘The fees are very, very oppressive in terms of their impact on the residents and their ability to navigate life day to day.’ ”
Please click here to read the full GBH story.
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October 30, 2024
‘I don’t deserve it’: Seniors sue Revere assisted living home over ‘ancillary fees’
“The [class action suit filed this month against Prospect House’s property manager] by Greater Boston Legal Services and the firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius in US District Court in Boston, comes as Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell has made regulating assisted living facilities a cornerstone of her initiative to protect seniors in the state.”
Please click here to read the full Boston Globe story.
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October 30, 2024
Leader of Mattapan tenant organization staves off eviction…for now
"After hugging her [Greater Boston Legal Services] attorneys, Gordon acknowledged that her story is a part of the region’s rampaging housing crisis. Oftentimes, it is here, at the Edward W. Brooke Courthouse where that crisis, which affects some of the region’s most vulnerable residents, grinds on. Here, at the housing court, is where the numbers that define that crisis — inflation, rising rents and property values, the scarcity of affordable housing units — become a painful reality."
Please click here to read the full Boston Globe story.
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October 24, 2024
“In an interview with Invest:, Jacquelynne Bowman, executive director of Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS), highlighted the organization’s mission to provide free civil legal services to low-income residents of Boston.”
Please click here to read the full Capital Analytics interview.
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October 18, 14, 10, 2024
GBLS Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic tax attorneys Luz Arévalo and Angela Divaris wrote this opinion piece that includes, “The Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) announced a tax amnesty program that will…forgive penalties for some taxpayers who are able to pay in full their tax balances and interest…Amnesties targeting a class of individuals who can pay up do not take into account the individual circumstances of a taxpayer who can’t.”
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October 8, 2024
Attorneys, law student to be recognized for pro bono service
[SJC Justice Elizabeth N.] Dewar will present the Adams Pro Bono Publico Awards, named for John Adams and John Quincy Adams, to the following people for their outstanding pro bono work…[including] Miyuki Masuda, a student at New England Law | Boston, for providing hundreds of hours of pro bono assistance to survivors of domestic violence and severe trauma at the Greater Boston Legal Services Immigration Unit.”
Please click here to read the full Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly story.
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October 3, 2024
AG sees $10M in relief in “zombie mortgage” settlement
“Mortgage servicer Franklin Credit Management Corporation will cease collecting more than $10 million in mortgage debt in Massachusetts as part of a settlement agreement with Attorney General Andrea Campbell… [The settlement agreement] was announced with statements of support from Andrea Bopp Stark of the National Consumer Law Center and Todd Kaplan of Greater Boston Legal Services.”
Please click here to read the full WWLP 22News story.
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September 17, 2024
State lawmakers hope to reduce arrests for debtors during informal sessions
“Nadine Cohen, former managing attorney of the Consumer Rights Unit at Greater Boston Legal Services, said she’s optimistic the bill will pass now because of the recent agreements with debt collecting companies…Cohen said the legislation would make a particular difference to people of color, who are disproportionately affected. ‘It really, really makes such a big difference to low-income consumers who have debt in collection,’ Cohen said.’ ”
Please click here to read the full GBH story.
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September 13, 2024
Bar sees balance in SJC’s ruling in 7-Eleven case
“…[Attorney] Jason Salgado of Greater Boston Legal Services and Boston attorney Ana Muñoz, who co-authored an amicus brief on behalf of the Massachusetts Worker Centers and Massachusetts Employment Lawyers Association, said they took some solace in the limited nature of the decision…‘The facts here did not support a finding that they were performing services, but I think the door is left open that, under a different set of facts, franchisees could be employees under the Wage Act,’ Muñoz said. Salgado agreed that Patel is ‘a very narrow decision about this particular set of facts.’ ”
Please click here to read the full story in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.
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September 6, 2024
Boston Public Radio & The Culture Show Live from the Library
At 2:50:40 in the link, GBLS Senior Attorney Angela Divaris, of our Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic, calls in to GBH and talk to Governor Maura Healey about the Massachusetts Child Tax Credit and mixed status families’ eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Please click here to read or listen to the full Boston Public Radio & The Culture Show /GBH story.
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September 3, 2024
Some landlords have vacant apartments for homeless families. The paperwork required by the state is driving some away.
“The state program, called HomeBASE, pairs homeless families with landlords who have vacant units and then subsidizes rent and other expenses for up to three years…‘I don’t think it’s the magic solution [the state] thinks it is,’ [GBLS senior paralegal Adam] Hoole said. ‘It’s just a referral of the problem down the road.’ ”
In the meantime, families wait."
Please click here to read the full Boston Globe story.
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September 3, 2024
The Debt Mills: How state courts grind through consumer debt cases
“Matthew Brooks, managing attorney for the Consumer Rights Unit of the nonprofit Greater Boston Legal Services, said he was stunned by the new data.
‘I feel a pit in my stomach when I look at this,’ said Brooks, who pairs volunteer lawyers with consumers in four Boston-area courts. ‘It’s way worse than I thought. And it was already really bad.’ ”
Please click here to read or listen to the full GBH story.
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August 9, 2024
Tips to avoid apartment rental scams in Massachusetts
“ ‘Do not spend any money until you have laid eyes on the unit,’ said Sarah Perlman of Greater Boston Legal Services, a staff attorney on the consumer rights unit. ‘If it’s impossible for you to be there in person yourself, maybe you can send a friend or another proxy.’ ”
Please click here to read the full GBH story.
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August 6, 2024
Local faith communities stepping up to host homeless migrants
“ ‘A lot of families are heartbroken and don’t know what to do,’ said Adam Hoole with Greater Boston Legal Services. ‘It’s hard when you have a 1-year-old, a 6-year-old or you’re pregnant and be turned out on the street with no resources.’ Hoole, who’s been trying to help families access the family shelter system, said the task of finding secure places for families to sleep is currently daunting.”
Please click here to read or listen to the full Boston 25 News story.
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July 31, 2024
Equity theft is now illegal in Massachusetts, making it possible for some who lost their homes to get money back
“ ‘Who would think you could lose your entire home for one (missed) payment,’ said [GBLS Senior Attorney Todd] Kaplan. ‘It doesn’t make sense.’
Please click here to read or listen to the full WCVB-TV story.
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July 31, 2024
Immigrants cooperating in labor abuse investigations now have more time to stay in US legally
"[Managing Attorney of GBLS' Employment Law Unit [Audrey] Richardson said workers have been 'very fearful to come forward if they do not have legal status in the United States . . . for fear that the immigration enforcement system could be wielded against them.'”
Please click here to read or listen to the full GBH story.
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July 29, 2024
Ban on home equity theft is now Massachusetts law. Here's what the new law does
“[On] Monday, Gov. Maura Healey banned cities and towns in Massachusetts from ‘equity theft,’ the practice of selling a foreclosed home and keeping the former homeowner's equity as profit. ‘These are house-rich and cash-poor elders and low-income folks. This is their affordable housing, and they need to be able to stay in it,’ [GBLS attorney Todd] Kaplan said.’ ”
Please click here to read or listen to the full WCVB-TV story.
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July 29, 2024
Advocates denounce 5-day limit on overflow shelter stays
“The first two weeks of July, 467 families applied for shelter, while 128 families exited the system, according to state data. There were around 330 families in overflow shelters and 728 on a waitlist. Adam Hoole, lead paralegal at Greater Boston Legal Services’ housing unit, said Friday the organization is thinking about how to advise families…Advocates said that because they weren’t included in the decision-making, there will be financial repercussions, especially under a federal law known as McKinney-Vento.”
Please click here to read the full GBH News story.
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July 20, 2024
Migrants in the Boston area rush to secure legal status amid concerns over upcoming election
“Anne Georges, a staff attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services, an organization that provides free legal assistance, said demand for immigration legal assistance has always been high, but the group receives roughly twice as many calls as it did a few years ago…She was among a dozen or so lawyers, paralegals, law students, and volunteers helping Haitian migrants fill out TPS applications at a legal clinic hosted by Greater Boston Legal Services at the Boston Missionary Baptist Church in Roxbury on Tuesday.”
Please click here to read the full Boston Globe story.
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July 3, 2024
Eviction takes its toll on more than one’s finances
The consequences of living under threat of eviction are wide-ranging and severe, and they extend far beyond one's finances, into physical and mental health, community support, and the ability to access critical resources. “ ‘People don’t choose to live in poverty,’ [GBLS housing attorney Lauren] Honigman said.”
Please click here to read the full Boston Globe story.
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June 28, 2024
Bills support homeowners in foreclosures, bars municipalities from keeping more than owed
“So many people are unaware that they can lose their homes,” said Todd Kaplan, an attorney with Greater Boston Legal Services. He represented Rodriguez in her fight to retain her property. Things happen, he noted: "Mail is misplaced, people get overwhelmed, get behind, they shouldn’t lose their homes just because they fell behind.”
Please click here to read the full Worcester Telegram & Gazette story.
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June 28, 2024
Migrants will no longer be allowed to sleep at Logan Airport, Healey administration says
"Liz Alfred, an attorney with Greater Boston Legal Services who represents people in shelters, said the decision appears to be 'driven by optics.' Alfred said she and other lawyers suggest the airport as a safe place for families to sleep while they wait for a shelter placement when there is no other option...'It does not feel like this is driven by what is best for families or how to address the housing crisis,' she said. 'It seems like it is driven by how bad things look. . . . It’s a horrifying time right now.' "
Please click here to read the full Boston Globe story.
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June 19, 2024
‘Zombie mortgages’ come back to haunt thousands of homeowners now facing foreclosure
“ ‘We think that [these mortgage companies] have systemically and deliberately broken the law,’ Todd Kaplan, an attorney with the nonprofit Greater Boston Legal Services, told NPR.”
Please click here to read the full New York Post story.
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June 18, 2024
Massachusetts Court Approves Landmark Cross-Disability Settlement Agreement on Behalf of Individuals Stuck in Nursing Facilities
Following a fairness hearing on June 17, 2024, at the United States District Court in Boston, Judge Nathaniel Gorton entered a final order on June 18, 2024 approving a landmark cross-disability Settlement Agreement in Marsters v. Healey. The Marsters case is a disability rights class action lawsuit brought against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on behalf of tens of thousands of individuals with disabilities who are unnecessarily institutionalized in nursing facilities. The Agreement, preliminarily approved on April 22, 2024, will allow thousands of people to return to the community and live in new homes with appropriate services.
Please click here to read the press release.
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June 10, 2024
Have an old or forgotten credit card bill? You might end up carless.
“In 2022, a group of attorneys sent a letter to Massachusetts trial court officials pleading for reforms to protect low-income people from what they said had become ‘debt collecting machines.’ Matthew Brooks, managing attorney in the consumer rights unit of the nonprofit Greater Boston Legal Services, says issues described in the letter have not improved. ‘We’re using public resources and the threat of state power to collect on a corporate debt. I just don’t think that’s a great use of anyone’s time or funds,’ Brooks told GBH News.”
Please click here to read or listen to the full GBH News story.
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June 7, 2024
Jury finds Boston-area pizza shop owner guilty of forcing immigrants to work long hours without fair pay
“'The jury’s verdict sends a powerful message to employers who think they can take advantage of undocumented immigrants,' Audrey Richardson, managing attorney of Greater Boston Legal Services Employment Law Unit, which represents five immigrant workers who testified at the trial, said in a statement."
Please click here to read the full Boston Globe story.
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June 7, 2024
Sometimes Hard Work is Not Enough: So Expand Earned-Income Tax Credit
In this article written by Senior Attorney Angela Divaris of GBLS’ Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic, she describes the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) that “is aimed at boosting the incomes of low-to-moderate earners, especially those with minor children” and advocates for allowing immigrants who do not have Social Security numbers to benefit from the credit.
Please click here to read the full Sampan story.
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June 5, 2024
After state settlement, disabled people stuck in nursing homes hope to find homes of their own
Thanks to a recent settlement [in the class action lawsuit Marsters v. Healey filed by GBLS, the Center for Public Representation, Justice in Aging, and the law firm Foley Hoag LLP], the state will set up programs to help people like Simpson transition into living in the community. Her situation is an example of what can happen to too many people with disabilities: unable to find a place or the resources to live on their own, they end up “warehoused” in a nursing facility.
Please click here to read the full GBH story.
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May 31, 2024
In Mass., response to ‘Tyler’ on tax takings has been slow in coming
" 'Unfortunately, what we’re seeing a little bit is the Wild West,' said Todd S. Kaplan, a senior attorney at GBLS. 'Courts are trying to figure it out and coming to divergent positions on what they need to do and what they have the power to do when somebody comes before them with a tax foreclosure at the end of the line.' "
Please click here to read the full Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly story.
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May 21, 2024
Greater Boston Legal Services Honors the Boston Legal Community
On May 21, Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS) hosted a breakfast at Sullivan & Worcester to celebrate the law firms, corporate legal departments, and individuals who have demonstrated outstanding support for legal aid this year.
Please click here to read more.
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May 9, 2024
Legislative committee expands equity theft bill
"Homeowners whose properties are seized by a town or city for nonpayment of taxes would be able to recoup the ‘excess equity’ after the municipality has satisfied their tax debt, under a redrafted bill advanced by the joint legislative committee that handles tax policy...The new language was crafted after consulting with stakeholders like the Land Court, Trial Court, Mass. Municipal Association, and Greater Boston Legal Services, [Joint Committee on Revenue Co-chair Susan] Moran said.”
Please click here to read the WWLP-22News story.
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May 7, 2024
Court rulings may force action on home equity theft
“After a state judge ruled in April that Massachusetts law [Chapter 60] governing municipal home equity takings ‘requires Legislative correction,’ a state senator who has filed a related bill for years said last week that he was ready to start demanding roll call votes on his proposal…In the Hampden County case filed last October [by Pioneer Public Interest Law Center and Greater Boston Legal Services, initially filed in the Supreme Judicial Court], Springfield resident Ashley Mills challenged Chapter 60’s constitutionality…After an initial unpaid 2016 tax bill of $1,636.70, her debt to the city ballooned through interest and fees to around $22,000 — and Mills found herself ‘on the verge of losing’ her home…‘This is primarily a legislative issue,’ attorney Todd Kaplan of Greater Boston Legal Services said in a statement after last month’s ruling.”
Please click here to read the Lowell Sun story.
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May 2, 2024
For those in Mass. emergency shelters, the new 9-month clock is already ticking
“ ‘Three months is not enough time,’ said Liz Alfred, an attorney with Greater Boston Legal Services who represents people in shelters.
‘It really feels like it's going to throw people into chaos to be told, 'Sometime over the summer: you have to find someplace, any place, to go, or you're going to be on the street.' "
Please click here to read the full WBUR story.
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State’s Raise the Age bill is a smart-on-crime measure
Lead Attorney Pauline Quirion, the Director of GBLS' CORI and Re-entry Project, writes in this letter to the editor: "The Boston Globe and Senate President Karen Spilka are spot-on — Massachusetts needs to raise the age at which young offenders are considered adults...[t]he law...can be a blunt instrument, and the adult criminal justice system is not equipped to address the rehabilitation of teenagers and emerging adults, who need to complete their education, receive developmentally appropriate supportive treatment and interventions, and have access to their families at this critical time in their lives."
Please click here to read the full letter to the editor of the Boston Globe.
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April 30, 2024
Rental Applicants Reach $2.28M Settlement Agreement for Discriminatory AI-Powered Screening Tool
“Rental applicants in Massachusetts recently reached a $2.28 million against a tenant screening service, SafeRent Solutions, after alleging the company’s algorithmic screen program disproportionately harmed Black and Hispanic rental applicants using federally funded housing choice vouchers... Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, Greater Boston Legal Services and the National Consumer Law Center represent the plaintiffs and will act as settlement class counsel. The plaintiffs brought the complaint against SafeRent under the Fair Housing Act and Massachusetts discrimination laws in May 2022, and the judge denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss in July 2023.”
Please click here read the full law.com story.
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April 22, 2024
Court ruling turns up heat on Mass. tax lien law that costs homeowners their equity
“ 'This has to be resolved and has to be resolved quickly,' said Todd Kaplan, a senior housing attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services…'The legislature needs to act to fix the system. And the only fix that will be constitutional is one that returns the equity in the home to the homeowner.' ”
Please click here to read the full GBH story.
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April 21, 2024
Massachusetts commits $1 billion to move thousands out of nursing homes in wake of lawsuit settlement
“Nursing home residents should find it dramatically easier to return to their communities after Massachusetts committed to spending $1 billion over the next eight years for new housing and community support for people seeking to leave long-term care facilities.
The commitment was part of a settlement in a lawsuit filed [by GBLS, the Center for Public Representation, Justice in Aging, and the law firm Foley Hoag LLP] in US District Court by the Massachusetts Senior Action Council and seven nursing home residents
Please click here to read the full Boston Globe story.
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April 19, 2024
Judge finds 'equity theft' law unconstitutional, pressuring change
“Nearly a year after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled so-called ‘equity theft’ unconstitutional, a Massachusetts judge confirmed the ruling applies to the way Massachusetts conducts tax foreclosures, pressuring lawmakers to act.
‘There's lots of things that could help people stay in their homes,’ said Greater Boston Legal Services senior attorney Todd Kaplan. ‘Those tools and resources need to be available to municipalities.’ "
Please click here to read the full WCVB Channel 5 story.
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April 17, 2024
State commits to moving 2,400 people out of nursing homes
A Globe editorial followed the announcement on April 16 by the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, that a settlement has been reached in the class action lawsuit Marsters v. Healey brought by GBLS, the Center for Public Representation, Justice in Aging, and the law firm Foley Hoag LLP on behalf of older adults, people with serious mental illness, and people with physical disabilities who are unnecessarily segregated in nursing home institutional settings, and who could be discharged to integrated community-based residential services with all needed wraparound services if the state provided these integrated opportunities. “Steven Schwartz, special counsel with the Center for Public Representation, who represented the plaintiffs, called the agreement ‘spectacular’ and said it will make a big difference in giving nursing home residents the support and the information they need to move out...John Simmons, a 73-year-old man with multiple medical conditions…was [a GBLS client and] the lead plaintiff of the lawsuit when it was filed. He died in the nursing home waiting to move. But his legacy will live on when others in similar positions are able to return to their homes and their communities through the resources made available by this settlement.”
Please click here to read the full Boston Globe editorial.
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“Transformative”” agreement will help thousands of people leave Mass. nursing homes
“Thousands of people who have been “warehoused” in Massachusetts nursing homes due to insufficient alternatives could soon receive the support they need to live independently…John Simmons was the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit [Marsters v. Healey brought by GBLS, the Center for Public Representation, Justice in Aging, and the law firm Foley Hoag LLP] when it was originally filed in 2022. But he died in summer of 2023 at age 74, before the resolution of the suit. He lived at the Rehabilitation & Nursing Center at Everett for four years. His lawyers hoped that he would be able to live his final years outside of a nursing home. ‘I continue to this day to be very sad that we were not able to help him achieve that dream before he died,’ said Deborah Filler, a lawyer with Greater Boston Legal Services, one of the groups that represented the plaintiffs.”
Please click here to read the full GBH story.
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April 14, 2024
Injured workers have little recourse against rogue employers. A new bill could change that.
“ ‘Currently, the law doesn’t have any teeth’, said Audrey Richardson, an employment attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services who is part of a coalition backing the bill. ‘Workers have no avenue for holding employers accountable and for being compensated for the harms they’ve experienced,’ she said.”
Please click here to read the full Boston Globe story.
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March 22, 2024
We asked, readers answered. Here are some exceptional women making a difference in the Greater Boston area
GBLS senior attorney Hannah Tanabe was included in an exceptional group of women recognized by Boston Globe readers during Women’s History Month. “Hannah, in her capacity as a senior attorney in the Employment Law Unit at Greater Boston Legal Services, protects the rights of the most vulnerable workers — those most likely to be taken advantage of, and least likely to successfully navigate the complex administrative and legal avenues necessary to enforce their rights and protections."
Please click here to read the full Boston Globe story.
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March 2, 2024
Through this cannabis nonprofit, a clean record and a rare 2nd chance
“A criminal past can often stand in the way of a stable job or housing, even after a person has served a prison sentence or completed probation.
‘If you do nothing about your record, it’s going to just keep haunting you,’ said Pauline Quirion, director of the CORI & Re-entry Project for Greater Boston Legal Services.’ “
Please click here to read the full MassLive.com story.
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February 15, 2024
SJC faults state for not sealing juvenile records
“The state's highest court has sided with criminal justice advocates who challenged a policy that blocked people who committed offenses as juveniles from sealing their criminal records…Criminal justice advocates filed a lawsuit last year against the state agency alleging that the agency was violating a law allowing people with juvenile offenses to request that their records be sealed after 3 years…Pauline Quirion, a senior attorney with Greater Boston Legal Services who filed the lawsuit, said it’s not clear how many years the department was applying the adult sealing statute to youthful offenses, but said the SJC’s ruling will have major implications for people with juvenile records going forward.”
Please click here to read the full Eagle-Times story.
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February 13, 2024
Who is supposed to clear snow from MBTA bus stops? The answer isn’t so simple
“Advocates say this lack of uniformity can lead to snow and ice not being properly removed at bus stops, and disabled riders don’t know who to contact to complain.
‘And it’s not just a problem for people who are older, or people who are not steady on their feet. It’s a problem for people who are pushing strollers...it’s a problem for someone rolling luggage along,’ [GBLS Board member] Joanne Daniels-Finegold said. ‘We need to recognize the fact and deal with it, frankly’ ”. She is the lead plaintiff in the Daniels-Finegold et al. v. MBTA class action lawsuit. The parties entered into a settlement agreement in 2006.
Please click here to read the full GBH story.
Massachusetts couple facing threat of eviction from mobile home park over handicapped ramp
“A Massachusetts property manager is taking steps to evict a woman living with an aggressive form of brain cancer after her husband had a wheelchair ramp installed to help her get in and out of their Cape Cod home…Jessica Drew, senior attorney with the Greater Boston Legal Services, has no involvement in the [case but said she] ‘would argue that [this eviction] isn't legal…What [defendant George] Frigon is asking for is a reasonable modification to his home so that his wife can safely enter and exit the home.’ ”
Please click here to read the full WCVB-TV story.
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February 11, 2024
Classes on the harms of ‘parental conflict’ are back for Mass. parents
“Kate Barry, a senior attorney in Greater Boston Legal Services’ family law unit, worries about the one-size-fits-all approach. She often represents survivors of domestic violence and says that the course’s material doesn’t apply for such relationships.
‘In the course, right up front, they say this may not be appropriate for you if you’ve experienced domestic violence,’ she said. ‘I definitely agree with that assessment.’ ”
Please click here to read the full GBH story.
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February 1, 2024
Nowhere to Go: How the system failed a trafficking survivor
GBLS attorney Ashleigh Pelto was interviewed by WMUK about the experience a survivor of human trafficking in Michigan had being arrested as a result of being trafficked. As in Michigan, Massachusetts' current trafficking law offers survivors no relief because it severely limits the types of offenses a survivor can try to clear from their records. Attorney Pelto said, “A best practice statute would affirm that they should never have been convicted in the first place by focusing on the traffickers' actions as opposed to theirs.”
Please click here to read the full WMUK story.
¿Eres un trabajador de MA? Conoce tus beneficios de un permiso médico y familiar pagado
(Are you a Massachusetts worker? Know your paid family and medical leave benefits)
“Nadie, o al menos la mayoría de los trabajadores en Massachusetts, debería estar en la posición de tener que elegir entre cuidar su salud, la salud de su familia, o poner comida en la mesa y pagar el alquiler. Es una posición horrible en la que, en muchos otros estados, los trabajadores se encuentran todos los días», expresó [GBLS abogada Stephanie] Herron.” ---
"No one, or at least most workers in Massachusetts, should be in the position of having to choose between taking care of their health, the health of their family, or putting food on the table and paying rent. It's a horrible position that, in many other states, workers find themselves in every day," [GBLS attorney Stephanie] Herron said.
Please click here to read the full El Planeta story.
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January 10, 2024
Amid mice infestations, eking out an existence
“[E]xperts recommend avoiding the inclination to withhold rent. Mac McCreight, a former lawyer for Greater Boston Legal Services who still volunteers with the organization, said the tenant must take proper action to document the issue, put it in writing, and then contact the Board of Health. Without following the proper protocol, it becomes a 'he said, she said' situation."
Please click here to read the full boston.com story.
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January 9, 2024
Activists decry major Mass. budget cut blocking 10% benefit bump for poor
GBLS senior attorney Naomi Meyer: "Families can't afford essentials like diapers, pain medicine, soap, and winter coats and shoes. The Governor should not fill gaps in our state budget by cutting basic benefits for Massachusetts families and individuals struggling in Deep Poverty."
Please click here to read the full NBC10 Boston story.
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December 24, 2023
Clemency was a political third rail for decades. Healey and other governors are starting to embrace it
“We’re at an important crossroads,” said Pauline Quirion, director of the CORI and Reentry project at Greater Boston Legal Services and the co-chair of a Massachusetts Bar Association task force that recommended a clemency overhaul in 2021. Part of measuring Healey, she said, will include “whether or not people get commutations, as well as the pardons.”
Please click here to read the full Boston Globe story.
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December 20, 2023
Food assistance program for immigrants extended
"While advocates celebrated the new expansion…questions remain about how much impact $6 million can have. 'What we don’t know yet is exactly what the numbers will be and how long that money will last,' [GBLS welfare law attorney Naomi] Meyer said."
Please click here to read the full Bay State Banner story.
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December 15, 2023
Mass. should ban evictions during the winter months
"[At GBLS] we regularly see eviction cases for minor issues such as leaving a tap to drip so that a pet can get fresh water, or for using a portable washing machine when the nearest laundromat is inaccessible due to handicap or travel distance. During winter, there should be a moratorium on 'cause' cases where the tenants’ alleged 'lease violation' does not present a serious risk of harm to the landlord, their property, or other residents."
Please click here to read the full opinion in CommonWealth Magazine.
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December 16, 2023
Blaming homeless families
"…Elizabeth Alfred, a heroic housing attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services, had been working on the family’s case for weeks. She was trying to get the emergency shelter denial reversed, arguing the family was not at fault in their eviction."
Please click here to read the full Boston Globe story.
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December 11, 2023
'Pretty bleak': Waitlist for family shelter tops 200 households after first month
" 'We’ve had some clients who came to us and have been staying outside,' [GBLS housing attorney Liz] Alfred said. 'We're in really uncharted waters.' "
Please click here to read the full WBUR story.
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December 11, 2023
A local retired educator is taking his crusade against online scams to 150,000 followers
"Sarah Perlman, a consumer rights attorney for the nonprofit Greater Boston Legal Services, says anybody with an online presence, including even just an email address, can fall victim to online fraud."
Please click here to read the full GBH story.
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December 9, 2023
When rock bottom isn’t low enough
"Together, [two GBLS attorneys] have spent some 13 hours so far gathering up voluminous evidence to prove Buckley’s claims and dealing with housing authorities on her behalf.
It shouldn’t take that much legal firepower, or that many hours, for a homeless family with no other options to get relief in this state. And that family shouldn’t have to rob tomorrow to qualify for help today."
Please click here to read the full Boston Globe story.
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December 6, 2023
Pro bono legal aid now available to Women’s Lunch Place guests
" 'Because Nayab’s clinic…is every week, women know that they can reach her there,' said Laticia Walker-Simpson, a managing senior attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services who oversees Ajaz’s work at the shelter. 'If they can’t make it to our office, or they can’t make it somewhere else, we know that they’re going to be at Women’s Lunch Place every week. We can meet them where they’re at.' "
Please click here to read the full Bay State Banner story.
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November 20, 2023
Families struggle as Mass. shelter waitlist grows
GBLS senior paralegal Adam Hoole on his work trying to find safe places to stay for families who are on the emergency shelter waitlist: “I'm really struggling to get anyone to pay attention to them.”
Please click here to read the full WBUR story.
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November 10, 2023
Innovative partnership ensures lawyer for women in crisis
“An innovative program staffed by Greater Boston Legal Services is ensuring that guests at a Boston women’s shelter have a lawyer they can call on in times of crisis.
Since February, GBLS attorney Nayab R. Ajaz has been on hand to help resolve the sometimes-complex legal issues facing clients at the Women’s Lunch Place. It’s work she loves but also finds ‘heartbreaking’ at times.”
Please click here to read the full Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly story.
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November 9, 2023
Number of homeless and migrant families in Massachusetts shelters hits state’s limit, officials say
“ ‘The timing is so stark,’ said Laura Massie, of Greater Boston Legal Services. “The weather has just gotten cold, and now is when we are imposing this cap and making families continue to stay in unsafe situations…We are very concerned about the safety of these kids.’ ”
Please click here to read the full Boston Globe story.
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November 8, 2023
Mass. House OKs $2.7B spending bill that requires launching overflow shelter site in 30 days
"Elizabeth Alfred, an emergency assistance shelter attorney for Greater Boston Legal Services, told MassLive that she was 'really thrilled' to see the House adopt these measures in their new bill. She added that she is 'a little concerned about what happens when people are waitlisted and don’t have a place to go before those places are set up.' "
Please click here to read the full MassLive story.
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November 2, 2023
With cap looming, ‘hard calls’ confront Mass. on shelter system, Mass. Gov. Healey says
“[GBLS senior paralegal Adam Hoole] said he was ‘disappointed’ in Healey’s decision [and] ‘that the move will lead to unhoused families sleeping in their cars, on the streets or staying longer in situations of domestic abuse.’
‘These are all very serious and unhealthy situations for families that would normally entitle them to shelter,’ he said. ‘So, it’s disappointing for the Administration to real-back that right and impose a cap.’ “
Please click here to read the full MassLive story.
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November 1, 2023
Healey unveils new executive clemency guidelines
“[GBLS Lead Attorney] Pauline Quirion, co-chair of the Massachusetts Bar Association's Clemency Task Force, was among those who praised Healey for issuing the guidelines.
She said it will 'modernize and revitalize clemency, and inject a new focus on justice, racial equality, correction of systemic injustices and creating possibilities for hope and transformation rather than politics or business as usual.' "
Please click here to read the full Salem News story.
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November 1, 2023
Judge rejects effort to halt waitlist for families seeking emergency shelter
Adam Hoole, a senior paralegal at Greater Boston Legal Services, said the move to a waitlist, and a related move to limit how long families can stay in the shelter system, feel like adding "cruelty on cruelty," and making life "as hard as possible for families that are in the most dire situations."
Please click here to read the full WBUR story.
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October 31, 2023
Judge to rule Wednesday on halting Healey’s shelter cap for homeless families
“Under Healey’s announced plan, families would be triaged to prioritize them by need and placed on a waitlist once the state is sheltering 7,500 families. Elizabeth Alfred, a housing attorney for the Greater Boston Legal Services, said that is unacceptable.
“…It means we have no shelter for you at all. We have no help for you at all. There is no place for you to go from the state. There's nothing we can do for you.’
Alfred said that Greater Boston Legal Services and others will fight to house those who need it.”
Please click here to read the full GBH story.
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October 31, 2023
State officials take emergency steps to limit the Mass. family shelter system
“Officials said the emergency regulations would allow them to create a waitlist for families seeking emergency housing [and] limit how long families can stay in the shelter system… ‘This is completely unprecedented,’ said Liz Alfred, an attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I think it’s going to be a nightmare for families.’ ”
Please click here to read the full WBUR story.
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October 27, 2023
Help people with disabilities live in the community
Settlement negotiations have begun in the federal court class action lawsuit GBLS, the Center for Public Representation, Justice in Aging, and Foley Hoag LLP filed in October 2022 on behalf of older adults, people with serious mental illness, and people with physical disabilities unnecessarily segregated in nursing home institutional settings who could be discharged into community settings, with supportive services. After more than two years of discussions with state officials since the lawsuit was filed, the state agreed to begin settlement negotiations with the assistance of a federal mediator.
Please click here to read the Globe editorial.
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October 24, 2023
Lawmakers, advocates propose changes to Mass. paid leave law to increase access
"When you need it — this benefit — there's a sense of urgency," Rice said. "There's a health crisis that's happening and to put it on the employee to recall something HR may have six months, one year, two years ago, is a lot."
Please click here to read the full WBUR story.
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October 17, 2023
Mass. soon will end its housing guarantee for families in state shelter system
"Elizabeth Alfred, an attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services, said it’s easy to know what will happen to those families by looking at people deemed ineligible for shelter placements under the current system.
'They stay in places that are unheated or they stay in cars or they stay outside or they stay in abusive situations,' said Alfred. 'I think we'll see more families having to stay in places that are not safe for them.’ ”
Please click here to read the full WBUR story.
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October 16, 2023
Some fixes needed for Paid Family and Medical Leave
"[E]veryone can help make paid family and medical leave a success. If you work in the healthcare field, you can ask patients if they’ve applied and help them find the application forms online. If you’re a neighbor or coworker of someone taking leave, you can spread the word and offer your color printer to help them get the right documents submitted. If you own or manage a business, you can make sure your company is compliant and ask your employees requesting leave if they need help."
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