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CHLP’s Programs
The essential mission of CHLP is to provide legal and advocacy services to New Jersey residents with disabilities. We serve consumers of mental health services, people with physical disabilities, HIV/AIDS, developmental disabilities, and visual impairments. CHLP attorneys and advocates represent clients in matters involving Social Security benefits, welfare, food stamps, and other entitlements; housing habitability and landlord-tenant disputes; consumer protection and debt collection; child support, visitation, and domestic violence; Medicaid, Medicare, and other health insurance issues. Every year, CHLP provides assistance to over 8,500 people through representation and brief service. In addition to these services, CHLP operates several unique programs:
Grotta Fund Project on Predatory Lending and Foreclosure Defense
In 2008, the Grotta Fund for Senior Care provided funding to the Law Project for an educational and counseling program directed at seniors in Essex and Union counties who might be vulnerable to predatory lending practices. Our attorneys conducted 10 workshops in those counties, educating nearly 300 seniors and distributing a 20-page manual and resource directory. They also provided counseling and representation to 35 seniors in those counties. In 2009, Grotta extended the grant by funding the Law Project to provide legal representation and counseling to seniors in Essex and Union counties who are facing foreclosure. The manual was revised in March 2009.
Treasury Grant-in-Aid to Fund Legal Services for Homeowners and Tenants
In late 2008, the Legislature appropriated funding to Legal Services of New Jersey and the Community Health Law Project to provide legal services for homeowners and tenants in financial distress. The grant will cover representation on civil matters including, but not limited to, mortgage foreclosure, bankruptcy, debt collection, and eviction. It is a statewide grant and will be administered through our regional offices. CHLP will provide free legal representation on these matters to people with disabilities and seniors who have income no greater than 200% of the Federal Poverty Level ($21,000 for an individual, $28,000 for two people). See our “Contact Us” page for phone numbers and addresses of our regional offices.
To Your Health
This program provides education, assistance, and representation to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries who are in managed health care plans. Begun in 1998 with support from private and public funders, it was expanded in 2001 through statutorily authorized funding from the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. Since 2000, it has operated a toll-free hotline (888-838-3180), through which New Jersey residents can call CHLP staff and ask for assistance with their health insurance problems. In addition to helping consumers file grievances and appeals, we distribute a free consumer guide titled To Your Health: Your Consumer Rights in Managed Health Care, and a Medicaid Managed Care supplement, and we train consumers and professionals at workshops throughout the state.
Civil Rights and Fair Housing Litigation
Community Health Law Project is a leader in the effort to enforce state and federal fair housing laws that govern barrier-free accessibility. Since 1994, CHLP has received support from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to enforce barrier-free laws in residential multifamily dwellings. Litigation initiated by CHLP has resulted in the construction of over 3,000 accessible apartments and condominium units in New Jersey and the repeal of numerous discriminatory municipal zoning ordinances. In 1996, one such lawsuit resulted in the repeal of exclusionary zoning ordinances that prevented community residences from operating in areas zoned for single-family dwellings.
Public Policy Advocacy
The Community Health Law Project has been working to advance positions on issues that have an impact on our clients; for example, the reform of institutional lien laws affecting people treated in state and county psychiatric hospitals, and continued benefits and improved services for welfare recipients who have disabilities and who have been unidentified or without treatment. Our advocacy has included testifying before legislative committees, submitting written comments in response to proposed state regulations, writing to legislators, giving newspaper interviews regarding issues of interest, and taking an active role in statewide coalitions such as the New Jersey Anti-Poverty Network.
Trainings and Workshops
CHLP offers a wide range of workshops for consumers and professionals. With the support of the New Jersey State Bar Foundation, it presents one to two Law and Disabilities Conferences a year at the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick. Subjects range from civil rights cases to health care issues to new laws affecting people in institutional settings. CHLP’s branch offices also present trainings to consumers and professionals in their local service areas. In 2004, under a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, it offering trainings on fair housing law throughout the state.
Student Internship Program
Since 1988 CHLP has been holding its annual Ann Klein Advocates Awards Dinner, the proceeds of which support its student internship program. Using these funds, as well as funding from Legal Services of New Jersey, CHLP has been able to hire several law students and graduate students every year to work in its branch offices on direct legal services and in its South Orange office on civil rights cases. In so doing, it helps to train and inspire the next generation of disabilities advocates and attorneys.
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