MPLP 1-Year Old

In January 1997, the Michigan Poverty Law Program was organized. It is a collaboration of services from the Michigan Migrant Legal Assistance Program, Inc., Legal Services of Southeastern Michigan and the University of Michigan Law School.
      The program consists of three offices—MPLP-East, MPLP-West, and the MPLP-Clinical Program. By the end of May 1997, the program was fully staffed, with the exception of an attorney in the MPLP-West office, which still remains open at this time. While dealing with very frustrating office space problems at MPLP-East, the Program began to provide publications, training, and substantive support to the field. One of the goals of MPLP staff is to meet everyone in the Legal Services programs throughout the state and MPLP has been attending program meetings at field offices around the state.
      There has been one change this year to the MPLP-East staff. Kerri Ferrari has been hired to fill the position of training coordinator and office manager because of the retirement of Anne Cunningham. Anne and her husband, Paul, sold their home and bought a 5th wheel and are off seeing the sights in the US! We wish them luck and also welcome Kerri with much enthusiasm.
      MPLP has created a web page and keeps it updated with pertinent information. The address is at the top of this paper. We hope you visit it often. This newsletter is a way to inform those who cannot get on the Internet yet of MPLP progress. We plan to publish the newsletter quarterly. Future issues will include substantive law updates in housing, public benefits, and family law as well as legislative highlights from our website.We hope to draw from information presented at the taskforce meetings to make this information available to those who could not attend.
      Please let us know what you would like to see in this letter and any suggestions for a better format.
— Beth Colaner-Kenney, Editor

Program Visits

MPLP has visited several offices and has found it helpful and enjoyable to meet each other face to face!
In December, we went to Traverse City (we called it the Cold Show) and met with several new attorneys from the Legal Services of Northern Michigan offices. We put on training sessions for Housing, Family Law and Public Benefits.
We also visited the Michigan Indian Legal Services office. It was surprisingly good weather!
Recently, MPLP visited OLLA and held breakout case discussion sessions on housing, public benefits and family law.
If your office would like a visit from MPLP to find out more about how we can support your work, have your Managing Attorney or Director contact Steve Gray at (734) 998-6100 ext, 25.

CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS

March, April and May 1998

• March 10 Family Task Force Meeting in Lansing

• March 18-20 CORT Discovery Training in Columbus

• March 19 Housing Task Force Meeting in Lansing

• March 30 Public Benefits Task Force Meeting in Lansing

• April 21 CRP Task Force Meeting in Lansing

• May 20 Advisory Board Meeting

For details on any of the above events, see our website (address above) or contact Beth Colaner-Kenney at (734)998-6100, ext. 27 or on GroupWise: bcolaner

Web Page Format

The Home Page of Michigan Poverty Law has a series of buttons on it that will take you to various links. You can access a lot of information and even print out the pages or download files.
      For instance, a button takes you to a site where information on MPLP trainings and other trainings of interest to legal services programs is listed. Also CORT training information is listed here.
     There is a   button that has the dates, agendas, and materials for upcoming and past meetings.
      We also have a BRIEF BANK button and, in collaboration with the State Appellate Defender’s Office, we have 200+ briefs online now.
      Short alerts on legal developments in a variety of subject areas can be found under our ISSUE ALERT button.
     There is a list of publications that we have available as well as video tapes from task force meetings and other materials you can request under our PUBLICATIONS button. This includes information about the Michigan Residential Landlord Tenant Bluebook (the table of contents and how to order).
      There is a ISSUE ALERTS button where you can find up to the minute information about any bill in State Legislature.
       We have the DESK REFERENCE online which is updated frequently and allows you to find whoever you are looking for in Legal Services very quickly.

Through the button, you can access other web sites usefule to legal services programs in Michigan. For instance, Public Benefits recently added the following sites.

• American Public Welfare Association
• Census Bureau Housing & Household Economic Stat Page
• Center on Budget Policy and Priorities

• Center on Law and Social Policy
• Code of Federal Regulations
• Department of Labor, Employment and Training    Administration, Welfare-to-Work Page
• Electronic Policy Institute
• Food and Consumer Service Welfare Reform Page
• Federal Register
• FIA Administrative Rules
• General Accounting Office
• HandsNet's Welfare Reform Watch
• HCFA's Page on Welfare Reform and Medicaid
• Health and Human Services Welfare Report Page
• HHS's Child Care Bureau Page on Welfare Reform
• HHS Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement
• HHS's Office of the Assistant Secretary for    Planning and Evaluation
• HUD's Welfare Reform Page
• INS's Welfare Reform Page
• Institute for Research on Poverty
• Institute on Race and Poverty
• Institute for Women's Policy Research Welfare    Reform Research Coordination Project
• Michigan League for Human Services
• National Clearinghouse for Legal Services Welfare Links    Page
• National Governor's Association Welfare Reform    Information Page
• Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint    Center for Poverty Research
• ReWORKing Welfare Technical Assistant for States and    Localities: A How-To-Guide Work First: How to
• Implement an Employment-Focused Approach to Welfare    Reform
• Social Security Administration
• Social Security Administration's Welfare Reform Page
• Social Security Advisory Service
• National Organization of Social Security Claimants    Representatives (NOSSCR)
• National Senior Citizens Law Center Urban Institute
• Welfare Information Network
• Westat Casebook on Promising Welfare-to-Work Programs
• White House Welfare Reform Page

1998 MPLP TRAINING AGENDA

PPO/Domestic Violence Roundtable January 22. Lansing

CORT Discovery Training March 18 - 20. Columbus, Ohio

Anatomy of a Custody Case 2 day training with skills emphasis on negotiations, depositions, experts and presentation of evidence. April 30 - May 1.

CORT Negotiations 2 - 3 days. May/June. West Virginia

CORT Litigation Planning 1 day. May in Lansing. Pre-requisite for TAST. Trainees work with the same case problem that they use in TAST and prepare trial notebook for TAST.

FWLS Migrant Farmworker Training 2 days - June. Training on substantive migrant farmworker issues. To aid programs in issue spotting and referrals.

LSNM Coldshow 2 days - June. This is an annual program-wide training/update event for the Northern program.

CORT TAST (Trial Advocacy Skills Training) 1 Week. August in Michigan.

CORT Advanced Substantive (subject area to be determined). 1 - 2 days. September in Ohio.

Roadshow October in Lansing at the Kellogg Conference Center. This is a four day, statewide substantive advocacy and skills training. 1 day dedicated to each of the following areas: Housing, Family, Public Benefits and Technology/Support Staff.

CORT Administrative Hearings 2 - 3 days. November in Michigan.

Consumer Law Training 1-2 day training in areas of consumer practice important to legal services caseload (i.e. bankruptcy, auto repo, truth-in-lending). Maybe in conjunction with UAW Legal Services Plan.

Mini-Seminars Short trainings on topics of current interest in housing, family, public benefits and technology. Likely scheduled in conjunction with taskforces. Registration and Fees:

CORT trainings are free to CORT members. MPLP trainings are free to MSBF-funded program employees. The actual costs of lodging and meals are billed to the program or participant. Contact Kerri Ferrari, MPLP-East Training Coordinator (734-998-6100, ext. 24) or see MPLP website (http://www.law.umich.edu/mplp) for information on any listed training.

Legislative Highlights

by MPLP-West

After a number of years, the Housing Inspection bill passed. It has been considerably improved from its earlier forms.

There are interesting developments with the MIChild program, including the House trying to take a greater role in developing the program, e.g., through an expansion of Medicaid. The program will bring health coverage to many more children–families with incomes up to 200% of poverty.

The “drug nuisance” package, which originally provided for procedures such as ex parte summary closure of buildings based upon the filing of a complaint alleging “drug-related activity” has been through a number of permutations and is presently quiescent.

There has been legislative as well as administrative activities and litigation on the Administration’s dismantling of Employment services. The House passed a resolution opposing the action. It was not taken up in the Senate. Michigan v. Herman is pending before Judge Bell in the Western District. The State’s request for a preliminary injunction was denied. USDOL continues to try to work with the State but is not backing down.

Unfortunately, a number of the consumer bills, e.g., from plain English contracts to efforts to regulate fitness facility contracts, have either been greatly watered down or are languishing. The fate of many of these bills is presently not hopeful.

At the moment, bills on “shared parental responsibility” (SB 33) and parenting plans are not moving. They have been described as “comatose” with the question being whether they are vegetative or able to be revived.

What is not languishing and of importance to many poor people is SB 255. This would eliminate “just cause” eviction protections for mobile home park tenants (those who rent both the lot and the mobile home). It passed the Senate in short order. It has been assigned to the Urban Policy Committee in the House. Right now there is a strong possibility of passage.

A companion bill (SB 256) would greatly increase certain costs, e.g., motion which results in dismissal, default judgment, jury trial, by up to 7 times only in summary proceedings. As of today (February 25), the bill is still sitting in the Senate.

For more information on these or other items of interest, please contact MPLP-West, 49 Monroe Center, NW, Suite 3A, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503. Phone 616. 454. 5055, or fax 616.456.8929.

Also the MPLP website has updates on these bills and other pending legislation as well as copies of the most recent Capitol Reports newsletter.

PROGRAM VISITS

MPLP-East at Cold Show, Traverse City, December 1997

left to right, Jim Schaafsma, Delphia Simpson, David Koeninger, Beth Colaner-Kenney, Steve Gray, and Anne Schroth in front of a huge Christmas Tree right in the middle of an intersection in downtown Traverse City.