Legal Aid shares important information with community partners

Each quarter, Legal Aid sends an email to community partners at local nonprofit and government offices to share important updates on legal issues that affect the community.  To get yourself on that list - email anne.sweeney @lasclev.org.  Here are the public service announcement messages shared today:

Dear Community Partner:  Please see important information about current immigration issues, and other topics, in the message below:  

• Individual Rights during Contact with Police or Immigration Agent
• Travel Restriction Order
• Immigration Law and Border Enforcement Orders
• Legal Help for Immigrants
• College Scholarship for DACA immigrants
• File taxes for FREE – avoid scams and fees.
• Reminder: Important Notice about Tax Refund Delays.
• New Federal Child Support Regulations
• Certificates for Qualification for Employment available for those who cannot seal their criminal record.
• Recipients of Social Security Benefits may have a “representative payee” appointed by SSA
• Free legal help for the transgender community at a Name and Gender Change Legal Clinic
• Send a text for Legal Aid intake hours, office locations, Clinic schedule and more!
• Legal Aid in the neighborhood!

Immigration Updates:

• Individual Rights during Contact with Police or Immigration Agent. Everyone in the United States, regardless of immigration status, has certain rights when interacting with the police and immigration agents. The rights include the right to remain silent, the right NOT to answer questions about immigration status, the right to refuse to sign any papers, and the right to seek help from a lawyer.  The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has put together an explanation of these rights and others related to what to do if contacted by a police officer or immigration agent. The information published by the ACLU is available in several languages and is available at: https://www.aclu.org/feature/know-your-rights-discrimination-against-immigrants-and-muslims?redirect=feature/know-your-rights-immigration#immigration.

• Travel Restriction Order. On January 27, 2017, President Trump signed executive orders that restricted travel to the United States by citizens of seven countries: Iraq, Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, and Yemen.  See a summary at https://lasclev.org/01302017-2/.  Subsequently, those orders were challenged in federal court and have been suspended pursuant to a federal court of appeals ruling on February 9, 2017.  See a summary at https://lasclev.org/02092017/.   Depending on what the administration does next, the rules could change again.  Legal Aid will continue posting FAQ’s at: https://lasclev.org/get-help/Immigration/

• Immigration Law and Border Enforcement Orders. On February 20, 2017, the Department of Homeland Security issued two memos providing guidance on implementation of two other Executive Orders of January 27, 2017 relating to immigration enforcement. Fact Sheets and QandA documents explaining these memos can be found at https://www.dhs.gov/executive-orders-protecting-homeland.   Legal Aid will provide updated information and related resources as available on its website at https://lasclev.org/get-help/Immigration/.

• Legal Help for Immigrants. Legal Aid may be able to assist low income U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, refugees, asylees, and non-citizen victims of crime, including domestic violence and human trafficking victims.  To apply for help from Legal Aid, call 1-888-817-3777.  Legal Aid is a private, not for profit organization and not a government agency.  For information on other organizations that provide legal assistance to immigrants, contact 2-1-1. 

• College Scholarship for DACA immigrants. College scholarships are available for undergraduate and high school seniors who are immigrants, now live in the United States, and who achieved Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival status.  Ten students will receive one year renewable scholarships in the amount of $2,000.  The application deadline is April 23, 2017.  For more information about eligibility and to apply, see https://app.smarterselect.com/programs/27635-College-Now-Greater-Cleveland.

National Updates:

• File taxes for Free and avoid scams and fees. The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program offer free tax preparation, including e-filing, for people who generally earn $54,000 or less, who are disabled or who have limited English proficiency.  To learn more about the VITA program, visit https://www.irs.gov/individuals/free-tax-return-preparation-for-you-by-volunteers.  To find a VITA site convenient for you, call 2-1-1.  You can also find a list of free tax prep locations at https://lasclev.org/02212017-2/

• Reminder: Important Notice about Tax Refund Delays. The federal law “Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes” or PATH, effective December 18, 2015, requires all original or amended tax refunds that claim the earned income tax credit (“EITC”) to be held until February 15, 2017 in order to help prevent identity theft and refund fraud. The IRS will not release partial refunds, so EITC recipients should anticipate their entire refund being held. For more information see, GUIDE TO EVERYTHING EITC. 

• New Federal Child Support Regulations. On January 19, 2017, a new rule related to child support enforcement, from the Administration for Children and Families and the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services, became effective.  Per the Federal Register, “this rule is intended to carry out President Obama’s directives in Executive Order 13563: Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review. The final rule will make Child Support Enforcement program operations and enforcement procedures more flexible, more effective, and more efficient by recognizing the strength of existing State enforcement programs, advancements in technology that can enable improved collection rates, and the move toward electronic communication and document management. This final rule will improve and simplify program operations, and remove outmoded limitations to program innovations to better serve families.”  https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/12/20/2016-29598/flexibility-efficiency-and-modernization-in-child-support-enforcement-programs.  States have approximately the next year to implement various provisions of the new rule. 

Ohio Updates:

• Certificates for Qualification for Employment available for those who cannot seal their criminal record. The CQE was created in Ohio in 2012 when the legislature changed the requirements for sealing a criminal record in Ohio.  A CQE creates greater options for an employee and protects employers against negligent hiring lawsuits.  A person with a misdemeanor conviction can apply for a CQE 6 months after completing the sentence and in felony cases, a person may apply after 1 year.  More information about the CQE, eligibility and how to apply is available at https://lasclev.org/cqe/.

Local Updates:

• Recipients of some Social Security Benefits who need help managing their money may have a “representative payee” appointed by the Social Security Administration. A Rep Payee can be a friend, family member, or other trusted person or it can be an organization. Regardless, a Rep Payee is responsible for paying the beneficiaries living expenses and essential needs, and helping to manage the person’s money.  The Rep Payee must follow certain SSA rules, and may not use the beneficiary’s money for the Rep Payee’s own personal gain or fail to pay the beneficiary’s expenses. If you know about problems with a Rep Payee, the issue should be reported to SSA Office of the Inspector General.  More information about making a report is available at  http://oig.ssa.gov/what-abuse-fraud-and-waste/misuse-benefits-representative-payee.  More information about the Rep Payee program can be found at http://www.justiceinaging.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/FINALSSAs-Representative-Payee-Program.pdf.

• Legal Aid’s community partners Equitas Health and the ACLU are providing free legal help for the transgender community at a Name and Gender Change Legal Clinic. Trained attorneys will provide one-on-one counseling about the gender- and name-changing process.  The clinic is March 1 from 6-8 pm at the ACLU Office (4506 Chester Avenue, Cleveland).  For more information and to register, go to http://equitashealth.com/services/name-gender-change/.  If you have questions, please call the ACLU at 614-340-6729. 

Legal Aid Updates:

• Legal Aid will be in the neighborhood! Click here for a printable flyer – or see all of Legal Aid’s upcoming FREE legal advice clinics by visiting our online calendar! Note the schedule change for Legal Aid’s advice clinic in Oberlin – now on 2nd Tuesday of each month in 2017 (instead of 3rd Thursdays).