By SCOTT WHIPPLE
Herald staff

MIDDLETOWN — Amy (her real name has been changed to protect her privacy) fled her home to escape an abusive spouse.

She and her six children entered the local domestic violence shelter. She couldn’t work because of her mental and physical health issues; so, she applied for state benefits, but was denied. The domestic violence shelter then referred Amy to New Britain attorney Kristen Noelle Hatcher for help. Amy told Hatcher she was reluctant to provide the state with information. Her abuser was a state employee and could gain access to the information. She feared he would use the information to find her and force her back into the abusive relationship.

Hatcher contacted the state on Amy’s behalf and explained the delicate nature of her client’s situation. Once the social worker was made aware of Amy’s circumstances, Amy was given cash and housing assistance. Without Hatcher’s advocacy, Amy’s story would have gone untold and her needs unmet. She wouldn’t have received the vital help she and her children needed.

However, without the state’s help, Hatcher and other lawyers with Connecticut Legal Services could be laid off, and thousands of “Amys” will have no place to turn.

CLS is facing a financial crisis. Because of the drop in interest rates and the stalled real-estate market, revenue from Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts has plummeted. As a result, Connecticut Legal Services faces a 40 percent cut in its 2009 funding, creating a state of emergency for the organization and the communities it serves.

Sandy Klebanoff, executive director of the Connecticut Bar Foundation, says CLS is now looking for solutions to avoid major layoffs and a one-third cut in its services to the poor.

CLS, along with Greater Hartford Legal Aid and New Haven Legal Assistance Association, receives the bulk of its funding from IOLTA revenues, which in 2008, provided two-thirds of funding for legal services to the poor. But, because of the economic crisis, grants to legal services will be cut by 50 percent starting in January, creating an $8 million to $9 million shortfall.

“The economic crisis has created difficult funding challenges and all IOLTA grantees are looking for ways to supplement the income suddenly lost by these drastic cuts,” says Klebanoff, who administers the revenue on IOLTA accounts. Interest from lawyers’ trust accounts is pooled to provide civil legal aid to the poor and to support improvements to the justice system. Only funds that can’t secure net interest income for the client are placed in these accounts. When interest rates are low, IOLTA income drops.

Legal services programs are currently seeking help from the state legislature.

“It will worsen the state’s situation if thousands of poor people don’t get help because we have been forced to lay off staff,” warns CLS executive director Steve Eppler-Epstein, whose office is in Middletown. “Despite the state’s budget pressures, we hope legislators can help us find a solution that would allow us to retain our staff and continue to provide the current level of high-quality legal services through the next fiscal year.”

CLS is a not-for-profit law firm serving low-income people throughout 122 communities in Connecticut. It works on more than 9,000 cases each year, concentrating on housing and homelessness law, children’s and education law, family and domestic violence law, public benefits law (including medical access), disability law and elder law.

“The entire staff is chipping in to find ways through this financial crisis, but I worry about my clients,” says Hatcher. “It could be next May before the legislature could come to our aid. I can’t imagine where someone like Amy would turn if we weren’t here to help her.”

Scott Whipple can be reached at swhipple@newbritainherald.com or by calling (860) 225-4601, ext. 319.