Re: Fairfax County Has Too mUch Tax Money to Spread Around
Posted by:
EML
()
Date: March 18, 2020 09:47AM
Legal services for the poor are chronically underfunded. There is a small amount of Federal and Virginia money that goes into these programs. Much of the funding though comes from local governments and nonprofits. Despite this legal service programs rely heavily on lawyers who volunteer their time to provide much of their legal services, and they only meet a small fraction of the need.
Immigration matters are one of the issues area poor face. They also face housing issues, debt collection, labor law, divorce, custody, domestic violence and a host of other issues. Additional funding to hire staff attorneys to provide in court legal services is a positive step for the community. That the funds were to be allocated solely to hiring lawyers to handle immigration though is regrettable.