At its first meeting following the hiring of a Director for the Office, on March 10, 2011, the Board made a very important decision to approve the distribution of $4.4 million in funds to the counties and New York City for the purpose of improving the quality of representation. (Distribution #1). The motivation for this non-competitive distribution of funds was to assure every county that the amount of its state funding would not decrease, at a time when the counties were being asked to improve the quality of their representation. In order to receive the funds, however, county officials were required to consult with their 18-B providers, and to demonstrate that this funding would be used to improve quality. Counties are utilizing these funds for a variety of positive purposes, including hiring additional staff to reduce caseloads, providing additional expert or investigative assistance, improving access to alternatives to incarceration, enhancing attorney training, and purchasing much-needed computer equipment and case management systems.
Together with the distributions made by the Comptroller pursuant to statute on March 15, 2011, these funds provided the counties and City with a total of $70.2 million in state funding in calendar year 2011, identical to that which was provided in 2010, and no jurisdiction was required to do more with less.
Many of the initiatives we are now funding have gone unaddressed for many years, or were at one time funded and then discontinued. All contribute to improving the quality of representation, in furtherance of our statutory mandate. The Office has also promoted an unprecedented amount of collaboration between city and county governments and their indigent legal services providers, by requiring such consultation as a precondition of these funds. Through this collaborative approach, ILSF funds are being better targeted toward improving the quality of legal representation.
During the ILS Board's first year of operations, it also approved a non-competitive distribution of $8.1 million in FY 2011-12 funds - sufficient to restore every county and New York City to the level of funding they received in 2010. (Distribution #2). [For the first four years of operation, non-NYC counties are guaranteed by statute a percentage of the ILSF funds they received in March, 2010 (year 1 - 90%; year 2 - 75%; year 3 - 50%; year 4 - 25%). New York City is guaranteed an annual sum of $40 million.] This distribution mirrors the $4.4 million distribution, in that it requires each locality to consult with its indigent defense leaders, including those responsible for representation in Family Court, to craft a request for funding; and further requires that the funding be utilized to improve the quality of representation under County Law 18-B. This is a three-year allocation of funds, in the total amount of $24,380,706, that will provide counties an assurance of stable funding with which to prepare their annual budgets.
Finally, the Board authorized a total of just under $6.8 million in grants in furtherance of two specific goals: 1) to bring New York closer to the goal of providing counsel at every criminal defendant's first court appearance, which is a critical moment when his or her liberty may be at stake; and 2) to bring New York into compliance with the requirement established by the United States Supreme Court in Padilla v Kentucky, 130 S.Ct. 1473 (2010), that every assigned lawyer must provide his or her client with accurate information as to the potential immigration consequences of a conviction. Both grants are for a three-year period, with total funding of $12 million for the counsel-at- arraignment grant ($4 million per year) and $8.4 million for the immigration consequences grant ($2.8 million per year). The Padilla compliance grant will likely involve the creation of several regional resource and training centers, that will serve every attorney within New York State who provides representation for a client under article 18-B.
For FY 2012-13 and FY 2013-14, the Board approved two more non-competitive distributions of $7.4 million (Distributions #3 and #4), with funds for each distribution again sufficient to restore every county and New York to the level of funding they received in 2010. Like Distributions #1 and #2, each locality is required to consult with its indigent defense leaders, including those responsible for representation in Family Court, to craft a request for funding; and further requires that the funding be utilized to improve the quality of representation under County Law 18-B. These are three-year allocations of funds, in the total amount of $22.1 million.
Together with the distributions made by the Comptroller pursuant to statute on March 15, 2011, these funds provided the counties and City with a total of $70.2 million in state funding in calendar year 2011, identical to that which was provided in 2010, and no jurisdiction was required to do more with less.
Many of the initiatives we are now funding have gone unaddressed for many years, or were at one time funded and then discontinued. All contribute to improving the quality of representation, in furtherance of our statutory mandate. The Office has also promoted an unprecedented amount of collaboration between city and county governments and their indigent legal services providers, by requiring such consultation as a precondition of these funds. Through this collaborative approach, ILSF funds are being better targeted toward improving the quality of legal representation.
During the ILS Board's first year of operations, it also approved a non-competitive distribution of $8.1 million in FY 2011-12 funds - sufficient to restore every county and New York City to the level of funding they received in 2010. (Distribution #2). [For the first four years of operation, non-NYC counties are guaranteed by statute a percentage of the ILSF funds they received in March, 2010 (year 1 - 90%; year 2 - 75%; year 3 - 50%; year 4 - 25%). New York City is guaranteed an annual sum of $40 million.] This distribution mirrors the $4.4 million distribution, in that it requires each locality to consult with its indigent defense leaders, including those responsible for representation in Family Court, to craft a request for funding; and further requires that the funding be utilized to improve the quality of representation under County Law 18-B. This is a three-year allocation of funds, in the total amount of $24,380,706, that will provide counties an assurance of stable funding with which to prepare their annual budgets.
Finally, the Board authorized a total of just under $6.8 million in grants in furtherance of two specific goals: 1) to bring New York closer to the goal of providing counsel at every criminal defendant's first court appearance, which is a critical moment when his or her liberty may be at stake; and 2) to bring New York into compliance with the requirement established by the United States Supreme Court in Padilla v Kentucky, 130 S.Ct. 1473 (2010), that every assigned lawyer must provide his or her client with accurate information as to the potential immigration consequences of a conviction. Both grants are for a three-year period, with total funding of $12 million for the counsel-at- arraignment grant ($4 million per year) and $8.4 million for the immigration consequences grant ($2.8 million per year). The Padilla compliance grant will likely involve the creation of several regional resource and training centers, that will serve every attorney within New York State who provides representation for a client under article 18-B.
For FY 2012-13 and FY 2013-14, the Board approved two more non-competitive distributions of $7.4 million (Distributions #3 and #4), with funds for each distribution again sufficient to restore every county and New York to the level of funding they received in 2010. Like Distributions #1 and #2, each locality is required to consult with its indigent defense leaders, including those responsible for representation in Family Court, to craft a request for funding; and further requires that the funding be utilized to improve the quality of representation under County Law 18-B. These are three-year allocations of funds, in the total amount of $22.1 million.