Category: Media release

← Back to Fair Housing

RALEIGH, October 11, 2017 – Legal Aid of North Carolina announced today that it had recently settled a federal discrimination complaint filed against North Carolina State University on behalf of Laura Auman, a student with a disability.

In the complaint, filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2016, Ms. Auman alleged that the university violated the federal Fair Housing Act by denying her request to keep her emotional support animal, a cat named Kifree (pictured), in her university-operated student housing unit as a reasonable accommodation of her disability. At the time, the university had no emotional support animal policy and stated that it could not implement one for several more semesters.

Under the settlement, the University agreed to:

require Fair Housing Act training, with an emphasis on reasonable accommodations, for all employees in University Housing, the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity, and the Disability Services Office who directly engage with students seeking reasonable accommodations;
display a HUD Fair Housing poster throughout all University Housing units and offices in a location that is visible to all entering the premises, as well as on the websites of University Housing and the Disability Services Office;
publicize on relevant University websites its new Assistance Animal policy allowing persons with disabilities to keep animals with them in University housing when such animals provide necessary therapeutic benefits to such students; and
pay an undisclosed monetary amount to Ms. Auman.

The University further acknowledged that it has an affirmative duty not to discriminate under the Fair Housing Act. The law prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, and disability.

“The Fair Housing Project of Legal Aid is committed to ensuring that students in university housing, just like all residents of North Carolina, are afforded the protections of the Fair Housing Act,” said Jack Holtzman, co-director of the Fair Housing Project. “Those protections include making accommodations for students with disabilities who need emotional support animals in order to have an equal opportunity to enjoy the benefits of university housing.”

“NC State University is to be commended for implementing a new campus-wide Assistance Animal policy and quickly reaching an agreement in this case,” said George Hausen, executive director of Legal Aid.

Ms. Auman also filed an administrative complaint in 2016 with the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights against the University, regarding the same alleged conduct. On September, 28, 2017, the Office for Civil Rights found sufficient evidence that the University violated Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act when it denied Ms. Auman’s request to keep Kifree, her emotional support animal, in her university housing as a reasonable accommodation of her disability.

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Legal Aid of North Carolina is a statewide, nonprofit law firm that provides free legal services in civil matters to low-income people in order to ensure equal access to justice and remove legal barriers to economic opportunity. Learn more at LegalAidNC.org.

Legal Aid’s Fair Housing Project works to eliminate housing discrimination and to ensure equal housing opportunity for all people through education, outreach, public policy initiatives, advocacy and enforcement. North Carolinians who believe that they have been victims of housing discrimination can contact the Fair Housing Project at 1-855-797-3247 or info@fairhousingnc.org. The project’s work is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Fair Housing Initiatives Program. Learn more about the project and fair housing laws at FairHousingNC.org.

Media Contacts

Sean Driscoll, Director of Public Relations, Legal Aid of N.C., 919-856-2132, SeanD@legalaidnc.org

Category: Media release

← Back to For Veterans

CHARLOTTE · June 18, 2019 – Congratulations to D.J. Dore, an attorney in Durham with our Veterans Law Project, for assuming command of Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC), 108^th Training Command (Initial Entry Training), U.S. Army Reserve.

In his new role, Captain Dore will have about 200 active duty and reserve soldiers under his authority. HHC forms the command staff for Major General Kate Leahy, Commanding General of the 108^th Training Command. The command supports basic training (new recruits) and cadet training (ROTC and U.S. Military Academy) and comprises more than 9,000 soldiers throughout the United States. D.J. assumed command during a ceremony June 8 in Charlotte attended by his wife, parents, grandmother and the head of our Durham office, Gina Reyman.

“I’m honored to support such an important mission,” D.J. said. “The 108^th Training Command literally builds the foundation of our all-volunteer Army by transforming citizens into the next generation of enlisted and officer leaders. It’s also a reminder of the importance of our work at the Veterans Law Project since each one of our clients was at one time a new recruit eager to serve. I’m thankful to Legal Aid for supporting me and giving me the opportunity to do meaningful work with great colleagues.”

Our Veterans Law Project helps low-income veterans overcome service-related barriers that prevent them from living self-sufficiently and seeking economic opportunity.

Learn more about our Veterans Law Project.

Category: Media release

← Back to Education

RALEIGH, N.C., December 9, 2014 – Out-of-school suspensions in the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) dropped 45 percent in the last five years, according to data released by the district yesterday. Although these numbers represent a positive shift to keep students in the classroom and out of the school-to-prison pipeline, they also demonstrate the persistence of huge racial and disability disparities in suspensions rates in the district and the need for more work to be done.

Since Legal Aid of North Carolina’s Advocates for Children’s Services (ACS) began its work five years ago to reduce suspensions and end the school-to-prison pipeline in Wake County, the total number of out-of-school suspensions in WCPSS has fallen from 20,244 in the 2009-10 school year to 11,205 in 2013-14—even as student enrollment rose over that period by 9.4 percent. The number of individual students suspended declined by 35 percent over the same five-year period. WCPSS made the announcement about the declining suspension rates in a press release at the Student Achievement Committee of the Board of Education meeting on Monday.

“We are thrilled by the decline in out-of-school suspensions and commend the district for its ongoing efforts to reduce the number of students being pushed out of school,” said Jennifer Story, an attorney for ACS. “However, we remain extremely concerned about the ongoing disparate push-out impact of district policies and practices on African-American students and students with disabilities, as well as the quality of some of the alternative settings in which students who would otherwise be suspended are placed.”

African-American students represent one-quarter of WCPSS students, but last year received over 60 percent of all suspensions. Similarly, students with disabilities represent about 13 percent of the WCPSS population, but were one-third of suspended students. ACS has also long raised concerns about the quality of Alternative Learning Programs such as the Second Chance Online Recovery for Education (SCORE) and other programs intended to decrease out-of-school suspension rates.

“These data make clear that much work remains to be done to remedy the discriminatory impacts of Wake County’s school discipline policies,” said Jason Langberg, supervising attorney at ACS. “The persistence of student and parent advocates that we have seen over the last five years will continue to be critical moving forward.”

Since 2009, Legal Aid of North Carolina has provided high-quality legal advice and representation for hundreds of Wake County families and trained thousands of students, parents, service providers and advocates. ACS has filed multiple state special education complaints and federal civil rights complaints on behalf of clients against WCPSS. In the past two years, ACS published a comprehensive report and produced a documentary detailing the school-to-prison pipeline in WCPSS.

“We’ve made wonderful progress, but still have a long way to go,” said Story. “To increase student achievement and equity, we must continue to be diligent about reducing suspensions, eliminating discipline disparities and ensuring the availability of high-quality alternatives. The district is heading in a very positive direction, and we are hopeful that that it will continue to work collaboratively with parents, students, and advocates to meaningfully end the school-to-prison pipeline in Wake County.”

# # #

Legal Aid of North Carolina is a statewide, nonprofit law firm that provides free legal services in civil matters to low-income people in order to ensure equal access to justice and remove legal barriers to economic opportunity. Advocates for Children’s Services is a statewide project that works for education justice and an end to the school-to-prison pipeline through legal advocacy, community education, and collaboration.

Media Contact

Jennifer Story, Advocates for Children’s Services, 919-226-5921, jenr@legalaidnc.org

Category: Media release

← Back to Healthcare Access

RALEIGH, June 29, 2015 – The nearly half-million North Carolinians who are receiving health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act will continue to do so following Thursday’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The court’s ruling in the case of King v. Burwell rejected a challenge to the health care law that sought to eliminate subsidies for residents of certain states, including North Carolina, which did not set up their own state-based “exchange” – an online marketplace for insurance plans – and instead relied on the federal exchange at www.HealthCare.gov.

“We want everyone to know that nothing has changed, and that we are here to provide free, expert help if people have questions about the Marketplace,” said Jennifer Simmons, an attorney with Legal Aid of North Carolina in Raleigh, who heads up the North Carolina Navigator Consortium, a coalition of Affordable Care Act navigators that helps consumers enroll in health insurance plans.

“If you’ve been getting subsidies, you will continue to get them, and you should continue to pay your premiums just as you’ve been doing,” Simmons said. “Today’s ruling by the Supreme Court upheld the status quo – nothing will change for you.”

Legal Aid of North Carolina and the other organizations of the NC Navigator Consortium have received federal funding since 2013 to train and deploy a corps of health care navigators who work one-on-one with consumers to help them understand the financial help that is available and enroll in affordable health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act.

“Health insurance can be complicated, especially for people who’ve never had it,” Simmons said. “In North Carolina, consumers can get free, expert help by calling 1-855-733-3711, so they can make the best decision about health coverage for themselves and their families.”

More information about the Supreme Court’s decision is available at www.healthcare.gov/decision.

# # #

Legal Aid of North Carolina is a statewide, nonprofit law firm that provides free legal services in civil matters to low-income people in order to ensure equal access to justice and remove legal barriers to economic opportunity. To learn more, visit www.legalaidnc.org or find us on Facebook and Twitter.

The North Carolina Navigator Consortium is a coalition of 15 organizations providing free, in-person expert help to North Carolina consumers seeking to enroll in affordable health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act.

Media Contacts

Jennifer Simmons, Navigator Director, Legal Aid of N.C., 919-863-1443
Madison Hardee (Charlotte), Legal Services of Southern Piedmont, 704-971-2607
Simone McDowell (Charlotte), Care Ring, 704-248-3720
Jaclyn Kiger (Asheville), Pisgah Legal Services, 828-253-0406
Ralph Gildehaus (Durham), MDC, Inc., 919-381-5834
Donna Elliott (Gastonia), HealthNet Gaston, 704-874-1952
MaryAnne Squire (Winston-Salem), HealthCare Access, 336-723-6565

Category: Media release

← Back to Consumer Issues

RALEIGH, June 2, 2017 – Immigration attorney Kate Woomer-Deters is asking immigrants, immigration attorneys and other service providers to be on the lookout for notarios (notaries) who sell powers of attorney to immigrants worried about deportation.

“These notarios sell powers of attorney that are often one paragraph long and completely useless to anyone trying to plan for a family emergency,” said Woomer-Deters, an attorney with the Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project at the North Carolina Justice Center.

Deportations can separate families, leaving minor children stranded in the U.S. without a legal guardian. Powers of attorney allow immigrants who fear deportation to empower someone to act in their name to manage their finances and provide some care for their children.

“But,” Woomer-Deters warns, “the documents have to be prepared correctly and clients need to be provided proper legal advice about what the documents can and cannot accomplish. Notaries are NOT authorized to draft legal documents of any kind. Further, law schools, non-profits and some private attorneys are providing powers of attorney for free or at low cost.”

For more information, read the Justice Center’s community advisory or download the Center’s Emergency Planning Guide for Immigrants, both of which are in English and Spanish.

If you are a volunteer attorney who would like to assist families prepare Powers of Attorney, contact the NC Pro Bono Center at staff@ncprobono.org. Substantive training and opportunities to assist will be provided.

Category: Media release

← Back to Healthcare Access

Only one week left before the Jan. 31 final deadline to enroll in coverage on the Health Insurance Marketplace

RALEIGH, JAN. 24, 2017 – Tuesday, Jan. 31, is the final deadline for North Carolinians to enroll in coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace during the open-enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act. With just a week left, the clock is ticking and North Carolinians should act now to make sure they have time to shop around, consider their options, and enroll in the plan that best fits their needs and budget.

Following the election, many consumers have questions about the future of the Affordable Care Act, and their ability to enroll in quality, affordable health insurance. As of now, nothing has changed about the fourth enrollment period – not plans, not prices, and not dates. Anyone who enrolls in coverage by Jan. 31 will be able to use their coverage beginning March 1.

The North Carolina Navigator Consortium and Enroll America encourage North Carolinians to check out Affordable Care plans, which cover what they need and meet their budgets so they can have peace of mind knowing that they would be covered in the event of a medical emergency.

“Nothing has changed – North Carolinians can still enroll in Affordable Care Act plans and get financial help, but they need to act before the January 31 deadline,” said Jennifer Simmons, North Carolina Navigator Consortium Director. “The marketplace plans are affordable and meet consumers’ budgets. Over 540,000 North Carolinians have enrolled in this open-enrollment period as of January 14, but there is still time for more to get covered.”

“We have talked to some North Carolinians who have expressed concerns and asked questions about the future of the Affordable Care Act and their ability to enroll in quality, affordable health coverage through the Marketplace after the elections,” said Enroll America North Carolina State Director Sorien Schmidt. “As of now, nothing about the Affordable Care Act marketplace has changed. People can still enroll in plans.”

Everybody’s needs and financial situations are different, and plans and prices change every year, so all North Carolinians should shop the options available to them. All Marketplace health plans are required to cover the basics – from preventive care, emergency services, prescriptions, and more. And quality protection comes at an affordable price for most North Carolinians, thanks to the financial assistance available to lower the cost of plans. In fact, nearly 9 in 10 of the over 530,000 people in North Carolina who signed up by December 24 are receiving financial help.

In order to help North Carolinians explore their options, there are a variety of resources available so that consumers can be confident that they are choosing the best plan for them. Free, local in-person help is available across North Carolina through certified assisters who can sit down one-on-one and answer questions about coverage and benefits. Scheduling an appointment is easy: simply use the Get Covered Connector tool and choose a convenient time and location or call 1-855-733-3711. Enroll America also offers a free, easy-to-use digital tool called the Get Covered Plan Explorer, which helps consumers navigate the plans available to them and estimate their total health care costs for the year so they can pick the plan that best fits their needs and budget.

# # #

The NC Navigator Consortium is a group of 13 health care, social service, and legal aid organizations that helps North Carolina consumers enroll in affordable health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act. The consortium is led by Legal Aid of North Carolina, a statewide, nonprofit law firm that provides free civil legal aid to low-income North Carolinians.

Enroll America is the nation’s leading health care enrollment coalition. An independent nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, Enroll America works with more than 6,700 partners in all 50 states to create cutting-edge tools, analyze data, inform policy, and share best practices in service of its mission: maximizing the number of Americans who enroll in and retain health coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Learn more at EnrollAmerica.org.

Media Contact
Sean Driscoll, Director of Public Relations, Legal Aid of N.C., 919-856-2132, seand@legalaidnc.org

Category: Media release

RALEIGH, June 5, 2017 – Legal Aid of North Carolina congratulates its 54 volunteers who were inducted into the inaugural class of the Supreme Court of North Carolina’s Pro Bono Honor Society.

The 170 members of the society each donated at least 50 hours of pro bono service in 2016, fulfilling their professional responsibility to provide public service as laid out in Rule 6.1 of the North Carolina State Bar’s Rules of Professional Conduct.

Of the 170 inaugural members, 54 provided pro bono services to Legal Aid last year, significantly improving our ability to provide justice for our clients (see list below).

North Carolina attorneys interested in joining our pro bono team or supporting our work can visit the Pro Bono section of our website. Attorneys interested in pro bono can also visit the NC Pro Bono Resource Center at ncprobono.org to learn more about pro bono service and find volunteer opportunities.

Legal Aid volunteers inducted into the N.C. Pro Bono Honor Society

Georgiana Louise Yonuschot, Legal Aid Board Chair
Reid C. Adams Jr., Legal Aid Board Member

Ann-Margaret Alexander
Brian O. Beverly
Kimberly Nicole Cochran
Matthew Alan Cordell
Blinn Lawrence Cushman
Phillip R. Dixon
John Michael Durnovich
Nicholas Adam Fernez
W. Erwin Fuller Jr.
Christopher T. Graebe
Steven William Grainger
George V. Hanna III
Michael S. Harrell III
Mark P. Henriques Jr.
James Robert Jolley
Andrew D. Jones III
Alicia Dawn Jurney
M. Keith Kapp
Caroline Elizabeth So-Jin Keen
Glenn E. Ketner
Mark Watkins Kinghorn
Tara Lynn Kozlowski
Mark Ferrell Lawson
Sean Won Lew
Caroline Payseur Mackie

Gregory C. Malhoit
Michael Leon Martinez
Elena Faria Mitchell
Hilary Dodd Moore
Emily A. Moseley
Elizabeth Bahati Mutisya
Ana Sofia Nunez
Helen Louise Parsonage
M. Travis Payne
Ronald Dean Payne
Matthew T. Phillips
Jackson Rehm Price
Nader Saeed Raja
Kimberly Burke Richmond
Kristin Holmquist Ruth
Karen McKeithen Schaede
Frank Eugene Schall
Bradley N. Schulz III
Kyle Reid Shannon
David Hughes Simpkins III
Edward Taylor Stukes
Ann Lee Warren
James Joseph Waters
E. Danielle Thompson Williams
Elizabeth Lager Winters
Jennifer Lynn Yeaw
Christopher Charles Ziegler

Category: Media release

← Back to Fair Housing

On Friday, April 15, 2016, the City of Raleigh Fair Housing Hearing Board and the Fair Housing Project of Legal Aid of North Carolina will sponsor the 13th Annual Fair Housing Conference. The keynote speaker at the conference will be civil rights attorney John Relman, one of the nation’s foremost fair housing and civil rights attorneys and the managing partner of the Washington, D.C., law firm of Relman, Dane & Colfax.

Panels will address issues of fair housing and gentrification as well as housing discrimination against immigrant and Limited English Proficiency tenants.

The conference will take place at the McKimmon Center for Extension and Continuing Education, located at 1101 Gorman St, Raleigh, NC 27606.

Early registration will begin on February 29, 2016.

This conference is funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Fair Housing Initiatives Program.

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About the Fair Housing Project
Legal Aid of North Carolina’s Fair Housing Project works to eliminate housing discrimination and to ensure equal housing opportunity for all people in North Carolina through education, outreach, public policy initiatives, advocacy and enforcement. Learn more at fairhousingnc.org.

Category: Media release

← Back to Education

RALEIGH, January 5, 2017 – Legal Aid of North Carolina’s Advocates for Children’s Services project joined the Southern Coalition for Social Justice and other youth advocates to urge the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to resolve the partners’ six-year-old complaint regarding racially discriminatory discipline practices in the Wake County Public School System.

“Discriminatory discipline practices have remained virtually unchanged over the past six years. That clearly demonstrates that the problem is systemic,” said Jennifer Story, lead attorney of Advocates for Children’s Services. “Not only are we asking for action from the U.S. Department of Education, we are asking for ongoing monitoring to ensure compliance. Otherwise, we run the risk of continuing to allow discrimination and depriving kids of the fairness and opportunities they deserve.”

Read the full press release and letter to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Category: Media release

← Back to Disaster Relief

RALEIGH, Oct. 11, 2016 – All members of our staff are safe, and none of our field offices sustained serious storm damage, but our offices in Fayetteville, Greenville and Pembroke remain closed today due to the continuing fallout from Hurricane Matthew.

Our Central Intake Unit, which screens all new client applications via our statewide Helpline and online intake application, is operating from a remote location in Raleigh. The storm knocked out power to the unit’s main offices.

Based on our past experiences responding to the legal needs of victims of natural disasters, we know that people’s immediate concerns are practical — shelter, utilities, property damage, etc. — and that legal issues often do not become a priority until much later.

To help people with their immediate concerns, we have collected links to local, state and national recovery resources for victims.

When those affected by the storm do begin to confront legal issues relating to their property, insurance, public benefits and more, they should call our statewide toll-free Helpline at 1-866-219-LANC (5262) or apply online using our guided intake interview.