Former LSC President Barnett Reflects on Six Years of Service to LSC
The Justice Gap. Quality Initiative. Increased Funding.
These are among the projects and themes discussed in Reflections on My Six Years as President of the Legal Services Corporation, by Helaine M. Barnett, who stepped down as LSC president at the end of 2009 and is the longest serving president in the history of the Corporation.
In the paper, the former LSC president writes that the improvements in the delivery of civil legal services to low-income Americans were made possible by the hard work and dedication of everyone in the LSC community, including the Corporation’s Board of Directors and the executive directors at 137 nonprofit programs that receive funding from LSC.
Ms. Barnett notes that “we are fortunate to enjoy strong bipartisan Congressional support for LSC.” During her tenure, she writes, the LSC appropriation rose from $326 million to $420 million—a 29 percent increase.
“LSC’s challenges in meeting the huge civil legal needs of eligible Americans have always been formidable, but have been made more acute by the current recession,” Ms. Barnett writes. She adds, “By providing the assistance that can prevent foreclosure and eviction, LSC-funded programs save lives and taxpayer dollars by averting more costly interventions by state and local social services and public assistance agencies, a safety net that is under great strain due to the dire financial conditions of many state and local governments.”
Ms. Barnett’s “Reflections” was recently sent to the LSC Board, staff and leaders in the equal access to justice community.