A budget shortfall of $1 million for North Penn Legal Services, the only free civil legal aid provider in Northeast PA and a member of the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network, forced the organization to lay off 15% of its staff, and close two offices effective June 30.

Those layoffs consist of attorneys, paralegals, support staff, intake workers, and administrators. The combined loss of service from office closings and staff layoffs will be 1,538 fewer cases handled and mean that NPLS employs one legal aid advocate for every 10,000 people living in poverty in its twenty county service area. These additional staffing cuts have widened the “justice gap.”

According to Victoria Coyle, Executive Director, these cuts are especially difficult at a time when the need for services is increasing due to the high unemployment and touch economic conditions in Pennsylvania, but NPLS has been left with no alternative: “Funding has not increased with the need and, although we have been able to maintain services by ‘tightening the belt’ over the past few years, continual reductions in our federal and state funding from the Legal Services has finally worn us out to the point where we had to make very difficult decisions. We run a lean operation. At this point there is no way to absorb the funding loss without cutting staff. We are very saddened to be losing employees who have dedicated their careers to access to justice, and equally saddened to have to reduce the services we can provide to desperate people who need our help.”

NPLS’ major funding sources have been reduced significantly within the last year. At the beginning of the 2012 fiscal year, state funds were reduced by 10% and then by another 10% in January 2012. In that same month, federal funds, received through the Legal Services Corporation, were reduced by 14%. Very low interest rates means that millions of dollars have not been available through the Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Account funding, a state funding source that has been instrumental in helping to balance funding throughout the state.

The impact of this funding climate has contributed to an increase in the number of low-income people who are turned away for services. Potential clients are experiencing greater difficultly in accessing our services. NPLS has fewer staff available to answer calls for help and fewer staff to handle cases. According to Coyle, “Unfortunately, low-income people face a barrier in their efforts to access justice. These days, that barrier increases at a rate that neither NPLS, nor our clients can overcome.”

Low-income people with civil legal issues can continue to contact NPLS by calling their toll free intake line. To find out if you are eligible for free legal services, call NPLS at 1-877-9-LEGAL-0 (1-877-953-4250), between 9:30 -11:30 AM, and 1:30- 3:30 PM Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Please have your paperwork ready when you call. NPLS also maintains a website with self-help materials and other resources at www.northpennlegal.org.