New York State funds a statewide legal assistance program to benefit disabled low-income individuals who have been denied Social Security disability benefits. The first Disability Advocacy Project (DAP) was funded at an office of Legal Services for New York more than 20 years ago, and LSNY continues to host a DAP project today. New York State benefits from DAP because successful claimants are moved off of state-funded public benefits and on to federally funded Social Security disability benefits. The State also benefits because it often is reimbursed for state public assistance benefits paid to each claimant while the Social Security benefits claim is pending. The clients benefit from DAP because the Social Security disability benefits are higher and more stable than public assistance benefits.
LSNY's state grant totals $7.2 million for the recent funding cycle, of which about 40% is subcontracted to the Legal Aid Society and the Center for Disability Advocacy Rights. Combined, these three organizations win over 90% of their cases and returned more than two million dollars more to the State than they received in actual funding, based just on returns from retroactive benefits. Savings to the State climb even higher once prospective savings are calculated because individuals are no longer on the state-funded assistance programs.
Contact Information
Ann Biddle Director of Disability and Elder Law Legal Services for New York City 3350 Broadway, New York, New York 10013 Tel. 646-442-3600 Fax 212-966-9571 abiddle@lsny.org
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