PLAN e-News

The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) has announced that Emergency Homeowners' Loan Program (EHLP) applications must be delivered to the PHFA office by HEMAP-approved counseling agencies no later than Friday, September 16, 2011 at 5:00 pm.

The Emergency Homeowners' Loan Program (EHLP) is a special program administered nationally by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and in Pennyslvania by PHFA, to provide assistance to homeowners in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure.

The program offers a declining balance, deferred payment “bridge loan” (non-recourse, subordinate loan with zero interest) for up to $50,000 to assist eligible homeowners with payments of arrearages, including delinquent taxes and insurance, plus up to 24 months of monthly payments on their mortgage principal, interest, mortgage insurance premiums, taxes, and hazard insurance.

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan has announced that HUD will speed federal disaster assistance to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and provide support to homeowners and low-income renters forced from their homes following Hurricane Irene.

Over the weekend, President Obama issued a disaster declaration for Chester, Northampton, Sullivan, Susquehanna and Wyoming Counties. The President’s declaration allows HUD to offer foreclosure relief and other assistance to certain families living in these counties.

As heavy rains continue throughout the state, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) is providing tips on how to deal with utilities issues for those residents experiencing flooding.

State Treasurer Rob McCord and Labor & Industry Secretary Julia Hearthway have announced that more than 430,000 Pennsylvanians who have received unemployment compensation through a debit card will save $3.5 million in fees under new terms of service governing the program.

Pennsylvanians who file for unemployment benefits can have their funds deposited electronically to a bank account or loaded onto a debit card, which they can use for ATM withdrawals and at retail points of sale.

Since it began in 2007, Pennsylvania’s UC debit card program has allowed cardholders to withdraw their funds without incurring fees. Even so, some cardholders have felt penalized by fees associated with using their card - fees that are uncommon to traditional debit card users. Treasurer McCord said Treasury and L&I worked hard to reduce fees under the new arrangement with ACS, the program’s administrator. The result is a structure that will save cardholders millions, which ultimately goes back into the state’s economy.

Due to a surge in demand, the scholarship deadline for the National Immigration Law Center’s 8th National Low-Income Immigrants’ Rights Conference has been extended! Applications must now be received by 6:00 PM Pacific time on September 30, 2011.

Join hundreds of advocates, organizers, DREAMers, and litigators in the DC area in December to learn about the issues immigrant communities will be facing next year and help shape the pro-migrant agenda for 2012.

A limited number of scholarships will be provided to help defray transportation and registration costs. Please complete the short application and return it via mail, fax or email by September 30 at 6PM Pacific time.

If you have any questions about scholarships or the application, please contact conference@nilc.org.

Scholarship Instructions

The economy added no new jobs in August, with minimal private sector growth completely offset by losses in the public sector, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on September 2. This is well below the 85,000 jobs created in July and rounds out an entire summer of tepid job growth.

Continued weak jobs numbers do little to mitigate the unemployment crisis and the unemployment rate, which held steady at 9.1 percent in August. This distressing news sets the stage for President Obama's address to Congress next week on jobs and the economy.

The Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and the Treasury Have proposed new rules under the Affordable Care Act that will enable consumers to easily understand their health coverage and determine the best health insurance options for themselves and their families. Likewise, these proposed rules will assist employers in finding the best coverage for their business and their employees.

Under the proposed rules announced on August 17, health insurers and group health plans will provide consumers with clear, consistent and comparable information about their health plan benefits and coverage. The new forms, scheduled to be available in 2012, will be a critical resource for more than 180 million health insurance consumers with private health insurance coverage.

A new online resource is providing low-income immigrants with critical tools and information about the naturalization process.

CitizenshipWorks provides free, easy-to-use online tools to help individuals answer questions about their eligibility for naturalization, to better understand the naturalization process, and to prepare for the naturalization tests. The site, which is currently available in both English and Spanish, is now being piloted in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, with plans underway for national expansion. An estimated 8 million immigrants across the U.S. are eligible for naturalization, but many don’t understand the process and can’t afford to hire a lawyer.

Chief Justice of Pennsylvania Ronald D. Castille has announced an agreement with the Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN) to allow gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Supreme Court’s oral arguments and to make them available to PCN’s network of more than 3.3 million homes.

PCN coverage of Supreme Court sessions is expected to begin on September 13.

On Sept. 1, the Pennsylvania statewide loan repayment assistance program begins its second year of helping attorneys employed in IOLTA-funded civil legal services organizations better manage their law school debt so they can continue to provide free legal assistance to Pennsylvania's poor and disadvantaged.

First-year program participants with annual net student loan debt service of $3,500 or more will be able to receive a maximum loan of $3,500. Second-year participants with annual net student loan debt service of $4,500 or more will be able to receive a maximum loan of $4,500. Those who continue in the program for three or more years and have annual net student loan debt service of $6,000 or more will be able to receive a maximum loan of $6,000.

Tax Credits to Help Millions of Middle-class Families

The Departments of Health and Human Services and Treasury today took the next steps to establish Affordable Insurance Exchanges – one-stop marketplaces where consumers can choose a private health insurance plan that fits their health needs and have the same kind of insurance choices as members of Congress. Among other policies, the proposed rules describe how middle-class families will gain access to unprecedented tax relief that will dramatically reduce the cost of coverage.

Since President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act on March 23, 2010, over half of states have taken actions to build an Exchange. Today, HHS awarded $185 million to 13 states and the District of Columbia to help them build Affordable Insurance Exchanges and, with Treasury, posted three proposed rules that will provide a simple, streamlined, and affordable path for consumers to use the Exchanges to purchase private health insurance. Additionally, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius sent a letter to governors laying out options and resources available to states to set up their Exchanges.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Community Development Studies and Education Department and Regional Housing Legal Services will be holding a forum entitled, No Place Like Home: Philadelphia’s Approach to Foreclosure Preventions, on Wednesday, September 21, 2011, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the Boehne Auditorium, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

The forum will also be availble for viewing on the Federal Reserve Board’s Ustream channel (registration required). September 9th is the deadline for both registering to attend in person and signing up for the Ustream feed

The forum will feature the results of a comprehensive study of Philadelphia’s approach to foreclosure prevention, a discussion of improvements implemented in the last year, and plans for further refinement of the system. This forum will be the first in a series of events on how to strengthen the foreclosure prevention system in Philadelphia and to improve similar systems in cities throughout the U.S.

The Legal Services National Technology Assistance Project (LSNTAP) and Pro Bono Net will be presenting a free webinar for legal aid and pro bono staff entitled New Trends in Client Use of Technology on Wednesday, September 14, 2011, from 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm Eastern.

This webinar will review updated information on how low-income persons are using the Internet, how they access it, and the role of newer technologies such as smart phones and SMS. We will also highlight new innovations in incorporating technology in the delivery of legal services.

The National Senior Citizens Law Center will be holding a webinar entitled Building an Integrated Appeals System for Dual Eligible on Thusday, September 29, 2011 from 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDT.

This Webinar is based on an issue brief that is the third in a series of four NSCLC papers supported by a grant from The SCAN Foundation. Each is designed to highlight pressing issues facing dual eligibles and provide recommendations to the federal Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office, state Medicaid agencies and other interested policymakers and stakeholders on how to address them.