The January edition of the Health Law PA News, a free bi-monthly newsletter from the Pennsylvania Health Law Project is now available. For prior editions or more information about the Pennsylvania Health Law Project, please see the PHLP website at www.phlp.org.

The 2012 Application Loan Cycle for the Legal Service Corporation's (LSC) Herbert S. Garten Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP) will open on Wednesday February 1, 2012 and this year’s deadline for application submissions will be Monday February 27, 2012 at 5:00 PM Eastern Time.

Through the LRAP, established in 2005 and funded by a Congressional appropriation, LSC makes a limited number of forgivable loans to attorneys employed by its grantee programs to help repay law school debt. The goals of the LRAP are to help LSC grantee programs recruit and retain highly qualified attorneys, and to promote the development of initiatives that make public interest law a viable career path for law school graduates.

The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) will be holding a webinar about the 2012 Technology Initiative Grant (TIG) funding cycle on Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 12:30 p.m. EST. The webinar will cover:

• Eligibility for the TIG program;
• 2012 Areas of Interest;
• The application process, including Letters of Intent (LOIs); and
• The online application system.

Go to https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/232473918 to register for this free webinar.

The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) reports that the nonprofit programs funded by LSC to deliver civil legal assistance to low-income Americans are implementing layoffs and staff reductions because of budget constraints, based on a survey conducted by LSC.

According to the survey, LSC-funded programs anticipate laying off 393 employees, including 163 attorneys, in 2012. The reductions continue a staffing downturn that began about a year ago. In December 2010, LSC-funded programs employed 4,351 attorneys, 1,614 paralegals and 3,094 support staff. During 2011, LSC programs reduced their staffing by 833 positions through layoffs and attrition. They now anticipate a new round of layoffs this year, bringing the staffing loss to 1,226 full-time personnel.

The survey was conducted in late December and early January, and 132 of the 135 nonprofit legal aid programs funded by LSC responded. Eight of the regional programs of the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network, serving individuals and families in Pennsylvania, are among the programs receiving funding from the Legal Services Corporation.

Acting to reform and modernize a program vital to ensuring affordable communications for low-income consumers, the Federal Communications Commission today approved a comprehensive overhaul of its Lifeline program.

As a universal service program that fulfills Congress’s mandate to ensure the availability of communications to all Americans, Lifeline for the past 25 years has helped tens of millions of low-income Americans afford basic phone service. Access to telephone service is essential for finding a job, connecting with family, or getting help in an emergency, and the percentage of low-income households with phone service has increased from 80% in 1985, when Lifeline began, to nearly 92% last year.

The Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department have announced the results of a massive national sweep cracking down on suspected identity theft perpetrators as part of a stepped-up effort against refund fraud and identity theft.

Working with the Justice Department’s Tax Division and local U.S. Attorneys’ offices, the nationwide effort targeted 105 people in 23 states. The coast-to-coast effort took place over the last week and included indictments, arrests and the execution of search warrants involving the potential theft of thousands of identities and taxpayer refunds. In all, 939 criminal charges are included in the 69 indictments and informations related to identity theft.

By an overwhelming margin, American voters oppose cutting food stamp assistance (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP) as a way to reduce government spending, according to new poll data released by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). Seventy-seven percent of voters say this is the wrong way to reduce spending and only 15 percent favor cutting such assistance.

The opposition to cutting food stamps crossed party lines with 92 percent of Democrats, 74 percent of Independents, and 63 percent of Republicans all saying this is the wrong way to reduce spending.