Legal Services

Resources to help you find an attorney or attorney assistance:

Fair Hearing Help:

The Legal Aid Society, Empire Justice, NYLAG

https://fairhearinghelpny.org/ is a free, virtual legal resource for New Yorkers who are representing themselves at an administrative hearing with the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA).

Program Flyer

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Alternative Dispute Resolution

Finding an Attorney:

Websites, Bar Associations, and the Court Administration offer help in finding attorneys and legal services:

The NYS Bar Association’s referral program.  Referrals are to attorneys for hire.

Go to: NYS Bar Association
800-342-3661

County Bar Associations. Each County Bar also has an attorney referral service.  Visit your County Bar Association website for more information.

NYS Legal Services Providers may have programs to assist kinship caregivers. Law Help helps low-income New Yorkers find out information about:

  • Free legal service programs
  • Information about legal rights education
  • Links to social services and government agencies
  • Information about the court system
  • Resources available in a wide range of languages!

For a listing of legal service providers, visit LawHelp.

Go to: Law Help

NYS Court Administration website has a search feature to find attorneys.

Go to: NY Courts

NYS Court Administration operates volunteer attorney programs.

Go to: NY Courts Volunteer Program

NYS Kinship Navigator attempts to connect callers with legal assistance. We are sometimes successful in referring callers to private attorneys. We also work to help make referrals to legal services organizations. Please call us at 877-454-6463 for further information.

Assignment of Counsel to Indigent Kinship Caregivers

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New York State Court Assistance:

Help Centers: Some courts and community organizations have special offices at the courthouse for helping people who don’t have a lawyer for free.

Go to: Help Centers

Office of Court Administration Forms and Resources:

Go to:
For Court Forms
For Family Court Information
For Court Dates
Onondaga County Family Court Citizen’s Guide to Family Court


Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) presents opportunities for parties to resolve their differences without court procedures.  Examples are:  visitation, custody, and housing.  Certain courthouses and centers also offer assistance for children.  For more information and to find centers in your county, see link above.

Go to: NYS Court Alternative Dispute Resolution

Overview of Services
(October 2021 Kinship Navigator Lunch and Learn Training)
Click here!

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Legal Services Organizations with Special Interest in Kinship Care

 

Legal Services of the Hudson Valley (LSHV) – Kinship Civil Legal Assistance Program

White Plains Office:
90 Maple Avenue
White Plains, New York 10601
Phone: (914) 949-1305

Yonkers Office:
30 South Broadway, 6th Floor
Yonkers, NY 10701
Phone: (914) 376-3757

Mount Vernon Office:
100 East First Street 8th Floor, Suite 810
Mt. Vernon, NY 10550
Phone: (914) 813-6880

Peekskill Office:
One Park Place, Suite 202
Peekskill, NY 10566
Phone: (914) 402-2192

Legal Intake Helpline: (877) 574-8529
Email: info@lshv.org
Website: https://www.lshv.org/
Office Hours: Monday – Friday, 9:00AM-5:00PM

County Served: Westchester

Legal Intake Helpline Response Rate Information: Wait times range from 25 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes. Returns any messages within one business day.

  • Options: Intake line provides an option to leave a callback number to keep a caller’s place in line in the queue. Automated message also indicates that call wait can be high (specifically on Mondays and weekdays from 1PM-3PM).

Income eligibility limits are typically 200% of the federal poverty guidelines, but can vary by program.

Services Include:

*Please note – not all programs are available in all counties*

Center for Elder Law & Justice (CELJ)
438 Main Street, Suite 1200
Buffalo NY 14202
Phone: (716) 853-3087
Email: info@elderjusticeny.org
Website: https://elderjusticeny.org/
Hours of Operation: Monday – Friday 9:00AM-5:00PM

Kinship Legal Services Intake Line
Agency Contact: Cheryl Kostrewa
Phone: (716) 878-9297
Email: ckostrewa@elderjusticeny.org
Website: https://elderjusticeny.org/

Response Rate Information: Voicemail is available. Returns any messages within two business days.

Counties Served: Erie and Niagara

The Center for Elder Law & Justice is a non-profit civil legal services agency, providing free legal representation in eight Western New York counties. Most of our services are limited to seniors (60 years of age and older), but some of our services are available to disabled and low-income individuals as well.

Services Include:

Center for Elder Law & Justice (CELJ)
438 Main Street, Suite 1200
Buffalo NY 14202
Phone: (716) 853-3087
Email: info@elderjusticeny.org
Website: https://elderjusticeny.org/
Hours of Operation: Monday – Friday 9:00AM-5:00PM

Kinship Legal Services Intake Line
Agency Contact: Cheryl Kostrewa
Phone: (716) 878-9297
Email: ckostrewa@elderjusticeny.org
Website: https://elderjusticeny.org/

Response Rate Information: Voicemail is available. Returns any messages within two business days.

Counties Served: Cattaraugus, Orleans, Allegany, Chautauqua, Genesee, and Wyoming

The Center for Elder Law & Justice is a non-profit civil legal services agency, providing free legal representation in eight Western New York counties. Most of our services are limited to seniors (60 years of age and older), but some of our services are available to disabled and low-income individuals as well.

Services Include:

Legal Information for Families Today (LIFT)
32 Court Street, Suite 1208
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Phone: (212) 343-1122
Email/Live Chat available through website
Website: https://www.liftonline.org/

Office Hours: Monday – Friday, 9:00AM-5:00PM
Live Chat Hours: Monday-Friday 10:00AM-5:00PM

Response Rate Information: Wait times range from 10 minutes to 30 minutes. No voicemail option available.

Counties Served: Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond

LIFT’s Programs and Services emphasize a holistic approach to helping families as they tackle legal issues in Family Court and plan for a positive future for themselves and their children.

Services Include:

Eligibility: Serves anyone with questions about New York State Family Law matters, or who has an existing Family Law case in New York State.

Short Term Engagement:

    • Helplines, operated by Telephone, Email, and Live Chat, allow LIFT’s staff to answer questions from anyone with a Family Law case in New York- including elderly, disabled, and otherwise homebound individuals; military members deployed overseas; and incarcerated parents.
      • Offers free consultation services with litigants that are seeking advice about their paternity, child support, custody, visitation, or guardianship matters.
    • Education and Information Sitesare located in the Family Courthouses in all five NYC boroughs and provide litigants with immediate help in navigating the courthouse, filling out documents, and assessing whether they need more in-depth assistance. The Sites are open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Long Term Engagement:
    • Court Consultationsare also located in the Family Courthouses in all five New York City boroughs. Here, litigants are teamed up with a LIFT staff attorney to receive in-depth assistance and one-on-one attention, including accompaniment to appointments. Appointments are available between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
      • Identify the initial forms needed in the Family Court matters but cannot assist with any additional forms the courts may request and have limited information on Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) matters and orders of protection.
      • Callers are partnered with a LIFT Staff attorney or Pro-bono lawyer to receive in-depth assistance with their family court matter. Kinship caregivers are eligible for consultation services and partnered with a LIFT Staff attorney or Pro-bono lawyer, who can provide legal advice and help the caregiver fill out paperwork to submit to Family Court. The LIFT Attorney or Pro bono lawyer can offer follow up appointments to the consultation services at their discretion. The initial consultations are typically in 1-hour blocks.
    • Educational Resources:

Mobilization for Justice, Inc. – Kinship Caregiver Law Project
100 William Street 6th Floor
New York, NY 10038
Intake Line: (212) 417-3850, Open Wednesday & Friday, 10:00AM-5:00PM
Fax: (212) 417-3891
Website: https://mobilizationforjustice.org/projects/kinship-caregiver-law-project/
Program Contact: Jacqueline Adorno
Email: jadorno@mfjlegal.org
Response Rate Information: If a call is received during intake hours, the caller can immediately speak to an attorney or volunteer.  All messages left on agency’s voicemail and direct referrals are typically responded to during the next intake day.
Services available to all New York City boroughs (Bronx, Kings (Brooklyn), Queens, New York (Manhattan), and Richmond (Staten Island)).
Eligibility: Must be a kinship caregiver within New York City and household income must be 350% or below the federal poverty level.  In a limited number of cases, can assist kinship caregivers that live outside New York City if there is an active case within New York City.

Mobilization for Justice helps to provide legal stability to hundreds of families each year through representation in custody, guardianship and adoption matters, access to public benefits, and in Special Immigrant Juvenile Status cases. We also represent caregivers in Family Court and administrative proceedings aimed at preventing a child’s entry into the traditional foster care system.

Services Provided: Offers information, advice, and representation in custody, guardianship, adoption, foster care advocacy, and immigration relief for undocumented youth referred to as special immigrant juvenile status. Also offers information and advice on how to clear State Central Registry (SCR) history, grandparent visitation, and public benefits.

In New York City, approximately 200,000 children are being raised by grandparents, other relatives and friends because their biological parents are unable or unwilling to care for them. By formalizing these relationships, Mobilization for Justice promotes children’s wellbeing and helps to secure additional supports for caregivers, all of which prevents children from entering the foster care system. In addition to handling custody, guardianship, and visitation cases, MFJ attorneys train private pro bono lawyers from law firms and corporations to provide assistance in adoption proceedings. MFJ attorneys provide advice and counsel to caregivers who call our hotline and meet directly with caregivers at clinics at Family Court in the Bronx and at community-based organizations.

Legal Clinics:
Bronx Family Court
900 Sheridan Avenue, 1st Floor Help Center
Bronx, NY 10451
2nd & 4th Mondays, 9:00AM – 12:30PM (walk-in)

Bridge Builders
156 West 164 Street
Bronx, NY 10452
1st & 3rd Monday, 10:00AM-5:00PM; 2nd & 4th Monday: 1:00PM-5:00PM
(walk in or call (212) 417-3850 for an appointment)

Mobilization for Justice advocates for policies and programs that improve the lives of kinship caregiving families, providing leadership to the New York City Kincare Task Force (PDF) and the New York State Kincare Coalition and testifying before city and state legislative committees.

Rural Law Center
22 U.S. Oval, Suite 101,
Plattsburgh, NY 12903
Phone: (518) 561-5460
Toll Free Phone: (866) 324-1183
Fax: (518) 561-5468
Website: https://rurallawcenter.org/
Office Hours: Monday – Friday, 9:00AM-4:30PM

Response Rate Information: Returns any messages on the next business day.

Counties Served: All New York State counties EXCEPT: Erie, Niagara, Monroe, Onondaga, Oneida, Broome, Albany, Dutchess, Nassau, Orange, Rockland, Suffolk, Westchester, and New York City (Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens, and Richmond) counties.

The Rural Law Center of New York is dedicated to identifying and addressing the civil legal issues unique to low-income, rural New Yorkers.

Income eligibility may vary. Agency does prioritize the needs of low-income callers.
Services Include:

Empire Justice Center
1 W Main Street, Suite 200
Rochester, NY 14614
Phone: (800) 724-0490 x5822
Email: health@empirejustice.org
Website: www.empirejustice.org
Office Hours: Monday-Friday, 9AM-5PM

Response Rate: Returns voicemails/emails within 1-2 business days.
Counties Served: All NYS Counties (except NYC)
Services:

  • Assists with Medicaid Denials, Appeals, and Reductions
  • Assists with OTDA Administration Hearings (on a case-by-case basis)

County Specific Legal Resources:

County Court Clinics, in some counties, the local bar or a legal service organization, or the court  itself provides assistance in completing guardianship and custody petitions. Also, the legal services organizations in some counties have programs supportive of kinship legal issues. Each county may or may not have such services.

Go to the Resource Map for listings of legal resources in your county.