Connecting the Homeless and Underserved with Critical Resources

As housing costs continue to skyrocket across the country, a growing number of families and individuals are being priced out of a place to live or are facing persistent housing insecurity. Stagnant wages and high inflation are making it even harder for people to afford housing, even in historically low-income communities. The nationwide crisis affecting all types of households drove a 12 percent increase in homelessness from 2022 to 2023, according to recent US Department of Housing and Urban Development data. And when people do qualify for help, they often struggle to access overburdened assistance programs.

In Washington, DC, Mintz attorney Daniel Reing conducts pro bono intakes for The Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless for clients like “Robert,” who was faced with the threat of losing his long-term housing voucher from an agency in his local area in the fall of 2023 due to a bureaucratic hitch. Having lost his wife shortly before the voucher recertification process, Robert desperately needed to maintain a stable living situation for his four children, who ranged from 6 to 18 years old, including one who has a developmental disability. Robert relies on the voucher and his Social Security Disability Insurance payments to modestly provide for his family’s needs.

Because of a clerical error, the agency claimed Robert had missed the recertification deadline and would no longer qualify for the benefit. After several fruitless attempts to correct the mistake, Robert turned to the clinic, and Daniel took the case when he heard Robert’s story. In negotiations over the telephone, Daniel presented his client’s side of the story, detailing the reasons the recertification went wrong. Daniel then helped Robert resubmit all of the paperwork, including preparing and notarizing several documents for Robert’s children. Daniel’s steadfast advocacy and thoroughness prompted the agency to reverse its decision and acknowledge that Robert was not at fault.

Daniel recently initiated Mintz’s involvement with the Washington Legal Clinic, leveraging a long-term pro bono and volunteer relationship that began years before he joined the firm. With assistance from Mintz attorney Samantha Hawkins, he is steadily cultivating the firm’s pro bono support for the clinic’s regular intake sessions and further cementing the relationship between the two organizations.

Their work complements Mintz’s three-decade partnership with the Lawyers Clearinghouse in Boston and its Legal Clinic for the Homeless, through which Mintz has represented 340 clients in legal matters and provided guidance to thousands of others during the intakes. The firm currently convenes a team of its attorneys and other professionals for two Lawyers Clearinghouse intake clinics a year, held at a homeless shelter in the Boston area or virtually.

As co-managers and long-term volunteers of the Mintz-hosted clinics for Lawyers Clearinghouse, attorneys Samantha Kingsbury and Jane Haviland organize intake clinics and recruit Mintz team members to assist. During these clinics, Mintz team members spend an hour with each individual participating in the intake session in order for the Lawyers Clearinghouse and Mintz to assess what type of assistance is required and whether Mintz can assist going forward.  The clients who come to the clinic present with wide-ranging legal needs, including Social Security and employment benefits, housing issues, and identity theft. The cases that Mintz takes on after the clinic provide Mintz volunteers with unique and challenging opportunities, including, for example, participating in hearings before administrative law judges to challenge adverse Social Security Administration (SSA) actions.

In one ongoing case, Jane, Mintz attorney Cody Keetch, Senior Project Analyst Olivia Cohen, and Project Analyst Shruthi Sriram are assisting a client with evaluating her options related to an alleged benefits overpayment. The dispute centers on how the agency calculated the client’s disability payments, which are adjusted based on her earnings from part-time work. Jane, Cody, Olivia, and Shruthi are preparing information and arguments to assist the client with disputing SSA’s findings, and are hoping for a favorable outcome.

When you build a relationship with clients and work with them to navigate an incredibly complex system and secure benefits they need to get by, that assistance can make a huge difference in their lives. It’s really gratifying to see clients get the resources they need to pay for their basic needs.

Jane T. Haviland, Mintz Associate