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22
November 2002
From: Executive
Director, Malcolm RichTo: Members/Friends of the Chicago Council of Lawyers & the Chicago Appleseed Fund For Justice In this e-Newsletter:
The Council and
the Chicago Appleseed Fund For Justice released on October 2, 2002 a comprehensive
report on the child support program in Illinois – a program that serves
more children than any state program except the public school system,
and serves them abysmally. According to federal statistics for FY 2000,
Illinois performed far worse than the national average in
In general, based on federal government fiscal year 2000 figures, Illinois is one of the worst states in the country when it comes to child support collection and enforcement. But statistics tell only one part of the story. Today, legal assistance advocates, legislators, and government agency employees continue to be bombarded with complaints about the child support system. Customer service remains an elusive concept and too many parents -- both mothers and fathers -- do not have confidence in the current system. It is time for a complete overhaul. These problems are not new. In 1998, we released a report produced by our Child Support Panel, chaired by retired Illinois Supreme Court Justice Seymour Simon. The report identified systemic weaknesses in the Illinois child support system and outlined potential solutions. That 1998 report triggered some but not enough improvement. The child support program remains fragmented, with more than 6 different agencies handling pieces of the job and no one taking overall responsibility. Parents, children, and advocates are equally frustrated by the system’s utter inability to provide straight answers to simple questions. In 2000, Chicago Appleseed set out to find out why the system continued to operate so poorly. We interviewed more than 80 parents, lawyers, government officials, and experts. We observed courtrooms and hearing rooms at the Cook County Circuit Court Domestic Relations Division and the Expedited Child Support Division of the Domestic Relations Division. To gain real world experience into how and where the system is strong and where it is weak, we provided legal representation, counseling, and advice to custodial and non-custodial parents on child support matters. We collected and analyzed data from child support programs in eleven states outside of Illinois. We also assembled an Advisory Board comprised of representatives of the major government agencies and private corporations within the child support system as well as advocates and experts in the area of child support. As a result of this effort, we can now present over 80 concrete recommendations for improving the child support system. But at the heart of the matter is the need for an independent agency to provide all child support services seamlessly and, to whatever extent possible, under one roof. We propose just such an agency for Cook County. Moreover, customer service must become a priority. All consumers utilizing our child support program must be able to get accurate information and they must be able to contact a specific go-to person if there are problems. To
get a copy of the report, A Call For Reform; an Executive Summary
of the report; and a copy of our op-ed piece on the subject printed in
the Chicago Sun-Times on October 27, 2002, please go to our website, www.chicagocouncil.org
The Tenant-Landlord
Handbook describes the rights and obligations of tenants and landlords
in Illinois with a focus on the laws that are specific to the City of
Chicago. The Handbook covers all aspects of landlord-tenant law
in Chicago. The Appendix to the Handbook includes selected
forms, a list of organizations and governmental agencies that deal with
rental housing, a chart on litigation fees, small claims procedures, sample
demand letters, and a copy of the Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant
Ordinance.
The publishers of the Tenant-Landlord Handbook are: The Chicago Council of Lawyers; the Chicago Appleseed Fund For Justice; the Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities; the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago; and the National Center on Poverty Law. $15.00 per copy (includes postage and handling) $12.00 per copy for members of the Chicago Council of Lawyers and contributors to the Chicago Appleseed Fund For Justice (includes postage and handling) To order your copy, please contact Malcolm Rich (e-mail: malcolmrich@chicagocouncil.org; phone: 312-427-0713) or go to our website, www.chicagocouncil.org (go to Publications under Library on the Homepage).
The Council released the first report from its Court Watching Program in September 2002, detailing the results of over 100 hours of court watching time done in the courtrooms of 26 judges seeking retention on the November ballot. The observations were done by both Council staff and volunteers, and the results were released to all bar associations doing judicial evaluations within the Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening and the Chicago Bar Association. The program was designed with the research assistance of the Chicago Appleseed Fund For Justice. The program will now turn to providing court watching in selected cases where there are questions about the performance of individual judges or about particular courtrooms. The Board of Governors of the Council will oversee the program. For more information, please contact Malcolm Rich (e-mail: malcolmrich@chicagocouncil.org; phone: 312-427-0713). The Chicago Council
of Lawyers thanks those of you who used our judicial evaluations in helping
to decide how to vote in the November 2002 judicial elections. It is unfortunate
that all of the judges were retained by the voters, although the judges
we found "not qualified" for retention received substantially fewer votes
for retention. We are pleased, however, that the Hon.Timothy Evans, Chief
Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, has ordered many of the judges
we found "not qualified" to receive mentoring -- assistance from other
judges. The next judicial elections will be in 2004, and we will be working
over the next two years to improve the judicial electoral system in Illinois.
Electing good judges requires an informed electorate. Thanks again to
those of you who have taken seriously the responsibility of voting for
judges.
More than 300 lawyers
attended the annual fundraising luncheon of the Council and Chicago Appleseed
on October 7, 2002. The event included the 33rd annual meeting of
the Council and the 5th annual meeting of the Chicago Appleseed Fund For
Justice. The Hon. Barack Obama delivered the keynote address and
the law firm of Holland & Knight received the Commitment to Justice
Award for the pro bono assistance the firm has provided to our child support
systemic reform efforts.
Council Board member
Elizabeth Sobek has become chair of one of the Council's newest initiatives
-- establishing a Young Lawyers Division. The Division will
aim at issues and activities of interest to young lawyers but there is
no mandatory age limit that must be met before you can participate.
The first meeting of the Young Lawyers Division will be December
5, 2002 at noon at the Council's office. We will provide lunch so
please RSVP if you plan to attend. To RSVP or to get more information,
please contact Malcolm Rich (e-mail: malcolmrich@chicagocouncil.org;
phone: 312-427-0713) or Elizabeth Sobek (e-mail: eesobek@fieldgolan.com; phone:
312-263-2300).
Chicago Council of Lawyers / Chicago Appleseed Fund For Justice 220 S. State Street, Suite 800, Chicago, Illinois 60604 Phone: 312-427-0713 / Fax: 312-427-0181 E-mail: ccl@chicagocouncil.org or caffj@chicagoappleseed.org Website: www.chicagocouncil.org or www.chicagoappleseed.org |