NYS Courts Access to Justice Program:
The
Housing Court
's Resolution Assistance Program ("R.A.P.")
New Co-Sponsored Pro-Bono Initiative:
The New York City Paralegal Association, and The
Berkeley College
Paralegal Program.
R.A.P. trains volunteers to provide in-court assistance to tenants and
owners who are parties to nonpayment proceedings and are appearing
without an attorney in the
Housing Court
, Resolution Part. (Nonpayment
proceedings are cases in which an owner/landlord sues a tenant to
collect alleged overdue rent).
All volunteers are mandated to participate in one two-hour training
provided by The Honorable Fern A. Fisher, Deputy Chief Administrative
Judge for New York City Courts and Director of the
New York State
Courts
Access to Justice Program, and/or her staff.
At the training students will receive a program manual. Training topics include Housing Court Overview, Basics of Nonpayment Proceedings and Interviewing and Communication
Skills. In exchange for this free training, RAP Assistants are required to volunteer a minimum of 20 hours in the Resolution Part between February 2011 and June 30, 2011 and will receive, upon request, a certificate of volunteer service upon completion of the training and volunteer hours.
Volunteers are given flexibility with their schedules and may split
their volunteer time as follows: Monday -Thursday: 9AM-1PM and/or 2:15PM to 4:30PM
Friday: 9AM-1PM. Participants may choose to volunteer in a specific borough. While the
program runs in 4 boroughs including Manhattan and Queens; the Bronx, and
Brooklyn
urgently need volunteers. Each volunteer will be assigned to a Resolution Part of the
Housing Court
.
TRAINING DATE & TIME:
TRAINING COST & VOLUNTEER SERVICE:
FREE- in exchange for 20 hours of volunteer service between February 2011 and June 30, 2011:
Monday-Thursday: 9AM-1PM and/or 2:15PM-4:30PM, and Fri: 9AM-1PM.
Thursday January 27, 2011: 2:30 PM to 3:00 PM (Registration) 3:00 to 5:00 PM Training Session
OR Friday January 28, 2011 from 9:30 AM to 10:00 AM (Registration) 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Training Session
TRAINING LOCATION:
New York County Housing Court
111 Centre Street, New York, NY 10013
12th floor Boardroom
Please enter through White Street (between Lafayette Street and Centre Street).
RSVP: This event is for Members and Berkeley Paralegal Program Students.
Send an E-mail to the Pro-Bono Chairperson at probono@nyc-pa.org which includes training date and time preference, volunteer housing court county preference, and your contact information (Full name, Current New York City Paralegal Association Membership status or whether you are a Berkeley Paralegal Student, address, and cell phone number) If you have questions you can leave a message at 516-851-4007.
THIS EVENT IS OPEN FOR MEMBERS AND BERKELEY COLLEGE STUDENTS
To register: send your name, address and contact phone number to probono@nyc-pa.org.
