Legal Services Corporation – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Legal Services Corporation (``LSC'' or ``Corporation'') Board of Directors (``Board'') is soliciting public comment on the LSC Board's draft strategic plan for 2012-2016.

The Legal Services Corporation seeks public comment on a draft program letter discussing minimum screening requirements for LSC recipients to apply when determining financial eligibility of applicants based on information collected through online systems.

Since 1996, the Legal Services Corporation's annual appropriation has mandated that the Corporation distribute most of its appropriated funds to basic field programs for LSC-defined geographic areas so as to provide an equal figure per individual in poverty for each geographic area. The appropriation has further mandated that the number of individuals in poverty in each geographic area be determined by the Bureau of the Census ``on the basis of the most recent decennial census.'' The 2010 decennial census, however, did not collect poverty data for the 50 states, the District of Columbia or Puerto Rico, so ``the most recent decennial census'' will not provide a basis for determining how many people in poverty are within those jurisdictions. The LSC Board of Directors requests comments on a proposal by LSC's management to address this issue by making recommendations to the President and to Congress that: (1) The determination of the number of individuals in poverty in each geographic area be made by the Bureau of the Census, without any reference to the decennial census as the basis for that determination; (2) funding be reallocated among geographic areas every three years based on updated poverty population determinations by the Bureau of the Census; and (3) the first reallocation be phased in over two years, in Fiscal Year 2013 and Fiscal Year 2014.

The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is the national organization charged with administering Federal funds provided for civil legal services to low-income people. LSC hereby announces the availability of competitive grant funds and is soliciting grant proposals from interested parties who are qualified to provide effective, efficient, and high quality civil legal services to eligible clients in the service area(s) of the States and territories identified below. The exact amount of congressionally appropriated funds and the date, terms, and conditions of their availability for calendar year 2012 have not been determined.

This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposes to amend the Legal Services Corporation's regulation on fee-generating cases to clarify that it applies only to LSC and private non-LSC funds.

The Legal Services Corporation (``Corporation'') is required by law to establish maximum income levels for individuals eligible for legal assistance. This document updates the specified income levels to reflect the annual amendments to the Federal Poverty Guidelines as issued by the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Legal Services Corporation will eliminate the Nevada, South Dakota, and Wyoming migrant service areas: MNV, MSD, and MWY, effective April 1, 2011, because any eligible migrant population in these states can be more effectively and efficiently served through the respective state's basic field-general grant.