priority CRLA provides a wide array of legal services that directly touch thousands of low-income ArEAs Californians and indirectly impact the lives of many more community members. 2013 ImpACt At A gLAnCe Labor & Leadership Housing education Rural Health employment Development Cases Cases Cases Cases 2,903 Closed 2,224 Closed 180 Closed 1,806 Closed 1,132 People enforcing federal Collecting unpaid enforcing students’ Securing public Conducting training and state fair housing wages; enforcing rights in areas of benefits; supporting for low-income laws; monitoring low- minimum wage special education victims of sexual individuals through the income community and overtime and suspensions/ assault and intimate use of an innovative redevelopment; laws; upholding expulsions; guaran- partner violence; leadership development code enforcement health and safety teeing access to a maintaining health curriculum; promoting tenant evictions; protections; enforcing free and appropriate insurance, disability leadership and civic providing foreclosure workers’ rights public education; and SSI coverage; engagement to advance counseling; promoting to rest and meal monitoring migrant guaranteeing access effective self-advocacy homeownership; periods; collecting education programs to clean water and in rural communities. preventing predatory unemployment and alternative preventing pesticide lending. insurance benefits; school placements. poisoning; assisting fighting sexual with ACA applications harassment in and needs. the workplace. Make our impact even greater, make a donation online www.crla.org TABLE OF CONTENTS Rural LGBT Students Given Hope — Through Training and Education 2 CRLA Foreclosure Prevention Assistance 4 From the Fields to the State Capitol 6 Medi-Cal Assistance for Dire Need 8 CRLA & Parents Fight for a Voice in California’s Education System 9 Our mission Excluded from Federal Standards, California Home Aides Have Their Day in Court 10 to fight for justice Meet Our New Deputy Directors 13 and individual rights CRLA’s Director Receives Two Distinguished Awards 14 alongside the most CRLA Forces Negligent County to Comply with State Law 16 exploited communities CRLA’s Finest Featured in UC Hasting’s Magazine Profile 17 of our society. Indigenous Program Celebrates 20 Years of Service 18 2013 CRLA Donors 20 Our Vision of Justice Nine Year Struggle Resolved 27 A rural California where CRLA’s Education Work Engages Juvenile Courts and Rescues Vulnerable Youth 28 all people are treated Voices From a Zocalo’s Public Square 30 with dignity and respect What Motivates Kemnitzer, Barron & Krieg’s Support for CRLA? 33 and guaranteed their Dangerous Substandard Housing — Pescadero, California 34 fundamental rights. Financials 35 2014 Board of Directors and Staff 36 AnnUAL RepORt 20132013 1 Rural LGBT Students Given Hope Through Training and Education Leadership CRLA’s Rural Safe CRLA’sSchool SummitsRural Safealso developSchool youngSummits leaders. develop Theyoung Summits leaders. Theprovide Summits youth- expandappropriate the contentleaders’ to understandingexpand their ofunderstanding the legal CRLA addresses these protectionsof the legal In a school library, a church basement or a college problems and many more availableprotections to cafeteria, rural parents of LGBT students learn how to by using our legal services to fight for LGBT help their children. One parent describes her relationship availableLGBTQ youth for student rights. Established in 2007, our LGBT LGBTQwho want youth to with her transgender child. Another parent talks about program has touched the lives of hundreds of rural Californians. CRLA works to change the addresswho want bullying. to the cruel teasing his child experiences daily in the culture of rural places by providing a safe classroom. One other parent asks what to do when your address bullying, and more welcoming environment for rural child feels too scared to go to school. LGBT residents. 2 CALIFORnIA RURAL LegAL ASSIStAnCe, InC. The LGBT program focuses on helping questions about anti-gay bullying and rural schools develop more inclusive school safety. Participants mixed learning environments, which leads to a better school about the legal rights of school-age community for all students. CRLA works with children with gaining knowledge about students and parents to require schools and local resources to create a community school districts to comply with the law and of empowered parents who support to give all students a chance to receive the their LGBT or LGBT-perceived child. The best education possible. dialogue and conversation raised awareness about the problem of school push-out of This program developed and designed LGBT students. Young people stay in school a daylong conference called Rural Safe because informed parents and youth know School Summits, for parents, teachers, their rights with regard to bullying, school students and community members and provide a real life example for Summit discipline and truancy. CRLA believes if interested in preventing bullying and participants to strategize solutions to keeping we empower parents with knowledge and harassment of LGBT students. In 2013, children safe at school. bring them together with other parents, CRLA held six Summits at schools or they will become advocates for change in CRLA works with many city, county and state community partner locations throughout multiple ways, extending beyond just the agencies (health, safety, housing, mental rural California. These forums provided educational and legal systems. We see this health, school districts, district attorneys, local residents with answers to their happen as parents become more confident offices of Migrant Education, probation and in their ability to help their children. youth probation) in the following counties: San Joaquin, Fresno, Imperial, Yuba, Sutter, CRLA’s Rural Safe School Summits also Stanislaus, Monterey, Tulare, San Luis Obispo developed young leaders. The Summits and Ventura. We developed on-going expanded the leaders’ understanding of the partnerships with the National Center for legal protections available to LGBTQ youth Lesbian Rights, the Gay-Straight Alliance who want to address bullying. Network and with various chapters of Parents, Most summits occur entirely in Spanish, with Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays simultaneous translation for the few English (PFLAG). We recently partnered with new speakers in the room. Families often attend and emerging LGBT centers: the San Joaquin to find help when their child is subjected to Pride Center, in Stockton, the Bakersfield Gay anti-gay bullying at school. Their powerful and Lesbian Center, and the newly-emerging stories illustrate the need for CRLA’s work LGBT Center in Merced. n AnnUAL RepORt 2013 3 CRLA Foreclosure Prevention Assistance Housing The recent foreclosure crisis hit our client communities extremely hard, inundating our offices with requests for assistance. Through CRLA’s Rural communities face the challenge of the Central Coast and Central Valley. Staff focus on foreclosure work, consumers with limited English proficiency and low-wage maintaining safe and secure housing. we have saved our workers, including farmworkers. CRLA addresses this challenge through the Rural Foreclosure clients $5 million By combining legal services with mapping research and Assistance Project (RFAP), with a grant funded by the and helped 785 housing counseling, CRLA enforces compliance with the California Attorney General out of the National Mortgage Homeowner Bill of Rights and the terms of the national families stay in Settlement Fund, and the Lending Discrimination Compo- settlement. CRLA assists low-income consumers affected nent (LDC) of the Fair Housing Initiative, funded by HUD. their homes. by foreclosure, while also studying lending and home Both RFAP and the LDC target low-income, rural communities ownership trends among rural consumers throughout of color in some of California’s hardest hit counties including the state. 4 CALIFORnIA RURAL LegAL ASSIStAnCe, InC. Suzanna Prior, a grandmother Pedro Paez first experienced Before his death, Bette Pritchett’s When Cenovio Santos’ raising her grandson in her financial problems when his husband refinanced the family wife became ill and family home, had a mortgage employer reduced his work home, which had been in her required surgery, he with interest-only payments for hours. Then he fell ill from a family for generations. After his stopped working to three years. When the payments life-threatening disease. As soon death, Ms. Pritchett reached out care for her and their were about to rise, Ms. Prior as the problem arose, Pedro to the bank to apply for a loan three children. Without thought she might become and his wife Amelia decided to modification. Since her name earning any income, delinquent and sought the bank’s ask their lending bank for help. didn’t appear on the promissory Mr. Santos fell behind on help to secure a modification. When the bank did not respond note, although it did on the his mortgage payments Frustrated by their lack of to their modification request, deed of trust, the bank wouldn’t to his lender. Mr. Santos cooperation and afraid she was they sought help at CRLA’s provide her with any information had nowhere to turn about to lose her home, she Santa Maria office. Because or offer her any assistance. For as after receiving notice reached out to the CRLA office the Paez family cares for their long as she could, Ms. Pritchett that his home would in Santa Maria.