Projects and Issues
The Ohio Poverty Law Center focuses its work in the mail substantive areas in which Ohio's legal aid organizations represent clients: public benefits law, housing law, family law, consumer law, health law, and education law.
In 2011, OPLC attorneys have:
- Lobbied in the Ohio General Assembly on pending consumer protection, domestic relations, education, employment, and housing legislation affecting low-income Ohioans.
- Chaired and/or participated in Ohio Supreme Court committees that developed new civil rules on magistrates and civil protection orderss and communications in domestic violence cases.
- Submitted comments and negotiated with state executive agencies on dozens of current and proposed regulations to administer financial, nutritional and medical public assistance.
- Co-counseled and coordinated statewide amicus briefs in the Supreme Court of Ohio on home foreclosure and consumer protection issues.
- Co-counseled a complaint to the United States Department of Justice based on school discipline practices of the Toledo Public Schools.
- Organized and facilitated three warrant clearing days for residents of Marion and Muskingham counties to have pending criminal warrants dismissed. We also developed and distributed a manual to help other legal aid programs and counties to present warrant clearing days.
- Presented a series of employer awareness workshops to encourage employers to hire job applicants with criminal records.
- Orchestrated a statewide meeting of legal aid and public defender staff to discuss overlapping issues and strategies to improve services to our clients.
- Initiated Ohio Speaks, a statewide coalition to collect and publicize stories about the day-to-day challenges facing low-income Ohioans.
- Advocated for a Ban the Box initiative to encourage employers not to ask for criminal history on initial employment applications.
- Advocated for the return of $43 million to Central and Southern Ohio electricity consumers in the American Electric Power Significantly Excessive Earnings Test case, .
- Produced and presented a week long trial skills training for legal aid staff from Ohio, Michigan, and West Virginia to improve the effectiveness of their litigation advocacy.
- Served as the watch dog on legislative, administrative and public policy issues affecting low-income Ohioans.
