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Remote Representation of Homeless Clients During Covid
This course was approved for NOSSCR's Spring 2021 Virtual Conference. It is eligible for On-Demand credit, please check with karyn.reffsin@nosscr.org if you have questions about your states eligibility or check with your Bar Association for their rules and regulations.
The Homeless Action Center has been representing homeless and marginally housed clients for over 30 years. This presentation will explore how HAC has adapted our usual intake and ongoing representation practices to the current remote world. This presentation will have useful tips for staying in contact with and representing all clients during these remote times. We will focus on how to represent clients who have no (or often changing) phone number or address. We will discuss the ethical obligations to stay in touch with clients, as well as strategies to build trust with clients, get clients engaged with medical care and treatments, and win cases when you don’t have the opportunity to meet the clients in person.
Ann Rubinstein - has been with the Homeless Action Center (HAC) since 2010. In her first five years at HAC, Ann provided SSI/SSDI representation to residents of an Oakland homeless shelter; for one year she supervised a contract outreaching to homeless individuals to enroll them in public benefits; and for the past six years she has worked as a managing attorney. Prior to HAC, Ann worked for four years at Legal Services of Northern California, as a Staff Attorney/Policy Analyst. She earned her law degree from Berkeley Law. Prior to law school, Ann served as an AmeriCorps Volunteer and with the Peace Corps in Morocco.
Heather Freinkel - earned her JD from Hastings College of the Law in 2010. She joined HAC as a staff attorney in 2011, and became a managing attorney in 2017. Since 2017, she has also organized HAC’s homeless outreach program and is currently supervising the agency’s outreach team. As HAC’s Outreach Team Supervisor, Heather primarily works with unsheltered clients who face extensive barriers to accessing public benefits and housing. Heather is dedicated to building and strengthening the vital network of relationships among those who serve and advocate for unsheltered people.
