Removing Barriers to the New York Earned Income Tax Credit: With the Financial Clinic and pro bono partner White & Case, we launched the “All Work and No Pay” campaign to remove obstacles faced by self-employed and cash-earning workers – day laborers, babysitters, construction workers, among others – to the state’s largest anti-poverty program. In April of 2010, we released the All Work and No Pay advocacy briefing and are now working to implement its recommendations. In July 2011, our team of volunteer attorneys sent a letter detailing practical solutions to officials at the New York State Department of Taxation & Finance.

♦ All Work and No Pay Advocacy Briefing ♦ Letter Detailing Practical Solutions to New York State Department of Taxation & Finance

Ensuring Due Process in the Civil Courts for Consumer Debt Litigants: In the wake of the credit crisis and with support from the ACE Rule of Law Fund and the New York State Courts Access to Justice programs, we launched an innovative volunteer lawyer pilot project providing legal advice and assistance to consumer debt defendants first in the Kings County Civil Court and then in Queens County Civil Court. With pro bono partner Jones Day, we prepared an in-depth policy briefing on barriers to justice in the civil court system for these defendants.

♦ Due Process and Consumer Debt Report

♦ Report Release Reception Photos

New York Appleseed released comments on the Department of Consumer Affairs' proposed rule relating to the requirement that process servers carry GPS devices.  This requirement was one of the recommendations of New York Appleseed's Due Process and Consumer Debt Report.  New York Appleseed and Arnold & Porter conducted extensive research on the legal, practical and technological issues the city faced in implementing a new law requiring that process servers carry GPS devices to document their locations when serving summonses and complaints. The research culminated in an advocacy briefing with recommendations for implementing the new law.  ♦ GPS Requirement Advocacy Briefing                                                                                         ♦ New York Appleseed Comments

Hometown Associations and Immigrant Consumer Empowerment: With Fonkoze, Haiti’s largest alternative bank for the poor, we developed and distributed thousands of financial literacy education materials in Haitian-Creole and led two trainings for over 150 community leaders. With pro bono partner Clifford Chance, we have developed a model for a community investment fund led by hometown associations to promote self-sufficiency through the diaspora.

♦ Financial Literacy Brochures in Creole and English

♦ Dollars and Diaspora Program

♦ Huffington Post Coverage

Best Practices for Grassroots Advocates on Current Policy Issues: With pro bono partner Fordham Law Community Development Clinic, we created a guide discussing legal issues for immigrants’ rights groups considering partnerships with for-profit corporate entities to provide prepaid cards, a growing trend in immigrant communities.

♦ Guide: Understanding Prepaid Card Partnerships

NYC Teacher Recruitment:  From 2002 to 2005, New York Appleseed  marshaled over 40 volunteer professionals to work with the city’s Department of Education (DOE) to increase the quantity and quality of teacher applicants and to improve the effectiveness of the recruitment process.  These professionals came from diverse backgrounds including consulting, marketing, advertising, market research, technology, Web site design and production, educational technology, accounting, law, real estate, human resources and management training and contributed over $11 million worth of time or services.  Mayor Bloomberg called the project the “most ambitious and comprehensive teacher recruitment campaign in New York City’s history.” Over the course of the project, New York Appleseed and its volunteers worked with DOE to facilitate: The generation of new marketing materials including a recruitment video, a recruitment CD, brochures, collateral materials and promotional materials for the DOE's Division of Human Resources Career Fairs; Ad Council’s sponsorship of the ad campaign allowing DOE to reach prospective teachers through the Internet, e-mail, radio, television and newspaper; The redesign and launch of the DOE interactive teacher recruitment Web site (www.teachnyc.net); The creation of an integrated and comprehensive message for use in recruitment, advertising, collateral materials and the new teacher recruitment Web site.

♦ See the advertisements ♦ See additional ads on the city's Web site

♦ Read a New York Times article about the project