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Civic Engagement: |
WLP Files Title IX Complaint Against New Hope-Solebury School DistrictAfter over a year of inaction by the New Hope-Solebury School District to rectify it’s acknowledged inequities in athletics, the Women’s Law Project filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights asserting Title IX violations by the School District. Under Title IX, school districts that receive federal funding are prohibited from engaging in sex discrimination. The WLP complaint alleges violations in both the number of athletic opportunities offered and the relative treatment of the teams. Over a year ago, the school district calculated a 10% disparity between the number of athletic opportunities it afforded its male and female students. Acknowledging the need to address that disparity, the school board refused to approve the addition of a football team in February, 2007. Despite the district’s failure to add any additional athletic opportunities for its female students in the interim, the school board agreed to add a junior varsity football team to the boys’ athletic offerings in February, 2008. The school district continues to deprive its female students of equitable opportunities, despite the existence of interest and competition, and is heading in the direction of increasing rather than decreasing the disparities between the athletic opportunities offered to its male and female students. The complaint also seeks equitable treatment of athletic teams on the basis of sex. Although all boys’ teams are given the opportunity to play on the stadium field, the field hockey team has been denied this opportunity. OCR has commenced its investigation. Child Support Bill Passes Both Houses: On to Governor for SigningThanks to all who made calls to their Senators and Represenatives in support of SB1278, the Child Support Bill. With the leadership and support of Amy Hirsch, Community Legal Services, the Community Justice Project, and WLP Senior Staff Attorney Sue Frietsche, SB 1278 passed both the Pennsylvania Senate and the House, and will now go to the Governor for signing. This bill makes wonderful improvements to the way that child support is treated for families on TANF and for families that have left TANF. A flyer about the bill is attached. The bill keeps child support dollars in Pennsylvania, instead of sending them to Washington, and gets them to families rather than giving them to the government. It also encourages non-custodial parents to pay support, because they will know that the money will directly benefit their children. The bill: 1. More than doubles the Child Support Pass-Through, effective 10/1/2008. When a family gets welfare benefits, the family is required to assign its right to child support to DPW, which currently sends most of the money to the federal government. Only a small amount --a maximum of $50 per month, regardless of the number of children--is actually paid to the family. That payment is called the Child Support Pass-Through. As of October, the family will get the first $100/month of support that is paid for a family with 1 child, and the first $200/month of support that is paid for a family with 2 or more children. 2. Pays Arrears (Back Support) to Families First, effective 10/1/2008. Currently, after a family moves off of TANF, any back support payments (arrearages) that are collected through the federal Tax Intercept program go first to the government, rather than to the family. Starting October 2008, those payments will first go to the family. 3. Gives Families Back the Rights to their Child Support Arrears. Currently, when a family goes onto TANF, the family must sign over their rights to any back support that is owed to the family from the period before the family went onto welfare. The bill gives families that have left TANF back the rights to any support that is owed from the time period between October 1, 1997 and September 30, 2009, and stops making families sign over their rights to back support effective October 1, 2009. 4. Helps Incarcerated Parents, effective 3/31/2008. The bill allows courts, on a case by case basis, to modify support orders where a parent is incarcerated and does not have financial resources to pay the support order. This makes it more likely that parents will be able to get back on their feet and make support payments when they re-enter the community, by reducing the otherwise crushing support debt many parents face, particularly if their children have been on welfare or in foster care while they were incarcerated. 5. Pays the federally mandated $25 per year child support enforcement program fee for families with less than $2,000 per year of support collected. This fee, which was imposed by the federal government effective 3/31/2008, applies to families that have never received TANF. Thank you for your support for this important legislation--it could not have happened without your help. Please remember to thank Governor Rendell and Welfare Secretary Estelle Richman for spearheading this effort .
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