Dear Friend,
I am just a month into my leadership of Uptown People’s Law Center, and I am in awe of the care and commitment UPLC’s staff take with our clients. One program to note in particular is the Social Security Team’s In-Reach Program, which helps disabled people who will soon be released from prison receive Social Security benefits. This substantially improves the lives of people with disabilities by ensuring they have a stable source of income when they leave prison. UPLC’s team of attorneys, paralegals, and social workers spend countless hours supporting clients as they apply for Social Security—collecting documents, preparing for hearings, and helping clients navigate many various challenges as they wait for benefits. This advocacy is unrelenting, but it is the right thing to do, so that our clients receive the benefits they deserve.
But the Trump Administration’s proposed hollowing out of the Social Security Administration threatens to remove eligible people from Social Security. These actions could upend the stability the In-Reach Program provides to persons with disabilities who are returning to our community, along with millions of other individuals who rely upon it for their daily living. The Social Security Administration is already understaffed. Firing staff, closing most of its regional and field offices, and ending phone access to apply for benefits or make changes, could have catastrophic results for all of our clients. Social Security payments keep them from going hungry or experiencing homelessness. For In-Reach Program clients, their contact with the criminal-legal system already makes them highly vulnerable to housing and economic instability. Experts also predict that people with disabilities will bear the brunt of the cuts, and wait even longer to access benefits. This plan is a cruel and painful attack on people’s lives and well-being.
We at UPLC are committed to preserving and improving the Social Security Administration and protecting people with disabilities from the grave risk of being denied the benefits they need to survive.
In solidarity,
Kate
