2021-07-15T09:07:01-07:00 2020-09-30 134036703 SCHALL & ASHENFARB CPAS 307 5th Ave 15th Floor NEW YORK NY 10016 990 2019-10-01 133910567 Legal Information for Families Today LEGA 6466139633 32 Court Street Suite 1208 Brooklyn NY 11201 Cathy Cramer CEO 2021-07-15 true Michael Schall P02024184 2122682800 2019 2022-09-23 18:48:47Z Cathy Cramer 32 Court Street Suite 1208 Brooklyn NY 11201 2751605 false X www.LIFTonline.org X 1996 NY Provide legal information & community education & promote reform of the courts and public agencies. 18 18 24 21 0 2435579 2736475 0 102 120 14000 15010 2449681 2751605 0 0 1503943 1798461 0 272852 634421 891878 2138364 2690339 311317 61266 1889533 2239297 118312 403111 1771221 1836186 X Legal Information for Families Today (LIFT) is an award winning non-profit dedicated to empowering unrepresented litigants so that they may successfully self-advocate in the New York Family Courts. false false 573532 Court Consultations: Before the coronavirus emergency, LIFTs Staff Attorneys met privately, in person, with clients at the Citys Family Courthouses. These in-depth Court Consultations enable unrepresented litigants to receive vital support in preparing a case. As explained in our accompanying proposal, consultations now take place over the phone or via LIFTs virtual platform, Family Legal Connection, and the demand for this service remains high. At the start of the year, we had set a goal of 1,700 consultations, including 900 initial consultations and 800 follow-up consultations. We ended the year with a total of more than 1,800 which were about evenly divided between initial and follow-up consultations. 469718 Family Law Information Helplines:Through our Telephone, Email and Live-Chat Helplines, LIFT provides family law information as well as referrals to a wide range of services. We exceeded our goal of serving 14,400 people on the Helplines this year. Given the continuous growth in the number and diversity of Helpline participants, LIFT hired, within the past year, two Program Associates who increase the Helplines capacity to serve non-English-speaking callers. Like our long-serving bilingual (Spanish/English) Associate, both new Associates are fluent in Spanish, while one is also able to communicate in Arabic.Over the past three months, given the ongoing limited access to courthouses, calls to LIFTs Helpline have increased in volume as record numbers of clients seek legal information in a remote capacity. In August, we had 1,821 interactions on the Helplines, which was 200 more than the previous record set last January, and 400 more than August 2019. In addition, the Family Court staff and our other partners are referring parents to LIFTs Helpline more frequently than ever before, serving as a crucial entry point to the array of LIFT services. In turn, demand for our other services is also growing. 352523 Legal Resource Guides (LRGs):This year, we continued our work of expanding LIFTs library of more than 40 original, multilingual LRGs, which cover a wide range of family law topics. We distribute copies of the LRGs at our court- and community-based programs, and digital versions are accessible on our website. LIFT created the additional role of Associate Director of Legal Resources for one of our Staff Attorneys to spearhead development of new LRGs. The success of this initiative resulted in our recent completion of LRGs for specific topics and populations, including active military servicemembers, military veterans, and formerly incarcerated people. In addition, LIFT created a resource handbook for the Orthodox Jewish Community in New York City. The primary contents of the handbook are new materials that we developed with funding provided by the David Berg Foundation. These materials include two new Legal Resource Guideson civil divorce and religious divorceas well as a supplement with special considerations for child support within the Orthodox community. We are translating them into Yiddish. 683070 2078843 true true false true false false false false false false true false false false true true true false false false false false false false false false false false false true false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false true 15 0 true 24 true false false false false false false false 0 false false false false false false false X 18 18 false false false false false false false true true false false true true true true true true true false false NY X X Willie Vega 6466139633 32 Court Street Suite 1208 Brooklyn NY 11201 Cathy Cramer CEO 40.00 0.00 X 176044 0 8319 Rachel D Andron CPO 40.00 0.00 107299 0 28658 Sara E Beinert Deputy Director 40.00 0.00 120498 0 4817 Gabriella Nawi Chair 1.00 0.00 X X 0 0 0 Abigail Sheehan Davis Vice Chair 1.00 0.00 X X 0 0 0 Robert Schiffer Vice Chair 1.00 0.00 X X 0 0 0 Nancy E Hart Secretary 1.00 0.00 X X 0 0 0 Rebecca J Simmons Treasurer 1.00 0.00 X X 0 0 0 Leslie Abbey Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Ellie Becker Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Corey M Chambliss Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Philip H Cohen Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Wendy H Dessy Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Valerie Borden Farkas Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Roy Haynes Jr Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Anna Klein Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Jane Koltsove Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Sheri Cyd Sandler Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 William C Silverman Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Susan Warren Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Lisa Zeiderman Esq CFL Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 403841 41794 3 false true false 0 1503186 1233289 2736475 0 120 120 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Other Income 900099 15010 15010 15010 2751605 15010 120 X 0 0 0 0 192676 163774 9634 19268 0 1276935 1144864 38203 93868 31278 28198 869 2211 189178 168501 6139 14538 108394 96546 3518 8330 0 0 0 0 0 0 510693 186137 245088 79468 0 35012 32941 614 1457 0 0 197801 176181 6419 15201 3516 3131 114 271 0 4988 4444 162 382 0 0 6360 5666 206 488 21895 19503 711 1681 Special Event Expense 31466 31466 Dues and Subscriptions 25919 23087 841 1991 Other expenses 25608 379 25198 31 Telephone and Communications 22510 20049 730 1731 6110 5442 198 470 2690339 2078843 338644 272852 1272388 1361783 159925 173418 344367 530699 0 0 0 0 0 71880 88916 242899 196709 11570 46190 8888 0 0 0 29403 29403 1889533 2239297 105905 121022 36878 229117 12407 16094 118312 403111 X 1737435 1651216 33786 184970 1771221 1836186 1889533 2239297 61266 3699 X false true X true false X 1629216 2037574 2392336 2435579 2736475 11231180 0 0 1629216 2037574 2392336 2435579 2736475 11231180 420059 10811121 103 102 102 102 120 529 0 5270 22688 14000 15010 56968 11288677 0.95770 0.96460 X RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED false false false false false false false false false 46025 false false 46025 false false 19910 19910 188063 141873 46190 34926 34926 46190 Deferred Rent 16094 16094 X 2872451 3699 117147 120846 2751605 2751605 2807486 117147 117147 2690339 2690339 Part X : FIN48 Footnote LIFT does not believe its financial statements include any material, uncertain tax positions. Tax filings for period ending September 30, 2017 and later are subject to examination by applicable taxing authorities. X X X false false false false false false false false false Cathy Cramer CEO 176044 8319 184363 Form 990, Part III, Line 4d: Other Program Services Description OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES 4: Legal Resource Guides (LRGs):This year, we continued our work of expanding LIFTs library of more than 40 original, multilingual LRGs, which cover a wide range of family law topics. We distribute copies of the LRGs at our court- and community-based programs, and digital versions are accessible on our website. LIFT created the additional role of Associate Director of Legal Resources for one of our Staff Attorneys to spearhead development of new LRGs. The success of this initiative resulted in our recent completion of LRGs for specific topics and populations, including active military servicemembers, military veterans, and formerly incarcerated people. In addition, LIFT created a resource handbook for the Orthodox Jewish Community in New York City. The primary contents of the handbook are new materials that we developed with funding provided by the David Berg Foundation. These materials include two new Legal Resource Guideson civil divorce and religious divorceas well as a supplement with special considerations for child support within the Orthodox community. We are translating them into Yiddish. OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES 5: Know-Your-Rights Workshops and Community Outreach:LIFT receives numerous requests to present legal education workshops and clinics at local organizations where family law issues are beyond the scope of their services. OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES 6: Pro Bono Services Form 990, Part VI, Line 11b: Form 990 Review Process Management reviewed a draft of the form 990 with the audit/finance committee and provided edits to the tax preparer. After this process was performed, the form 990 was sent to the full board of directors prior to being filed with the IRS. Form 990, Part VI, Line 12c: Explanation of Monitoring and Enforcement of Conflicts The organization has a board approved conflicts of interest policy. Each board member must fill out an annual declaration stating they had no conflicts or identifying the nature of their interested party transactions. Form 990, Part VI, Line 15a: Compensation Review & Approval Process - CEO, Top Management Each year, the executive committee reviews comparable salaries based on a recognized study and reviews the performance of the executive director to determine if the existing salary falls within these ranges. After a deliberation of this matter, a new proposed salary and benefit package is voted on. The minutes of the board of directors reflect the nature of this process. Form 990, Part VI, Line 19: Other Organization Documents Publicly Available Documents are made available upon request.