2017-09-05T09:15:53-05:00 2016-12-31 271895149 Heveron & Company CPAs PLLC 260 Plymouth Avenue South Rochester NY 14608 990 2016-01-01 161487925 Empire Justice Center EMPI 5854544060 1 West Main Street No 200 Rochester NY 14614 Anne Erickson President and CEO 5854544060 2017-08-22 1 Brenda Smith P00617844 5852322956 2017-08-22 24.213.221.209 2017-08-22 08:34:35 ED P 1887043C655AEB51BDEA04DC450791E28BCB356F 6AA6B32242871038B14807E6C81E2D12C14E3114 2016 2021-01-29 14:40:06Z Anne Erickson 1 West Main Street No 200 Rochester NY 14614 7198957 0 X www.empirejustice.org X 1995 NY Empire Justice is a statewide organization working to improve civil justice in NY (See Sch.O)The Empire Justice Center is a statewide multi-issue, multi-strategy organization focused on changing the systems within which poor and low income families live. Empire Justice provides legal assistance to those in need, offers training and support to community-based organizations, and works to improve programs and services for those in need. 11 11 94 422 0 0 768792 838908 7206221 6127511 2764 -5238 0 0 7977777 6961181 0 0 0 0 5578883 5526182 0 0 0 2280321 2009818 7859204 7536000 118573 -574819 2959679 2075576 1315028 998729 1644651 1076847 X To protect and strengthen the legal rights of people in New York State who are poor, disabled or disenfranchised through: systems change advocacy, training and support to other advocates and organizations, and high quality direct civil legal representation. 0 0 1029270 1015937 Disability Benefits: Empire Justice contracts with New York State to provide legal assistance to individuals in Western New York who have been inappropriately denied or terminated from federal disability and supplemental security income programs. In 2016, Empire Justice administered a sub-contract with LawNY to provide these regional services. In 2016, 301 cases were closed in the region, generating approximately $377,129 in interim assistance to clients and an additional $1,483,561 in retroactive benefits. In 2016, the Western New York Disability Advocacy Program (DAP) won 68% of cases. Empire Justice also contracts with the state under DAP to provide training, support and technical assistance to local grantees throughout the state. 1587191 1518803 Foreclosure Prevention: In 2016, Empire Justice continued its role as Anchor Partner as designated by the NYS Attorney General in efforts to combat foreclosures in New York. In this role, Empire Justice oversees 54 legal services and housing counseling contracts, oversees data collection and provides statewide training, support and technical assistance to grantees. Empire Justice also provided direct representation to homeowners at risk of foreclosure in the Greater Rochester area. In 2016 assistance was provided to 183 homeowners who were victims of predatory lending and/or who were at risk of foreclosure. The foreclosure prevention work of Empire Justice Center achieved restructuring and refinancing of clients' predatory loans, saving them tens of thousands of dollars over the life of their loans. 683951 676451 Health: Empire Justice provides statewide training and technical assistance to legal services, other community-based organizations and local health center staff on public health programs to help them in determining eligibility for and access to affordable health coverage. As a contractor to provide assistance under health care reform, Empire Justice is part of the Community Health Advocates (CHA) network. In 2016, our staff provided 28 trainings to 928 community based health advocates presenting topics such as "Mandatory Managed Long Term Care," "Behavioral Health in Medicaid Managed Care, and "Medicaid with Medicare: Coordinating Benefits for HIV+ Dual Eligibles." Continued on Schedule OOur attorneys and paralegals also provided substantive technical assistance to 29 CHA member agencies assisting them with complicated legal issues and cases. The New York State Office for the Aging contracts with Empire Justice to provide training and assistance on issues involving Medicare Part D. 3036581 2916320 Crime Victims: Empire Justice partners with the New York State Office of Victim Services, the University at Albany's Center for Human Services Research, and Pro Bono Net on the New York State Crime Victims Legal Network Project, a federally-funded project that brings awareness to the many civil legal needs of crime victims, while also helping victims access civil legal assistance. The Network focuses on the on the 57 counties outside of New York City. In 2016, the partners completed a needs assessment to determine the civil legal needs of crime victims and the availability of those services. Empire Justice Center's Westchester offices also provide civil legal services to victims of crime, serving 353 crime victims in 2016.Other/General: These funds were used to fulfill the core mission of Empire Justice Center and to provide services in such areas as Domestic Violence, public benefits and immigration; to provide services on Long Island through the Public Advocacy Center; and to support the Hanna S. Cohn Equal Justice Fellowship. In providing these programs and services, in calendar year 2016, the organization offered 149 training events, issuing 687 Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits and reaching over 6,853 participants. Training topics included: "Welcoming Practices for Transgender DV Clients," "SSDI Maximizing Benefits for Homeowners," "Serving the Trans Community: A Skills Based Approach for Direct Legal Services," "Returning to Work with HIV - Effect on Government Benefits," "Representing Victims of Domestic Violence in Family Court." The Empire Justice website, with a vast array of legal resources, experienced 162,568 unique visitors who viewed 6,884,906 pages of material during 214,731 visits. Empire Justice staff closed 2,002 direct service cases during 2016, directly benefiting 3,817 people. This work resulted in over $19.8 million in client benefits. 3036581 2916320 6336993 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 22 0 1 94 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 X 11 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 NY X X The Organization 5854544060 1 West Main Street No 200 Rochester NY 14614 Edward F Premo II Chair 0.50 X X 0 0 0 Lynn Levey Member 0.50 X 0 0 0 JoAnn Smith Vice Chair 1.00 X X 0 0 0 Sara Valencia Secretary 0.50 X X 0 0 0 Michael T Harren Treasurer 1.00 X X 0 0 0 Deborah P Amory Member 1.00 X 0 0 0 Odette Belton Member 0.50 X 0 0 0 Jim Rahmlow Member 0.50 X 0 0 0 Nancy Engelhardt Member 0.50 X 0 0 0 L Theresa Macon Member 0.50 X 0 0 0 Raymond Brescia Member 1.00 X 0 0 0 Anne Erickson President and CEO 35.00 X 134977 0 11906 Lori K McCormick Chief Financial Officer 35.00 X 49152 0 0 Bryan Hetherington Chief Counsel 35.00 X 133605 0 11928 317734 0 23834 2 0 0 0 Legal Assistance of Western New York One West Main Street Suite 400 Rochester NY 14614 Legal Services 288914 NeighborWorks America 1325 G Street NW Suite 800 Washington DC 20005 Housing Counseling Training 174421 The Legal Aid Society of Rochester One West Main Street Suite 800 Rochester NY 14614 Legal Services 103046 3 190000 115055 533853 3294 838908 Foreclosure Prevention 541100 1518803 1518803 Disability Benefits 541100 1015937 1015937 Health HIV/AIDS 541100 676451 676451 Attorney Fees 541100 453012 453012 Public Benefits 541100 174034 174034 2289274 2289274 6127511 2538 2538 230000 237776 -7776 -7776 -7776 6961181 6127511 0 -5238 X 196035 73441 122594 4294178 3671808 622370 710065 596879 113186 325904 272123 53781 36150 36150 24451 24451 844399 773412 70987 260323 227243 33080 97043 85533 11510 369809 308783 61026 196752 172551 24201 14098 11772 2326 40034 40034 Litigation Costs 7401 7401 119358 96013 23345 7536000 6336993 1199007 0 150 150 56269 58056 2028432 1703540 315969 135631 186958 93049 436604 372637 78064 63967 247635 17125 46202 4058 2959679 2075576 756055 617564 42738 15074 46235 4091 470000 362000 1315028 998729 X 1336904 785287 307747 291560 1644651 1076847 2959679 2075576 -574819 7015 0 X 0 1 X 1 0 X 752378 762885 786959 768792 838908 3909922 752378 762885 786959 768792 838908 3909922 710518 3199404 1095 5810 11200 8930 2538 29573 3939495 29782661 0.81210 0.78730 X RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED 127 5750 5877 7530123 7536000 526800 131700 0 0 472012 493238 542907 526800 2034957 3052436 83819 14053 11641 5877 115390 118003 123310 135727 131700 508740 763110 5667 335 1594 127 7723 0 1 X 80840 35055 45785 311619 293437 18182 44145 44145 0 63967 6968196 7015 7015 6961181 0 6961181 7536000 0 7536000 0 7536000 Part IV, Line 2b: Client escrow funds are held in a separate, interest-bearing checking account. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, line 11b The Form 990 shall be reviewed by the Executive Director and Treasurer and then presented to all Board members either electronically or by paper copy prior to its signing and subsequent filing with the IRS. At the next Board meeting, the Treasurer and tax preparer, if appropriate, will review the Form 990 with the Board. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, line 12c On an annual basis, the CEO or her designee maintains conflict of interest declarations for all members of the board. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, line 15 The Board of Directors acting as a whole will have the responsibility to set CEO compensation and conduct an annual review of CEO performance. It will set compensation in a manner consistent with the requirements of section 4953 of the Internal Revenue Code: including: an independent compensation setting process; which is based on reliable information; with contemporaneous documentation; and that seeks to provide compensation that is reasonable compared to the compensation provided to CEO's providing like services, in similar organizations, under similiar circumstances. In setting CEO compensation the Board will periodically (no less than every three years) obtain and review information on compensation in comparable organizations. In the intervening years the board may rely on the last previous data collection and trend it forward to the current year. The process for determining compensation of the organization's officers or key employees includes the use of comparability data as well. Form 990, Part VI, Section C, line 19 The Form 1023 application which was forwarded to the IRS and Form 990 for the previous three years shall be available for inspection by the public during normal office hours. The names and addresses of contributors on Schedule B shall be redacted in the Form 990's that are made available to the public. If someone from the public requests a copy of a Form 990, they shall be referred to www.guidestar.com where the Treasurer has confirmed it to be widely distributed. Otherwise, copies will be provided for a fee of $1.00 per page plus postage, if any. Other corporate documents, such as bylaws, minutes, financials and policies and procedures shall be maintained as internal documents and shall not be made available to the general public, unless for a business reason as determined by the Chief Executive Officer and approved by the Board of Directors. Form 990, Part IX, line 11g Subcontracted Legal Services: Program service expenses 490,122. Management and general expenses 0. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 490,122. Other: Program service expenses 74,869. Management and general expenses 70,987. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 145,856. Healthcare Policy Education: Program service expenses 34,000. Management and general expenses 0. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 34,000. Housing Counseling Training: Program service expenses 174,421. Management and general expenses 0. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 174,421.