Pro Bono Report: Helping Homeless Kids Breathe Easier
After three years of litigation in federal district court in Manhattan, Kramer Levin, working with the Association to Benefit Children, The Legal Aid Society, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, won the settlement of a major class action lawsuit on behalf of homeless children in New York City suffering from asthma. The settlement brought much needed relief, in the form of enhanced notification and improved medical services, to the thousands of homeless children in the City’s shelter system who suffer from asthma. During 2004, the firm continued to monitor compliance with the settlement.
The lawsuit,
Dajour B. v. The City of New York, was filed in March 2000 on behalf of asthmatic children who live, or are applying to live, in New York City homeless shelters. Prompted by studies showing that children in the City shelter system suffer from untreated asthma at an alarming rate, the suit alleged that defendants, the City and State of New York, violated federal and state law by failing effectively to inform plaintiffs that Medicaid benefits are available for asthma and to ensure that Medicaid-eligible children were effectively screened, diagnosed and treated. The 83-point stipulation of settlement provides for sweeping increases in both written and oral outreach designed to inform shelter residents and their children that free screening, diagnosis, and treatment services are available for indigent children with asthma and provides numerous assurances that asthmatic children in the shelter system will get the comprehensive services mandated by Medicaid.
This significant victory for New York City’s poorest children was based largely on the efforts of Kramer Levin partner
David Frankel, special counsel
Marjorie Sheldon, and associates
Parthena Psyllos, Justine Harris, and Susan Hawkins. The Firm devoted nearly 3,000 hours of attorney time to litigating this suit, winning important victories on the merits of the claims and class certification before the City and State were willing to enter into serious settlement negotiations. In approving this significant and comprehensive settlement, U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl praised Kramer Levin’s efforts on behalf of some of the “most vulnerable” New Yorkers.