What We Do

Disability Advocacy Project

Brooklyn A defends the rights and dignity of some of our city's most marginalized people: low-income Brooklyn residents with disabilities. Most of our clients suffer from emotional disorders, including traumatic stress, depression, and extreme anxiety, that stem from personal issues, environmental factors, and poor quality of life. Brooklyn A serves emotionally disabled people living in the borough's most disadvantaged neighborhoods, with limited access to medical care, counseling, education, and decent nutrition.

Our disabled clients desperately need the federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to which they are entitled, but are often denied these benefits and lack the resources to fight back. Brooklyn A's Disability Advocacy Project, led by Victor Torres, has taken on this fight since 1985, winning more than 95 percent of its cases. These victories make a significant difference in our clients' lives, enabling them to obtain the treatment, housing, nutrition, and jobs or income that lead to dignity and self-reliance.

Brooklyn A makes the case for our clients to administrative law judges, using federal regulations and medical journals to convince the courts to do the right thing. We've been able to build this vital work with pro bono assistance from a major law firm, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. The firm's associates have attended in-depth training at Brooklyn A and have successfully handled nearly a dozen cases.

Torres is the first paralegal to head a legal services agency Unit and the first, in 2005, to receive the City Bar Association's Legal Services Award. The project has won wide recognition for its vigorous and innovative advocacy for disability rights.

The significant work of Victor Torres is featured in the March 2005 issue of Disability Law News published by the Greater Upstate Law Project. The article centers on how Victor was able to successfully represent a client that was a victim of identity theft which resulted in incorrect earnings records and jeopardized the client's claim for disability benefits. Click here for a copy of the newsletter featuring the article on pages 1-3. This is Victor's second, consecutive feature in the bi-monthly publication, Disability Law News. Another of his legal victories in securing benefits for a low-income client was also highlighted in the January 2005 issue of Disability Law News, page 15. Click here for a copy of the January newsletter.