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Council to vote on program to provide legal representation in divorces for income‑eligible survivors of domestic and gender‑based violence
Summary
Intro 1175‑a would require the Office to End Domestic and Gender‑Based Violence to create a program offering brief legal help and full legal representation in divorce proceedings for income‑eligible survivors. The council allocated $1.3 million in FY26 for the initiative, sponsors said.
Council Member Julie Menon presented Intro 1175‑a, which would require the Office to End Domestic and Gender‑Based Violence to establish a program providing income‑eligible survivors of domestic and gender‑based violence with both brief legal assistance and full legal representation throughout divorce proceedings.
Menon said the council previously passed a 2021 pilot program but that the administration did not implement it; the fiscal year 2026 budget includes a $1,300,000 allocation to begin the initiative. She described the program as potentially life‑saving for survivors who lack the economic means to obtain counsel and said the women’s caucus strongly supported the measure.
The transcript records Menon’s presentation and the budget allocation cited in her remarks. The record does not include a final vote on Intro 1175‑a in the provided excerpt nor implementation details such as eligibility thresholds or program administration timelines beyond the FY26 budget provision.
