Legal Advocacy
Groundbreaking Legal Advocacy for the Poor
Mercy Haven broke new ground by opening MAP, the Mercy Advocacy Program, in 1997, extending legal advocacy as part of a mental health agency. Unlike protections offered by the U.S. legal system for the poor who face criminal charges, there is no constitutional right to counsel for low-income persons facing a civil legal emergency.
Under the direction of MAP founder John Castellano, Esq., Mercy Haven has represented clients who face life-threatening risks such as termination of public assistance, Social Security, disability, Medicaid, and Medicare payments; termination of food stamps; evictions, foreclosures, and termination of utilities. More than 3,200 cases were opened on behalf of residents under MAP from 1997-2023.
Although John Castellano retired from Mercy Haven in 2023, he has continually imparted his knowledge to our staff, empowering them to assist our residents with concerns and continue this service of providing legal advocacy.
In addition to protecting the rights of Mercy Haven’s residents, MAP promoted systemic change benefiting low-income families and individuals throughout New York State. In the class-action suit Graves v. Doar, John Castellano and co-council Peter Volmer and Gene Doyle successfully obtained an increase of over $150 million per year in Food Stamp benefits to New York State for 20,000 group home residents and 95,000 more recipients residing in public or subsidized housing. Read more about this landmark case in the Newsday article “Key Rulings Benefit Mentally Ill” in our blog.
Advocating for Justice and Expanding Legal Protections
In 2011, Mr. Castellano (right) was honored for his pioneering work to extend legal protection to all Long Islanders with the Lawrence Timpa Award for Professional Service by the Suffolk County Human Rights Commission.
In November 2016, the Davis v. Proud and Vilsack class action suit resulted in $815,000 in retroactive Food Stamps being paid to roughly 7,000 people, including approximately $16,460 to Nassau recipients and $33,724 to Suffolk recipients, for a total of $50,184.
Other achievements include three MAP clients who were able to protect their full entitlement to Social Security Disability back payments for a total amount of over $100,000 after qualifying for disability benefits from the Social Security Administration.