Community legal centres across the state fear some of the most vulnerable members of the community could be placed at risk due to funding cuts to a program designed to help them.
The Care Partner program, run out of 12 NSW community legal centres, supports part-time staff to work with Aboriginal women, victims of domestic and family violence, and people with intellectual disabilities.
It costs about $423,000 and reaches about 800 clients a year, but after a recent review, Legal Aid NSW has decided to cut the funding from the end of October.
"Amy", a young Aboriginal woman with a mild intellectual disability, credits the service for helping her to keep her baby after a history of having her children removed by Family and Community Services (FACS).
Three of her older children had been removed by FACS due to domestic violence.
"I failed because I was in a domestic violence relationship and they basically told me you've got to choose either baby or my partner," she said.
Legal advice from her local community centre helped her negotiate with FACS to receive early intervention to help keep her new baby.
"They were great, [they provided] a six-week intervention which was intensive, where they would come and stay [for] 24 hours," she said.
The Women's Legal Service uses the grant for a special telephone advice line one day a week, and a range of outreach and court support activities for women in prison.
Services fear more children will be at risk of being removed or losing contact with their families as a result of the funding cut, the executive officer at the Women's Legal Service, Helen Campbell, said.
"More children will be more unsafe, more children will be losing connection with families and cultures," she said.
"There'll be more distress, homelessness and poverty as an outcome."
Legal Aid NSW and Attorney General Mark Speakman said the program would continue but would now be delivered in-house by Legal Aid.
A spokeswoman from Legal Aid NSW said there had been a decline in demand for early intervention advice and casework assistance.
"Services will not be cut and we expect no one will be disadvantaged by this change," she said.
In its case to Government to continue the service, Community Legal Centres NSW said it would fight the decision.
It said services were needed more than ever — with just 7 per cent of the NSW Government's $2 billion in funding for child protection allocated for early intervention.
