Legal Services of the Hudson Valley promotes White Plains resident Rachel Chazin Halperin to Chief Program Officer

Barbara Finkelstein, CEO of Legal Services of the Hudson Valley (LSHV), announced the promotion of Rachel Chazin Halperin, J.D., L.M.S.W., to Chief Program Officer at the $16 million non-profit organization serving the seven counties of the lower and mid-Hudson Valley. Halperin joined LSHV in 2014 as the Deputy Director.

Finkelstein said of Halperin, “Rachel has been an important and trusted member of the leadership team at Legal Services of the Hudson Valley for some time now, and her dedication to the mission and her vision for the organization going forward makes her a perfect fit for this new position.” In this role, she will be responsible for supervising the organization’s eight offices, as well as its special projects, intake unit, and grants initiatives.

Halperin has been working as an advocate for underserved and vulnerable populations for almost 20 years. After graduating from law school, she worked for four years as a staff attorney and then supervising attorney at the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia where she represented victims of domestic violence in family court. In 2004, she became the Legal Director of My Sisters’ Place, the largest domestic violence service provider in Westchester, NY. From 2008 to 2014, Halperin worked at HELP USA as the Executive Director of Domestic Violence Programs – including HELP Haven emergency shelter and HELP ROADS non-residential domestic violence program. While at HELP USA, she started several programs including a Transitional Housing Project, Economic Empowerment Program, and Trauma-Informed Childcare Center.

Halperin received her J.D. from New York University School of Law, her M.S.W. from New York University School of Social Work, and he B.A. in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania. She sits on the Board of Directors of the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Halperin is a resident of White Plains.

She steps into this role as the organization embarks on its 50th Anniversary celebration this year. Founded as Westchester & Putnam Legal Services, today LSHV’s 130 staff members, including more than 85 attorneys, assist poor, low-income, disabled and/or vulnerable individuals and families across the seven counties of the lower and mid-Hudson Valley (Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Rockland, Orange, Ulster and Sullivan). They advocate for and represent people with nowhere else to turn in hearings, negotiations and court proceedings across a wide range of urgent legal issues affecting their basic human needs including: domestic violence, housing emergencies (eviction and foreclosure prevention), disability law (physical, mental and developmental disabilities), children’s law and advocacy, elder law, healthcare, consumer fraud and more. In 2016, LSHV’s staff handled more than 15,500 cases impacting more than 36,000 household members.

For more information about LSHV, please visit its website www.lshv.org.

Picture: Rachel Chazin Halperin