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Free Educational Programs
The Community and Intergovernmental Affairs bureau is tasked with educating the public on key issues the Attorney General's Office is working on such as internet safety, ID theft, student lending, Project Sunlight, civil and labor rights, immigration fraud, and a host of other issues of importance. To request a representative from our office to come to your community please call the local regional office or (212) 416-6044 or email communityaffairs@ag.ny.gov.
Attorney General's Programs & Presentations
- Know Your Contractor: Know Your Home Improvement Rights.
- Immigration Services Provider Fraud: Know Your Rights.
- NYOpenGovernment.com: Integrity, Accountability, Reform in Government.
- Student Loans: Safeguarding Your Future - One Student Loan at a Time.
- Internet Safety: Protecting Your Child's D.I.G.I.T.A.L Life.
- Identity Theft: Protecting You from America's Fastest Growing Crime.
- Smart Seniors: Stopping Scam Artists Before They Strike.
- Health Care: Use Your Rights to Access Care or Coverage
Program & Presentation Descriptions
- Know Your Contractor: Know Your Home Improvement Rights.
Home improvement is an exciting prospect. Second to buying our home, embarking upon a home improvement project can be an expensive endeavor and its success depends on careful selection of a reputable contractor.
Unfortunately, over the last two years alone, our office has received complaints from homeowners across the state about unscrupulous contractors who, among other things, accepted money but failed to complete the job or performed work that was shoddy or negligent.
Our office has investigated these many complaints, successfully recovered thousands of dollars in restitution for defrauded New Yorkers, obtained court orders banning unscrupulous contractors from doing business in the state, and in some instances criminally prosecuted fraudulent contractors.
Know Your Contractors: Know Your Rights is an educational program designed to equip you with necessary knowledge to help protect yourself from home improvement scams. The program shows you how to use your rights under New York State's Home Improvement Laws and gives you critical tips to assist you in selecting a reputable contractor.
To request a Know Your Contractors: Know Your Rights presentation in your local area, click here
- Immigration Services Provider Fraud: Know Your Rights.
Our immigrant communities are an important component of the rich cultural fabric of our State. Unfortunately, many immigrants who seek to adjust their immigration status are victimized by fraudulent immigration service providers. The consequences can be devastating.
Immigration Services Fraud: Know Your Rights is a presentation designed to inform immigrant communities about their rights and options under the law as they build a future in New York. The presentation discusses individual cases brought by the office against unscrupulous lawyers or non attorney immigration service providers. It also highlights immigrant rights under the law and provides vital links to external agencies and resources.
- Immigration Services Fraud: Know Your Rights!
[En Español] | Russian | Korean | Urdu | Haitian |Chinese | Polish
To request an Immigration Services Fraud presentation in your area, click here
- Immigration Services Fraud: Know Your Rights!
- NYOpenGovernment.com: Integrity, Accountability, Reform in Government.
NYOpenGovernment.com - www.nyopengovernment.com/NYOG/index.jsp - is a government accountability and transparency web site that gives you unprecedented access to state and local government information. Our goal is to promote disclosure and increase government's transparency and accountability to you. The website was first launched in 2007. Based on the feedback from the public on how to improve and expand the site, an updated version was unveiled in April 2009. The new version has enhanced the site’s status as a one-stop resource for government information.
- Student Loans: Safeguarding Your Future - One Student Loan at a Time.
Our Office's investigation of the $85 billion student loan industry uncovered widespread conflicts of interest and deceptive practices in the student loan industry. During the investigation, the Office developed a Code of Conduct that prohibited these practices and some of the nation's largest lenders and more than twenty-six colleges and universities agreed to abide by it. In 2007, the Code of Conduct was adopted by New York States' legislature in the Student Lending Accountability, Transparency, and Enforcement (SLATE) Act, making New York the first state in the nation to extend protections to students and their families. The principles of SLATE have now been codified by the U.S. Congress and are the law of the land. With the passage of these laws, students rights are protected nationwide, wherever they go to school, whether inside or outside of New York.
Safeguarding Your Future: One Student Loan at a Time is an educational, interactive DVD program that shows you what the investigation found and how the student loan process has been reformed. The DVD is designed to help students and families navigate the financial aid process, minimize borrowing and, to the extent loans are needed, get the best available loans at the best terms.
The DVD includes an educational video, information on how to evaluate various student loan options, and links to credible resources. The program addresses current funding options, discusses ways to compare loans, and find the lowest cost options. Most importantly, students and families can learn how to exercise their student rights to avoid pitfalls in the student loan industry. The DVD is Close-Captioned in Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Russian and Haitian-Creole with descriptions for the hearing and visually impaired.
- Internet Safety: Protecting Your Child's D.I.G.I.T.A.L Life.
While the internet has become a valuable and indispensable tool in our modern lives, children are also using the Internet as an online playground and can be exposed to real dangers. They socialize, post pictures and videos, play video games, and share experiences with friends and friends of friends. Unfortunately, strangers also have access to these conversations, pictures and videos. When our kids are online, they can be exposed to real dangers - among them, pornography, sexual predators, identity theft and cyber bullying. This is why the office has made the online safety of children a priority.
Internet Safety: Protecting Your Child's D.I.G.I.T.A.L Life stems from the work of the office to make online activity safer. The presentation, developed in collaboration with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, educates parents about what their children are doing online and how they can protect them from perils that are unique to online life.
The goal is to inform parents that while the Internet is an amazing educational and communication resource, understanding the dangers lurking in the cyber world can help parents and guardians keep their children safe online.
To request an Internet Safety presentation in your area, click here
- Identity Theft: Protecting You from America's Fastest Growing Crime.
Identity theft - the unlawful use of an individual's personal information - is a crime and its consequences can be devastating. Identity thieves steal information such as your name, social security number, driver's license information, or bank and credit card accounts and use the information to establish credit, make purchases, apply for loans or even seek employment. Victims can spend months, if not years, and thousands of dollars cleaning up their good name, their credit history, and their personal records. This is why it's critical to educate yourself in advance to safeguard your identity and know how to prevent and respond to the crime.
Identity Theft: Protecting You from America's Fastest Growing Crime is an educational presentation designed to help you protect and defend yourself against this crime. The presentation identifies exactly what constitutes identity theft under state and federal law, exposes the different tactics identity thieves use to steal an identity, and provides critical resources to minimize risk of becoming a victim.
- Tips for Protecting Your Privacy: Don't Become a Victim of ID Theft
- ID Theft Kit: What to do if You have been Victimized
- Identity Theft: How to Protect Yourself
To request an Identity Theft presentation in your area, click here
- Smart Seniors: Stopping Scam Artists Before They Strike.
Our Office is committed to bringing to justice those who defraud, exploit and abuse New York's senior citizens. From deceptive prescription drug plans to elder abuse in nursing homes, from phony sweepstakes to bogus charities, from identity theft to internet scams - these crimes not only rob you of your hard-earned savings, but may also jeopardize your health and dignity.
Smart Seniors: Stopping Scam Artists Before They Strike is a presentation tailored to inform seniors of their rights under state law, and lays out steps to take to protect their health and assets. The presentation begins with a discussion about ways to spot common scams that target seniors - by telephone, mail order or the internet. It also addresses ways to access quality health care and protect investments. A discussion of how to ensure your health care wishes are known and honored through Advance Directives is also included.
To request a Smart Seniors presentation in your area, click here.
- Health Care: Use Your Rights to Access Care or Coverage
Few decisions are more important or complex than those involving health care. You may have heard the stories or experienced denials of care or coverage by a health insurance plan. In a time of need where accessing quality care or coverage is critical, where can you turn? The Attorney General has spoken many times about the inability to reach a live person, a "touchtone torture" that people endure when seeking assistance from insurance companies and providers especially when facing a health care crisis.
Health Care: Use Your Rights to Access Care Or Coverage is a presentation designed to inform you about how the Attorney General's Health Care Bureau ensures your health care rights are safeguarded and enforced. You can learn how to challenge denials of care or coverage by health plans, navigate a range of billing and payment problems, obtain benefits through your health plan, understand the limitations inherent in the health care system, or exercise your right to information to make smart health care decisions. The presentation also focuses on how you can utilize the services offered by our health care bureau .The Bureau is dedicated to assisting you with individual healthcare and insurance problems; investigating deceptive business practices; and taking law enforcement actions to address systemic problems in the operation of the healthcare system.
To request a Health Care presentation in your area, click here