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Funding
Losses Force Senior Legal Aid Program to Suspend Statewide Service
Sacramento Elders Can Still Get Free Help
Staff Writer
DAfter
providing free legal advice to more than 100,000 callers over the
past two decades, the California Senior Legal Hotline has been forced
to suspend most service following the loss of all state and federal
funds for its general statewide program.
“Despite California’s huge elder population, we must turn away almost
all callers from outside of Sacramento County right now,” said the hotline’s
supervising attorney, David L. Mandel. “This is unfortunate, because legal
assistance for seniors is crucial for maintaining their health and safety — sometimes
even their lives. It’s often overlooked in contrast with more prominent
services like nutrition, housing and health care, but it’s not a luxury.
Legal aid is often the key to obtaining and preserving those basic needs.”
Mandel said the program is searching for other possible sources of funding so
it can restore this critically needed service for seniors statewide – for
example, people like “Bill,” 71, who recently contacted the hotline
for help disputing a debt. Like many seniors, he pays his bills on time and desperately
wants to do the right thing – which made him a perfect target for scammers,
who convinced him that he owed them money.
Even though the debts were fabricated, Bill shared his Social Security number
and checking account details over the phone after being hounded for months. This
gave the scammers a green light to withdraw what was “owed” to them
from Bill’s bank account.
Working the phones with patience and persistence, a hotline advocate was able
to figure out what had happened and have Bill’s bank account credited,
his credit reports corrected and his name removed from the debt.
Another client, 85-year-old “Gloria,” signed a contract for a new
$9,000 heating/air conditioning system she didn’t need after being pressured
by a salesman. She had requested an inspection when it felt chilly inside during
an early winter cold spell. A concerned neighbor discovered that all Gloria actually
needed was a new AA battery in her thermostat – and to turn up the temperature
on her water heater for the winter. Fortunately, a hotline advocate got the contract
canceled and helped the woman file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.
A key component of the hotline’s practice has been holistic service. Advocates – including
many retired attorney volunteers – are taught to listen to callers’ questions
and stories, then sensitively ask questions of their own to determine what else
the client might need. For instance, a senior who calls about coverage for prescription
medication might not realize that he or she is eligible for nutrition assistance
and home energy help. Similarly, an elder who inquires about the legal ramifications
of her spouse’s need for care in a skilled nursing facility might be unaware
of support services for caregivers offered at a local senior center. And someone
who calls under pressure from a landlord, a debt collector — or an adult
child seeking access to the senior’s bank account — might not realize
that such scenarios could constitute elder abuse and need to be addressed as
such.
The hotline’s mandate, when previously funded under the federal Older Americans
Act and by the state, was to make extra efforts to reach and to prioritize those
in greatest need – seniors who are low income, disabled, non-English speaking
or isolated – but it was able to advise all callers 60 and over, including,
for instance, those whose incomes are a little too high for traditional legal
aid but who cannot afford private attorneys.
In a recent letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Nan Brasmer, president of the California
Alliance for Retired Americans, described the hotline as “a highly effective
California program that helps seniors solve and prevent a wide variety of problems,
thus saving public money in countless ways.” The letter was endorsed by
a broad list of individuals and organizations involved in advocacy for seniors
statewide.
California residents over 60 can still receive help on a few specific issues
for which the hotline has specific support: pension counseling (any age), foreclosure
advice, reverse mortgage counseling and food stamp assistance.
And Sacramento County seniors can still call the hotline at (916) 551-2140 for
free legal advice on any issue, including food stamps, health care, housing,
debt, elder abuse, estate planning and much more. Special local funding also
supports assistance for elders regarding custody or visitation of grandchildren
or other minors, and mediation of disputes involving at least one senior who
calls for help.
The Senior Legal Hotline’s broad, elder rights mission is to empower California
seniors to remain healthy, independent, productive and in control of their lives – free
from exploitation and abuse and positively engaged with their families and communities.
It pursues this through a highly cost-effective method of providing easy access
by phone and Internet, in concert with local and other statewide partners, targeting
and prioritizing the most economically and socially needy.
For more information, please contact the Senior Legal Hotline’s administrative
number, (916) 551-2145, or e-mail dmandel@lsnc.net. For legal help, call (916)
551-2140 in Sacramento or (800) 222-1753 on the few issues still being handled
statewide. Questions can also be submitted from www.
seniorlegalhotline.org.
This page and its contents ©2010
Metropolitan News Company, Inc.
