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| Legal Hotline Connection |
December 2009
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Referral Attorney Panel: A Wise Adjunct to a Legal Hotline
Robert Carowitz, Senior Attorney, Legal Hotline for Michigan Seniors
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idea of having a panel of attorneys who would accept cases from the Legal  Hotline
for Michigan Seniors arose when the Hotline began in 1990. Hotline founders felt a referral panel would
be important for two reasons.
Importantly, it would be a benefit to Hotline callers who needed the
assistance of a private attorney and were uncertain how to find one. A referral to a Panel Attorney carried with
it the Hotline's "stamp of approval" that the attorney would be competent and appropriate. Additionally, it was felt the arrangement
might provide some revenue to the fledging Hotline if a portion of the fee was
split with the organization.
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Idaho's Lessons Learned from its AoA Model Approaches Grant
James Cook, Deputy Director, Idaho Legal Aid Services
Idaho Legal Aid Services (ILAS) is grateful to have received Model Approaches funding in partnership with the Idaho Commission on Aging (ICOA). The project goal was to create an integrated, statewide, legal services delivery system to target and more efficiently serve larger numbers of seniors. The project included an assessment  of the legal needs of Idaho seniors, review of Idaho's legal services delivery system, and development of a plan to effectively incorporate low-cost mechanisms to address the needs of the senior community. Selected mechanisms included: (1) the re-establishment of a statewide senior legal hotline (Hotline); (2) creation of the nation's first web-based senior legal form library linked to document automation and assembly software; (3) an increase in the number of senior related content on the ILAS website and; (4) greater coordination of services by senior legal service providers. The project has been guided by an Advisory Committee (Committee) with stakeholders from the legal services delivery community and senior service organizations.
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Successes and Lessons Learned from Alabama's Model Approaches Grant
Jaffe Pickett, Supervising Attorney, Alabama Elder Law Helpline
The AOA Model Approaches project has been a huge success. As our grant cycle comes to an end we realize the impact Legal Services Alabama's Elder Helpline has made throughout the state. Through our partnership with the Alabama Department of Senior Services the Helpline has become a major source of legal assistance for seniors in Alabama.
 We have aging partners throughout Alabama who have largely benefited from our services by receiving referrals as well as assistance on handling files and calls they would otherwise have to handle. In this light, the helpline has served as a "filter" of sorts, to offer council and advice, referral and resource information and limited legal assistance to seniors across Alabama. This has greatly expanded the number of extended services our partnering Aging Attorneys can handle.
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Florida's Senior Legal Helpline Honored by State Coalition
Source: LSC Updates Newsletter
Bay Area Legal Services' Senior Legal Helpline has been honored by the Florida Coalition on Aging with its Quality Senior Living Award. The award is presented annually to an individual or organization for actions that improve the lives of the state's older citizens. "We are honored to have been chosen," said B. Maria Carruba-Fuentes, manager of the helpline. "It reflects the hard work of everyone who staffs the helpline." Established in 2005 and funded by the Florida Bar Foundation and the Florida Department of Elder Affairs with a U.S. Administration on Aging Grant, the helpline provides a convenient point of access for Floridians aged 60 and older to receive free legal advice, brief services and referrals for extended legal representation. Learn more about Bay Area Legal Services at www.bals.org.
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National Legal Resource Center Website Launched
The National Legal Resource Center is a collaborative effort developed by the Administration on Aging. Its overall purpose is to provide aging and legal networks with easy access to a coordinated national legal assistance support system in order to strengthen legal assistance/elder rights efforts across the country.
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What a Difference A Hotline Makes
Stories from the Frontline
A caller [to the Kansas Elder Law Advice Line]had purchased a car and believed that false claims were made during the sale. The volunteer Hotline attorney negotiated on her behalf with the dealership to resolve the issues and resolve the problems that could be resolved under the warranty.
The Hotline caller was concerned that her Social Security benefit seemed to low. The [Pro Seniors Legal Hotline for Older Ohioans] Hotline attorney recognized that even though the caller was receiving a government pension, even after imposition of government pension offset the client should have received significantly more money as a widow than the retirement benefits she was receiving. After numerous calls to the Social Security office, the client was issued a past-due benefits check of over $31,000.
The daughter of an 85-year-old woman from western Iowa called the Legal Hotline for Older Iowans because the elderly woman was finding it financially impossible to stay at her home where both she and her children wanted her to stay. The client's only income was $1,200 in Social Security, but her Medicare Supplement policy that paid for most of her prescriptions cost her $700 per month, leaving her with only $500 per month to pay other expenses. The Hotline told the daughter that the elderly woman qualified for a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan and the Extra Help plan which would pay almost all of her prescription bills except for a small co-payment of $3.00-5.00 per month per prescription. By enrolling in the Part D and Extra Help plans, the client could then switch to a lower cost Medicare supplement plan. The Hotline also informed the daughter that the elderly woman was eligible for Iowa's Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program to help her pay her heating bills, a Medicare savings plan which would pay her monthly Medicare premium of $96.40, and Iowa's Elderly Waiver program if she would need some in-home services in the future. As a result of contacting the Hotline, the elderly woman was able to remain in her home.
Keep up the good work!
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This newsletter is produced by the Center for Elder Rights Advocacy, a partner in the National Legal Resource Center. Other partners in this effort to provide support to senior legal programs throughout the nation are National Senior Citizens Law Center ,
National Consumer Law Center , The Center for Social Gerontology , and American Bar Association-Commission on Law and Aging .
For questions, email CERA.
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