Legal Hotline Connection December 2013 In This Issue A Brief History of Senior Legal Hotlines Table: Statewide Senior Legal Helplines Funding Capturing Senior Legal Hotline Elder Abuse Data by Shoshanna Ehrlich History by Tom Bedall page 2 page 5 page 9 Congratulations to the NASLH Ellie Lanier Scholarship Recipients Model Approaches Mini-Profiles by Shoshanna Ehrlich Tech Tips for Hotlines II by Kari Deming page 11 page 12 page 18
THE CENTER FOR ELDER RIGHTS ADVOCACY The newsletter is produced by Elder Law of Michigan s Center for Elder Rights Advocacy. It is a partner in the National Legal Resource Center. For more information about CERA, visit ww.legalhotlines.org. For more about the NLRC and to access its many resources, visit www.nlrc.aoa.gov. Staff at the Center for Elder Rights Advocacy: Keith Morris, Project Director Shoshanna Ehrlich, Project Specialist Kari Deming, Project Specialist Annalise Stromsta, Project Specialist This document was supported, in part, by a grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Community Living Administration on Aging (AoA). Grantees undertaking projects under government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official AoA policy. page 1
a brief history of senior legal hotlines by Shoshanna Ehrlich The Senior Legal Hotlines movement began in 1985 as partnership between AoA and the AARP Foundation, when, with a grant from the AoA, AARP launched the first statewide senior legal hotline as a pilot project to test the feasibility of increasing access to legal services for Pennsylvania residents age 60 and older by providing legal advice by telephone. The Legal Hotline for Older Americans in Pittsburgh was based on the stand alone model the statewide senior legal hotline was operated by an organization that was not part of a legal services program offering extended representation. The original Pennsylvania hotline tested the basic concept that has spread to more than half the states and defined the services to be provided by a legal hotline. Residents age 60 and older could call a toll-free number. Experienced attorneys with special training in elder law answered eligible callers legal questions, provided advice to resolve callers problems, counseled clients on courses of action, and provided some brief services. If the caller needed representation, he was referred to an appropriate resource, including OAA Title IIIB legal service providers, Legal Services Corporation-funded programs, reduced-fee private attorneys, pro bono attorneys or the private bar. The success of the Pennsylvania legal hotline in the mid-1980 s, with high numbers of clients served, high rates of client satisfaction, and extremely efficient costs per case, convinced both AARP and AoA that the model had enormous potential for providing quality legal services to large numbers of seniors at low-cost. In order for other organizations to successfully replicate, adapt, and maintain the quality standards of the model, they would need a thorough understanding of program design, case-handling procedures, and quality control methods. Consequently, AARP and AoA agreed to cooperate in disseminating this information through a Technical Support Project, funded through Title IV. AARP Foundation operated the technical support project through 2008. In 2009, the Center for Elder Rights Advocacy at Elder Law of Michigan was awarded the role of Legal Hotline Technical Assistance provider through the National Legal Resource Center funded by AoA. In 1987, AARP piloted another version of the senior legal hotline. It launched a legal hotline as the advice and intake unit for AARP Legal Counsel for the Elderly s (LCE) law office which serves the over-60 population of Washington, D.C. LCE is the District s Title IIIB legal provider. Through this model, clients needing only legal advice can be assisted quickly by the Hotline attorney. Clients needing further legal representation with cases appropriate for LCE are referred to a staff attorney after analysis by the hotline attorney, thus streamlining their intake into the full-service program and relieving LCE staff attorneys of intake, advice and analysis duties on cases not appropriate for representation. In 1989, AARP Foundation donated seed money to ProSeniors in OH, Legal Services of Greater Miami in FL, The Texas Legal Services Center, and Elder Law of Michigan to start statewide senior legal hotlines. AARP Foundation direct funding for the operation of legal hotlines ended in 1994, with the exception of the original page 2
PA hotline which continued to receive AARP Foundation funding through 2004. The Legal Hotline for Older Floridians at LSGMI in Florida and the Legal Hotline for Older Americans in PA closed soon after the AARP funding ended. New statewide senior legal hotlines in FL and PA were established with AoA Title IV funding. Between 1991-2006, AoA published Requests for Proposals for Statewide Senior Legal Hotlines. These grants were usually for three years and went directly to the legal service providers. The Title IV grants led to the creation of statewide senior legal hotlines in CA, CT, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, KS, KY, MD, ME, NE, NM, PA, PR, SC, WA, and WV. Several statewide hotlines opened with the Title IV hotline funding but closed when they were unable to get funding to continue operations. (AZ, IN, MS, NH, NY, SC, TN). Thanks in large part to the pioneering efforts of the senior legal hotlines, in 1996 the Legal Services Corporation recommended its programs adopt a telephone intake and advice model. In partnership with the Legal Hotlines Technical Assistance Project, the American Bar Association promulgated and adopted Rules for the Operation of a Telephone Legal Hotline in 2002. In 2006, AoA redesigned the Title IV funding and announced the Model Approaches to Statewide Legal Assistance Cooperative Agreements Request for Proposals. The goal of Model approaches was to create integrated legal services delivery systems for seniors within the state, under the leadership of the Legal Assistance Developer, which would include low cost legal services delivery mechanisms. Low cost mechanisms included hotlines, law school clinics, pro bono assistance, and whatever other innovations the participants developed. Model Approaches funding in 2006 was first afforded only to the state unit housing the Legal Assistance Developer. The RFP was later adjusted to allow applicants to be either the state unit or the legal services provider and AoA funded additional cycles of Model Approaches in 2007, 2009, and 2010. MA funding was used to open statewide senior legal hotlines in AL, DE, MA, NC, NV, RI, UT, and VT. The AL hotline had to close after funding ended after the MA three year cycle. MA funding has also helped hotlines established before the inception of the MA project to continue or enhance their operations. These include CT, DC, FL, KY, MD, ME, MI, ND, NE, OH, PA, and WV. Several of the MA recipient states did not use their MA funding to create or support legal hotlines. (AK, VA, LA, MO, SC) There are currently 30 statewide senior legal hotlines including Puerto Rico and D.C. Eight of these are receiving Model Approaches funding through the 2013 awards. In 2013, AoA bifurcated the Model Approaches program into Phase I and Phase II categories. The funding is for a three year cycle and all awardees will be on the same cycle so that no new funding for Model Approaches is contemplated at this time until the three year cycle ends. Phase I states were those that had never received a Model Approaches award. This funding could be awarded to either the agency housing the Legal Assistance Developer or an organization proposing to operate a senior legal helpline. Four states received the Phase I awards: WA, OR, MT, and OK. In Washington, the Northwest Justice Project, in partnership with the Legal page 3
Assistance Developer, proposed the Project. NWJ Project has operated a statewide senior legal hotline CLEAR*Sr - since 1998. The state units housing the Legal Assistance Developer in OR, MT, and OK were the recipients of their states MA awards. OR does not contemplate establishing a legal hotline. (See page 12 for a description of plans for 2013 MA projects). Through their Legal Services Developer programs, the MT and OK have some telephone advice services in place. The MA awards will hopefully serve to integrate these services with their states legal providers. Phase II awards were made to the state unit housing the Legal Assistance Developer. Competition was open to any state that had been a recipient of a previous Model Approaches award. Between $75,000 and $85,000 per year of the 2013 cycle awards have to be used to operate a senior legal helpline. Seven established hotlines will be able to resume, continue, or expand operations with these funds: CA, DC, IA, ID, ME, MI, NE. The Model Approaches project has certainly been successful in utilizing the leadership of the Legal Assistance Developer to promote the integration of states legal services and aging network but the dilemma of securing ongoing funding for the statewide senior legal hotlines remains. Upcoming Webinars Elderlaw & Ethics: Multi-representation January 16 2014, 2:00-3:00 EST REGISTER HERE This webinar will present steps for attorneys to follow when asked to represent more than one client in an issue. It will explore representing couples as well as members of the same family. It will NOT discuss class action representation. Participants will be given resources to analyze these issues, and the presenter will examine examples by using a step-by-step process. Handling Subsidized Housing Issues on a Legal Hotline January 23 2014, 2:00-3:00 EST REGISTER HERE Low income, housing, and senior legal hotlines receive frequent calls from tenants with issues about their subsidized or public housing. This webinar is targeted to legal hotline advocates and managers and will provide guidance on how they can handle specific housing issues. The panelists will provide some background on subsidized housing law and focus specifically on issues hotline managers have identified as hot. The panelists will describe what steps the hotline advocate can take when the client calls about bedbugs, problems with unauthorized tenants,criminal activity, and situations where the tenant requires reasonable accommodation to be able to reside in the housing environment. Don t miss the wealth of experience our panelists have to share to help your advocates help your hotline clients. page 4
statewide senior legal helplines funding history State Program Funding History Information (AL) Closed Elder Law Helpline closed 2009 Alabama Legal Services AoA Title IV MA 2006 AL Elder Law Helpline started with AoA MA funds in 2007. Closed in 2009 after MA funds ended. (AZ) Closed AZ Elder Law Hotline closed 2008 Southern Arizona Legal Aid Title IV Senior Legal Hotline funding 1991 Senior legal hotline was started with AoA Title IV Legal Hotline grant in 1991. Senior Hotline closed in 2008 for lack of funds. CA* CA Senior Legal Hotline Legal Services of Northern California Title IV Legal Hotline or Legal Assistance funding: 1991, 1998, 2001, 2003 MA 2009, MA 2013 The CA Senior Legal Hotline was started in 1991 with AoA Title IV Legal Hotline grant to serve Northern California. Later Title IV grants allowed the hotline to expand statewide. The hotline operator, Legal Services of Northern California, is an Area Title IIIB Legal Provider; the hotline closed general legal hotline statewide operation in 2010. The 2009 MA grant was used for planning and collaboration activities. The hotline continued to operate in Sacramento area only. The hotline continued to operate statewide for pension and foreclosure counseling. With the 2013 MA funding, the hotline is projected to go statewide again in 2014. CT Consumer Law Project for Elders Connecticut Legal Services 2003, 2005, MA 2007 The senior consumer hotline started in 2003 with a Title IV Legal Assistance grant. The hotline operator, Connecticut Legal Services, is the IIIB Legal Provider for most of the state. DC* Legal Hotline for the Elderly; AARP Legal Counsel for the Elderly Hotline Title IV 2001 MA 2010 Started in 1987 as a partnership with AoA and AARP Foundation. It was launched as a pilot of the legal hotline intake to full service model. LCE is the District Title IIIB Provider. DE Delaware Senior Hotline Delaware Volunteer Lawyer Services MA 2010 Hotline anticipated to open Fall 2011 The hotline opened in 2011. DVLS is neither the Title IIIB nor LSC provider. FL FL Senior Legal Helpline Bay Area Legal Services Title IV 2005 MA 2007 Legal Hotline started in 2005 with Title IV legal assistance grant. Operator: Bar Area Legal Services is the Area Title IIIB Provider. Prior hotline: Legal Hotline for Older Floridians at Legal Services of Greater Miami operated from 1989-1999, with AARP funding. It closed when it could not secure Title IV or other funding GA GA Senior Legal Hotline Atlanta Legal Aid Society Title IV 1997, 2000 MA 2010 Started operations with 1997 with Title IV legal hotlines grant. Operator: Atlanta Legal Aid Society is an Area Title IIIB Legal Provider. HI Senior Legal Hotline Legal Aid Society of Hawaii Title IV 1995, 2000 Hotline started in 1995 with Title IV legal hotline grant. Legal Aid Society of Hawaii is the Title IIIB Provider for several Areas. IA* Legal Hotline for Older Iowans Iowa Legal Aid Title IV 1997, 2000, MA 2006, 2013 Hotline started in 1997 with Title IV Legal Hotline grant. Iowa Legal Aid is the Title IIIB provider for most of Iowa s AAAs. ID* ID Senior legal Hotline Idaho Legal Aid Services Title IV 2002 MA 2006, 2013 Hotline started in 2002 with a Title IV legal hotline grant. The operator, Idaho Legal Aid, is the Statewide Title IIIB Provider December 2013, * Indicate current MA partner page 5
statewide senior legal helplines funding history cont d State Program Funding History Information (IN) closed Senior Legal Hotline Indiana Legal Services - closed 2003 Title IV 2000 The hotline was started with a Title IV legal hotline grant. It closed in 2003 when ILS was not successful in winning another round of Title IV funds. KS KY (LA) closed MA Elder Law AdviceLine Kansas Legal Services Legal HelpLine for Older Kentuckians Access to Justice Foundation Title IV 1995 Title IV 1998, 2001, 2002, MA 2007 The hotline was started with an AoA Title IV legal hotlines grant. It is one of the only statewide senior hotlines that relies primarily on pro bono attorney staffing. Kansas Legal Services is the Statewide Title IIIB Provider; The hotline was opened with a Title IV legal hotlines grant. The hotline operator, Access to Justice Foundation, is not a Title IIIB or LSC provider. Louisiana Civil Justice Center MA 2009 Senior helpline opened in 2011 to do senior intake for LSC/Title III providers but closed soon thereafter when thereafter when the collaborations were discontinued. MA Senior Legal Helpline operated by Legal Advocacy and Resource Center (Eastern area) and Mass Justice Project ( western part of state) MA 2010 Opened in 2011 with MA funding. LARC and MJP are not a Title IIIB provider. This is the only statewide senior hotline that is jointly operated by two programs. MD MD Senior Legal Helpline Maryland Legal Aid Bureau Title IV 1999, 2002 MA 2006 The hotline started in 1999 with a Title IV legal hotlines grant. The operator, Legal Aid Bureau, is the Title IIIB Legal Provider for several state AAAs. ME* Maine Legal Services for the Elderly Helpline Title IV 1991, 1995, 1998, 2002, MA 2009, 2013 The hotline started in 1991 with an AoA Title IV Legal Hotlines grant. The operator, Maine Legal Services for the Elderly is the Statewide Title IIIB Provider. MI* Legal Hotline for Michigan Seniors Elder Law of Michigan, Inc. 1995, 1999, 2002, 2005 MA 2007, 2013 Launched in 1990 with funding from AARP. The operator, Elder Law of Michigan, is not a Title IIIB provider. MO I&R line (MS) Closed Missouri Senior Legal HelpLine (I&R only) Department of Health and Senior Services The Senior Legal Hotline Southeast Mississippi Legal Services MA 2009 MA 2009 award was for I&R legal issue spotting and online legal helpline. No services meeting definition of legal hotline/helpline is provides 1997 Hotline started with Title IV legal hotline grant. Ceased operation in 2003; the operator merged into Mississippi Legal Services. MT* planned NC ND NE* MA 2013 planning for integration of a senior hotline Senior Legal Helpline Legal Aid of North Carolina Senior Legal Hotline at Legal Services of ND Elder AccessLine Legal Aid of Nebraska MA 2013 MA 2009 MA 2006 Title IV 2005 MA 2007, 2013 Legal Services Developer Program and Montana Legal Services Assn operate telephone provide some telephone info and advice. MA project will hopefully create some coordinated hotline Hotline started with Title IV MA award. LANC is the Title IIIB provider for large part of state. Hotline started in 2004 with Title IIIB funds. Operator is the Statewide Title IIIB Legal Provider. Hotline started with Title IV Legal Assistance grant. The operator is the Title IIIB provider for a large portion of the state December 2013, * Indicate current MA partner page 6
statewide senior legal helplines funding history cont d State Program Funding History Information (NH) closed NM NV (NY) Closed The Senior Citizens Law Project Advice Line New Hampshire Legal Aid (Closed) NM Legal Referral for the Elder Program New Mexico Bar Foundation Nevada Legal Services Senior Legal Helpline Legal Service for the Elderly New York Seniors Legal Assistance Project Title IV 1998, 2003 MA 2007 Title IV 1991 MA 2007 Title IV 2005 The Advice Line was started with Title IV legal hotline grant. The operator, New Hampshire Legal Assistance, is the Statewide Title IIIB Provider. Closed for lack of funding in 2011 Senior hotline started in 1991 with Title IV hotline grant. It is the only senior hotline housed at the state Bar; LREP is Title IIIB Provider for all of NM except Albuquerque. Hotline started with Title IV MA award; Operator is Title IIIB provider in large part of state Hotline started in 2005 with Title IV Legal Assistance grant. Ceased taking statewide calls in 2006. Legal Services for the Elderly at New York City Legal Services is an Area Title IIIB Provider. OH ProSeniors Legal Hotline MA 2009 Launched in 1990 with AARP funding. The operator, ProSeniors, is an Area Title IIIB Provider. OK* planned PA PR RI (SC) Closed SD (TN) closed TX 2013 MA planning for integration of senior helpline The Pennsylvania SeniorLAW Helpline SeniorLAW Center Puerto Rico Centralized Intake System: Puerto Rico Legal Services Rhode Island Legal Services and the Point Call Line Senior Legal Hotline South Carolina Legal Services Senior Legal Helpline University of South Dakota School of Law The Tennessee Elder Law Hotline Legal Aid of Eastern Tennessee Legal Hotline for Texans Texas Legal Services Center MA 2013 Title IV 2005 MA 2007 Title IV 1993 MA 2009 2002, MA 2009 No Title IV funding Title IV 1998 MA 2010 MT Dept. of Health and Human Services Legal Services Developer program and Legal Aid Services of OK both operated telephone services which will hopefully be integrated. The Helpline at PA SeniorLAW Center was started in 2004 with AARP funds. The Helpline operator, Philadelphia SeniorLaw Center is an Area Title IIIB Provider. The Legal Hotline for Older Americans in Pittsburgh was the original statewide senior model and operated from 1985-2003 with AARP Foundation funding. The Island-wide senior hotline was started with a Title IV legal hotline grant. PR Legal Services is the Island-wide Title IIIB provider. The senior hotline was incorporated into the centralized intake system. Hotline started in 2010 with Title IV MA award. RILS is statewide Title IIIB and LSC provider. The Point call line began sending calls to RILS 2010 The senior hotline was started in 2002 with Title IV hotline grant. Operator, South Carolina Legal Services, is the statewide Title IIIB provider for several Areas. SCLS ceased being an MA partner in 2010; hotline is now mainly screening for SCLS intake and provides advice letters for income eligible callers Operated by University Law School Clinic not a Title IIIB provider Started with Title IV hotline grant in 1998. Closed in 2002 when for lack of funding. Started in 1989 with funds from AARP. The operator, Texas Legal Services Center, receives Title IIIB funds to provide legal support for the Benefits Counseling Network within the local area agencies on aging. December 2013, * Indicate current MA partner page 7
statewide senior legal helplines funding history cont d State Program Funding History Information UT Utah Senior Legal Helpline Utah Legal Services MA 2009 Helpline opened 2010 with Title IV MA award. ULS is Title IIIB for most of the state VT Senior Citizens Law Project Consumer Law Hotline Vermont Legal Aid Title IV 2005, MA 2009 Operator is the Title IIIB provider in most of Vermont s AAAs. Title IV grant in 2005 used to enhance Senior Citizens Law Project. Phone advice provided by SCLP staff attorneys, not separate hotline unit. Consumer Law Hotline launched in 2010 with MA award. WA* CLEAR*Sr, (Coordinated Legal Education, Advice and Referral for Seniors) Northwest Justice Project Title IV 1997, 2000, 2003. MA 2013 Senior hotline started in 1997 with Title IV hotline grant. Operator, Northwest Justice Project, is the Title IIIB Provider for several of the state s AAAs. WV Senior Legal Hotline West Virginia Senior Legal Aid 1998 MA 2010 Hotline started in 1996 as Statewide Title IIIB provider (WY) closed Wyoming Senior Legal Hotline Wyoming Legal Services closed 2008 No Title IV or MA funding Statewide Title IIIB Provider lost its LSC contract and was dissolved in 2008. No current senior legal hotline at new LSC provider, Wyoming Legal Aid. December 2013, * Indicate current MA partner page 8
capturing senior legal hotline elder abuse data Domestic and financial abuse data had been captured by Pro Seniors Senior Legal Hotline ever since its inception in 1990. However, the expanded scope of elder abuse data collection requested for 2010 by the Senior Legal Helplines/ Hotlines Report to the AoA required us to take a much more systemic approach to gathering such data, as described below. The first abuse data request asked that victims of financial exploitation be divided into two groups, the number of clients who were financially exploited by family members or relatives and those who were victimized by non-family members or non-relatives. In response, as suggested, we began capturing abuse data under the following legal problem codes: by Tom Bedall Code #37 - Domestic Violence Code #39 - Other Family (Financial Exploitation by Family/Relatives) Code #89 - Other Individual Rights (Financial Exploitation by Non-Family/Non-Relatives) For calendar year 2011, the AoA Report abuse data collection expanded to six data points: financial abuse, physical abuse and neglect by either a family or non-family member. The easy solution was to expand our Pika special problem codes, a.k.a. sub-problem codes, for problem code 37 to include abuse and neglect by non-family members, which we did. However, we quickly realized that we needed a more systemic method of capturing elder abuse across all legal problem codes. Prior to AoA Report abuse data collection, we typically used legal problem code 37 Domestic Abuse to tag elder abuse cases, and calculated the number of abuse cases by totaling the number of legal problem code 37 cases. We soon realized we were too limited in our data collection. Just as abuse is not always perpetrated domestically (37 Domestic Abuse), it is often present in cases where abuse is not the primary legal problem. For instance, the most frequent reason for nursing facility discharge is failure-topay caused by either the Medicaid application not being submitted or if submitted and approved, nursing facility payment is denied due to an improper transfer of assets. In either case, the common theme is an uncooperative relative keeping the client s money or refusing to sell the client s house because the relative is living in it. In both scenarios, the primary legal problem presented is 51 Medicaid. Anecdotally, we knew that elder abuse was present in any number of non-legal problem code 37 cases, but it was the Senior Legal Helplines/Hotlines expanded abuse data collection that forced us to look for a systemic solution. Thus we decided that the abuse component of a case could not be exclusively captured by a problem code or even a special problem code, as every possible problem code could have an abuse component. Though we are always reluctant to require intake staff or hotline attorneys take the time to capture more data, we realized we had no choice but to add a drop-down to our Pika case management system (CMS) case closing screen. By putting the AoA Report s six abuse data points financial abuse, physical abuse and page 9
neglect by either a family or non-family member into a dropdown menu, only two mouse clicks were required, one click to drop the menu and one click to choose the menu item. None [default] Fin. Exploitation by Family Member Fin. Exploitation by Non-Family Member Neglect by Family Member Neglect by Non-Family Member Abuse by Family Member Abuse by Non-Family Member As a safety check we also required a few words describing the abuse in a text box so management could review the abuse facts for definitional correctness without having to peruse the case notes. A brief statement, such as FPOA took money or Son verbally abusive and threatening, was sufficient. The last component of accurate data collection is a common understanding of what meets the definition of abuse. The standard definition is met when a person has been hurt mentally, emotionally, financially or physically. Whether the client has been hurt by another can be subjective and for our purposes must be selfreported. If the client considers the behavior abusive, then we count it as such so long as it passes a basic reasonableness test. Probably the most prevalent financial abuse is a relative s breach of fiduciary duty under a FPOA. Although non-domestic financial abuses such as fraud, theft or scams are easy to spot, there are cases that are harder to categorize. In the supplier-consumer area, we decided that Ohio s Consumer Sales Practices Act definitions of deceptive and unconscionable transactions also met the definition of financial abuse. Systemically capturing elder abuse data for the AoA Report was an eye-opener for Pro Seniors. Even though we knew our legal problem codes were not capturing all cases involving abuse, we were surprised by the sheer number of cases involving some form of abuse. After taking the more comprehensive approach described above, we found that 57% of our cases that had an abuse component were not being captured by our prior data collection method. This proved to us the value and necessity of adding new fields to our CMS. As funding and reporting requirements change, so must the data captured by our CMS. It must be dynamic. Every new funding request we consider includes the funder s reporting requirements, which takes into account the new data points to be captured including the cost to add them to the CMS and the staff time for data entry. All programs must have the ability, either internally or through an outside vendor, to modify the CMS to meet new reporting requirements. The same policy applies to reporting data from the CMS. Static hard-coded CMS reports can be useful, but may not meet the needs of a new funder. Once you have used a dynamic change-on-the-fly dedicated reporting application like Crystal Reports (Crystal Reports 2011, $55 at Techsoup.org), I guarantee you will never return to the CMS built-in report writer. Plus, Crystal Reports opens new dimensions for reporting, like including census data and formulas that compare percent of minority clients served to percent of minority elderly in your service area.capturing and reporting new data is always challenging, but having the talent and systems in place to accomplish it easily reduces the stress and routinizes the process that will definitely be repeated in the future. page 10
NASLH ellie lanier scholarship recipients Robert F. Miller I want to thank NASLH for awarding me this year s Ellie Lanier Scholarship, which enabled me to attend the November NALI conference in Washington, D.C. I graduated from Rutgers College in 1989, and from Rutgers Law School in 1992. I was first admitted to practice in 1992, as a member of the New Jersey and Pennsylvania bars. After a judicial clerkship and a few years in private practice, I began my nonprofit legal services career in 1999 with the Community Health Law Project in Trenton, New Jersey, where we specialized in representing people with disabilities and the frail elderly. I was admitted to practice in Washington State in 2007, and joined the Northwest Justice Project in February 2008, after my family moved to the Seattle area. My work with NJP focuses on seniors over age 60, through our CLEAR Senior service. CLEAR stands for Coordinated Legal Education Advice and Referral. NJP operates a CLEAR line for traditional indigent client populations, plus lines devoted to serve Spanish-speaking populations, and victims of domestic violence. CLEAR attorneys provide a wide range of services including advice, advocacy assistance such as negotiating with adverse parties, drafting of pleadings, and other tasks short of extended representation. Our work on CLEAR Senior follows this model as well. CLEAR Senior is unique in that we are able to assist both indigent seniors and seniors who exceed the traditional income and asset limitations of our under-60 client population. This flexibility allows us to fill the gap for seniors on fixed incomes who both cannot afford a private attorney and who do not qualify for traditional indigent legal services. I am happy to report that Meredith Childers, who & Wendy Bookler had served on CLEAR Senior for many years in the past, recently rejoined CLEAR Senior after working on NJP s foreclosure service. Meredith s return is thanks to a grant we recently received from the federal Administration on Aging. - Robert F. Miller The second NASLH Ellie Lanier Scholarship recipient is Wendy Bookler. Wendy joined SeniorLAW Center s staff as Legal Director in early 2013. As part of her responsibilities supervising the Center s staff attorneys, interns and externs, she oversees the administration of the Pennsylvania SeniorLAW Helpline. She also manages the selection, strategizing and administration of direct and extended service matters being handled by SeniorLAW Center staff and its panel of pro bono volunteer attorneys. Wendy earned her law degree from Temple University s Beasley School of Law and her undergraduate degree from George Washington University. Prior to joining SeniorLAW Center, she was in private practice for over 25 years, specializing in commercial real estate law. Wendy had been a long-time volunteer attorney for SeniorLAW Center and served on its Board for over a decade in many leadership positions, serving as Board Chair from 2006 to 2010. After observing the fantastic work that SeniorLAW Center does during her long tenure as a Board leader and volunteer attorney, Wendy was delighted to join the staff and become involved in the direct representation side of SeniorLAW Center s services. She is excited to be learning new areas of law, applying her years of knowledge as a transactional attorney toward the intricate and varied issues that arise on a daily basis, and spending time with clients and colleagues on staff. Wendy is grateful to the members of NASLH for sponsoring her attendance at NALI this year, and she looks forward to interacting with all of you over the years to come. page 11
model approaches mini-profiles by Shoshanna Ehrlich In May ACL/AoA announced the recipients of its Model Approaches Cooperative Agreements. The awards were made in two categories: Phase I for those states that had not received Model Approach funding previously, and Phase II for those states that had completed a cycle of Model Approaches. The Phase I Model Approaches program is geared to utilizing the leadership of the State Legal Assistance Developer and key project partners to create and maintain a coordinated, well integrated, and cost-effective statewide legal service delivery systems including the integration of a senior legal helpline with Title III-B legal services, other lowcost mechanisms and the broader aging network. All the recipients are required to undertake various projects, including conducting an assessment of senior legal needs and a capacity assessment of the legal services system for seniors as well as developing plans to target seniors most in need. The strategies for enhancing the legal system will, of course, be shaped by the results of the legal needs and system capacity assessments and consultation with stakeholders. A key objective of this grant program includes incorporating Senior Legal Hotlines and other low-cost mechanisms into the state s legal service delivery system. In this article, we want to share a snapshot of the legal services delivery system for seniors currently in place in the Phase I states (OK, OR, MT, and WA) and highlight their plans for how the delivery system will incorporate Senior Legal Hotlines or other mechanisms into their overall delivery systems. Montana Model Approaches Project Project Director: Annie Otsby Partners: John McCrae LAD The goal of Model Approach project is to increase access to legal services by coordinating existing telephone helplines, expand the geographic scope and frequency of the Legal Documents Clinics run by MAAALS, and integrate the helpline system into its legal services outreach efforts. The focus will be to help people in greatest social economic need and living in rural frontier or reservation communities develop advanced healthcare directive and estate planning instruments. The Current Legal Services Delivery Snapshot The Montana Area Agencies on Aging Legal Services, Inc. (MAAALS) has overall responsibility for managing Model Approaches. MAAALS, through the statewide Legal Service Developer Program Attorney/ Paralegal is the primary provider of non-private legal services to seniors in Montana. It was created in 2004 when Montana s ten AAAs combined the AOA legal assistance funding into a gateway approach to the provision of legal services. The program contracts with an attorney and paralegal to provide telephone legal advice covering multiple legal issues. MAAALs and Montana Legal Services Association (MLSA) coordinate pro bono services for persons 60 and older with limited means that need referrals for additional legal assistance. Currently, there are three telephone helplines in Montana providing legal assistance or referrals. (1) The MAAALS page 12
helpline provides legal advice and responds to persons needing documents through the phone clinics; (2) the Aging Services Bureau information and referrals for services such as legal educational materials, elderly modest means program, and legal advocacy and strategies; (3) MLSA operates a helpline for low income residents and about 10% of its calls are from seniors. How Model Approaches will Enhance the Delivery System Montana was able to propose interventions for the MA Project from information it gleaned from attendees at 50 legal advice clinics that the Legal Services Developer program conducted from 2005-2010 across the state. Participants expressed a need for document clinics to draft simple wills, beneficiary deeds, declarations of homestead, living wills, durable power of attorney documents and simple wills. The participants also wanted a helpline for legal advice. As a result of this need, MAAALS implemented legal documents clinics in the larger communities as well as in rural and frontier communities. The Model Approaches project provides the opportunity to expand these clinics and integrate the Senior Helplines into the delivery system. While the Project anticipates some barriers to expanding the clinics and providing legal advice through the helplines, such as recruiting sufficient pro bono providers and overcoming political and cultural barriers from Native American decision makers, a variety of innovations will hopefully overcome these barriers. Some interventions the Project proposes include presenting clinics via MTLS electronic remote video meeting capabilities and using gotomeeting to hold phone clinics to serve multiple communities at the same time. The clinics will harness the attorneys, paralegal and other volunteers from the State Bar, MTLA, AmeriCorps, Equal Justice Task Force, and University of Montana School of Law to staff the legal clinics. Integration of the helplines will provide a means for clients obtain legal documents when no document clinics are scheduled. A paralegal will speak to the client and draft the document, and attorney will review the documents. The paralegal will then send the client a packet with the documents, instructions for execution and filing, and locations of nearby notaries. A helpline attorney will be able to respond to any additional questions about the document. Developing mechanisms and protocols for integrating the helplines is scheduled for Year 2 of the MA project. Helplines will also provide seniors with an opportunity to report when financial mismanagement, fraud or exploitation has occurred. As some victims are likely to keep quiet, the helplines provide an opportunity for individuals to report what happened and possibly receive assistance and local support through the AAAs with guidance from MAAALS. Helplines assist in creating MAAALS triad of services by connecting legal services the AAA and the local community to persons sixty and older. Oklahoma Model Approaches Project Shirley Cox, Legal Services Developer Project Director: David Edge, Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma The goal of the project is to expand seniors access to free legal services and representation in order to preserve independence, choice, and financial security for seniors in greatest social or economic need. The Oklahoma proposal explains the concept of access in an interesting way. Access depends on the degree of fit between the needs, resources, and expectations of the elderly and the capacity of legal system and providers. The Current Oklahoma Legal System for Seniors Snapshot Oklahoma has eleven Area Agencies on Aging which fund one Title IIIB statewide provider, Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma (LASO). LASO operates the Sixty-Plus Legal Aid Services page 13
Helpline (SPLASH) which is funded by Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS). Non-attorney staff and volunteers screen calls from seniors and offer information and referrals. Callers needing legal advice or representation are forwarded to LASO staff or pro bono attorneys who follow up to offer advice and additional services. Because the pro bono and LASO attorney time devoted to the SPLASH line is limited, it takes some time before the follow up calls for advice and counsel are handled. The Legal Services Developer program offers legal referrals and information to individuals who are 60 or older. The Legal Services Developer s phone number is posted on the OKDHS website and people can call for free legal advice on elder rights, end-of-life matters, guardianship, and grandparents raising grandchildren issues. The LSD resolves approximately one-third of the calls with advice, refers an additional third to SPLASH, the Senior Law Resource Center, (a Central Oklahoma non-profit that has set rates based on ability to pay) the Oklahoma Bar Association, or private attorney for follow up. One third of callers are referred to non-legal resources. How Model Approaches Will Enhance the Delivery System The plan for the legal services delivery system includes directing hotline services to seniors who are capable of putting legal advice to use, directing IIIB services at LASO to seniors most in need of legal representation and with limited capacity to advocate for themselves, and developing resources such as pro bono attorneys, law students, and reduced fees panels for wills/ advance directives that will ease demand on existing resources. A specific goal of the Project is to expand the SPLASH hotline to include greater access to real-time services by having legal staff including pro bono attorneys, students, and interns respond directly to seniors whom the SPLASH operators identify as needing legal advice. Also, a system will be developed to allow the SPLASH staffers to provide advice via instant messaging and email. This will free up the LASO staff attorneys to focus on seniors who need extended legal services. The LASO web site will be improved to provide more information and resources to seniors. The LSD will continue to provide advice on elder rights, end-of-life, and grandparent issues. Oregon Model Approaches Project Fred Steele, Legal Services Developer The goals of the Oregon Model Approaches project are to incorporate legal assistance referrals as an aging support service option within the Aging and Disability Resource Connection (ADRC) as the single point resource for connecting to services and increasing access to legal assistance for seniors who are isolated or otherwise have difficulty accessing legal services. Oregon has 17 AAAs who contract with three IIIB providers: Legal Aid Services of Oregon (also the statewide LSC provider), Oregon Law Center, and the Center for Non-Profit Legal Services. According to the RFP, all legal aid programs in Oregon are only able to serve about 20% of individuals who qualify for assistance. Snapshot of Current Oregon Legal System for Seniors In 2012, Oregon created a full time Legal Services Developer position in the SUA which will enable the LSD to direct this project and accomplish its goals. Oregon has codified its philosophy that services be delivered at a local level if at all possible and while the ADRC operates a statewide hotline, its focus is connecting individuals to page 14
local services. Oregon has evaluated the potential for development of a senior legal hotline in years past; those evaluations have led to the creation of statewide public benefits and child support legal helplines. However, with regard to serving seniors, stakeholders in Oregon have determined that integration of legal services issue spotting and referral through ADRC s single point of entry for aging related support services will be the most sustainable approach. How Model Approaches Will Enhance the Delivery System The Model Approaches project will focus on incorporating legal assistance referrals into the ADRC statewide point of entry system with the goal of increasing the number of referral from ADRCs to legal assistance providers. To accomplish this, the Project will organize trainings on legal issue spotting for Information & Assistance Specialists, Options Counselors, and other workers in direct contact with seniors. In addition, the Legal Services Developer, in coordination with the Project Steering Committee and other partners, will design a referral tool to assist intake screeners and options counselors. The referral tool and training will enable these staffers to refer seniors with a legal issue to the appropriate legal services provider or State Bar referral service. The Project will also evaluate the possibility of training the aging services workers to make effective referrals to online legal information. The legal needs and capacity assessments the Project will conduct will identify which populations or areas need outreach expansion. To expand outreach, the Project may determine that an outreach worker should be hired within one of the legal assistance offices or outreach services may be achieved via contract with an existing community based program. As a result of increased outreach and referrals from the ADRC and AAAs, the Project proposes to increase delivery capacity by hiring a part time attorney in Years 2 and 3 of the Project. The attorney will be housed at one of the legal assistance providers as determined by the needs and capacity assessments. Washington Model Approaches Project Legal Services Developer: Troy Knudsen Northwest Justice Project MA CLEAR*Sr. Attorney: Meredith Childers Northwest Justice Project, CLEAR Assistant Senior Attorney: Joanna Otero Northwest Justice Project, the statewide LSC legal services provider, started a Senior Legal Hotline - CLEAR*Sr. - in 1997, with a grant from the Administration on Aging. Since Washington had never received Model Approaches funding before, it was eligible to apply for Phase I funding, even though it has a well-established statewide senior legal hotline. Under this Project, NJP, in partnership with the Legal Assistance Developer, will create a structure to comprehensively coordinate legal services for seniors between the State Unit on Aging, the senior legal services delivery system, and other partners on an ongoing basis. The goal of the project is to build sustainable structures for collaboration and service delivery to improve the ability of seniors in Washington State to address critical legal needs. Snapshot of Current Washington Legal System for Seniors Currently, access to legal services for seniors comes through NJP s CLEAR (Coordinated Legal Education, Advice and Referral)(low income) and CLEAR*Sr. legal hotlines. These hotlines provide advice, brief services, direct referral, and written information to seniors with priority legal issues. Seniors needing extended services may be referred to one of NJP s 17 local offices, a pro bono program, or a Title IIIB provider. Seven of Washington s thirteen AAAs page 15
contract with NJP to provide legal services for seniors, while the other AAAs contract with other non-profit legal programs, private attorneys or law schools. Through its telephone system and case management software the legal hotlines are able to transfer many cases electronically to referral destinations. However the demand for legal assistance, along with diminished funding in recent years, has made it difficult for the CLEAR portals to keep up with volume. Furthermore, there is no forum to coordinate legal services for seniors between the State Unit on Aging, the senior legal services delivery system, and other partners on an ongoing basis How Model Approaches Will Enhance the Delivery System The MA Project will develop several innovations that are expected to be long-term enhancements to legal services delivery in Washington. At the outset, NJP will coordinate with Washington s Office of Civil Legal Aid to conduct a legal needs assessment of Washington seniors. NJP will analyze data provided by the assessment and prepare a capacity assessment to review how the legal needs of Washington seniors are being served by legal services and where services and capacity could be improved. A Planning Committee convened by the Legal Services Developer will plan and implement a coordinated system of cross-referral for seniors between the State Unit on Aging and the senior legal services delivery system on an ongoing basis. The Legal Services Developer will also facilitate cross-trainings of ADRC/AAA staff and legal services providers for the purpose of training ADRC Options Counselors to spot priority legal issues that should be referred to CLEAR*Sr. and to train legal services providers about appropriate referrals to ADRCs. In order to streamline referrals from Options Counselors to CLEAR*Sr., NJP will work with the SUA, ADRCs and AAAS to develop a web based form that the Options Counselors can use to refer seniors with critical needs to CLEAR*Sr. directly. Optimally, the volume of referrals from the Options Counselors will be in balance with the capacity of CLEAR*Sr. and the other legal providers to serve them. When an imbalance occurs, the Planning Committee will help reassess priorities to realign volume and capacity NJP hopes to increase legal resources available to seniors by creating a model Clinic in a Box for Elder Autonomy Support Events (EASE). These events will bring volunteer attorneys and law students to local senior centers and volunteer lawyer programs to provide legal advice and preparation of Durable Powers of Attorney for Finances and Health Care, Mental Health Advance Directives and Living Wills for seniors. Seniors will be able to complete an Elder Check-Up Form before attending the EASE so that advocates can further identify legal problems and connect seniors with the appropriate information and assistance. The EASE model is a Clinic in a Box concept. NJP will develop the resource which will contain model document forms, sample recruitment letters for pro bono attorneys to staff the EASE, forms for the pro bono attorneys to apply for CLE credit for their work at EASE, and materials to publicize the event. page 16
NJP will also increase capacity at CLEAR*Sr. by establishing an Externship program for third year law students licensed to practice law under State Bar rules. The extern will provide advice and other limited assistance to seniors, assist at EASE, and review Legal Check-up forms, under the supervision of a senior hotline attorney. Once senior legal needs are assessed, NJP will create or translate publications on issues of special interest to seniors. NJP will also collaborate with the Washington State Attorney General s office to produce at least three legal education videos on topics related to consumer protection, financial stability and other information pertinent to seniors legal needs. The videos will be provided to Senior Centers and be viewable at any time on NJPs public YouTube channel and the Washington State Attorney General s website. save the date Equal Justice Conference 2014 May 1-3, 2014 Hilton Portland & Executive Towers Portland, Oregon For information about the conference, visit this web page. page 17
tech tips for hotlines II by Kari Deming Happy Winter, Everyone! Last quarter, we discussed positively interfacing with clients via LucyPhone, telephone technology, and email. As December wanes and the New Year approaches, we offer these simple tips to enhance interactions between program people - partners, staff and volunteers. As I am quite enamored with allthings-google, this segment includes only Google-based tools. 1. Collective Calendaring All litigation offices have calendaring or tickling systems to control their dockets, and some use an office-wide in/out calendar or white board to keep track of staff. Most hotlines also tickle cases not completed during the initial call. Our staffing, however, is often much more complicated than that of a traditional law office, including an everchanging contingent of full- and part-time lawyers, paralegals, advocates, volunteers, interns, externs, work study students, and more. In such an environment, an online, unified, personnel-centered calendar is something close to a miracle. In my program, we use Google Calendar to, among other things: Reflect changes to the regular staffing schedule Post trainings and list participants Show out-of-office obligations Publish deadlines As an example, a quick glance at a recent CALL calendar day told us that: Payroll was due (so hours had to be properly recorded in the CMS by 10 am) Kanika was out and Shivangee was in Rick was out and Deb was in Brian would be participating in a task force call from 2-4 pm (and thus not be on the lines) and I would be out of town, doing partner program site visits. All personnel are expected to faithfully enter their schedule changes and events into the calendar and to review the team calendar daily. Doing so makes us more responsible about finding replacements if we need to be out, shows which supervisors are available for questions or emergency referrals, helps us know where to land (we all have regular spaces, but we have more part-time players than work stations), etc. It is not an overstatement to say we live and die by that calendar! A good step-by-step guide to collective calendar set up is available here. 2. Productive Chatting While texting and social media are an ever-present potential distraction, online chatting can be a highly efficient method of communication. At CALL, our attorneys and supervisors regularly use Google Chat to: Ask and answer substantive questions ( What s the SOL on a UCC auto transaction? ) page 18
Exchange resource information ( Where on the wiki is the list of HARA agencies? ) Clarify case note confusion ( Les - what s GPX? - Grandparenting Time - Got it! ) Alert the group to potential technology glitches (Pika has gotten vvveeerrryyy slow ) and Offer support ( Sounds like a tough call - deep breath! :) ). 3. Productive Chatting +! Google Hangouts are a bit like Google Chats + Google Voice, on steroids. With Hangouts, you can: Text and video chat with several people at once (with pictures and emoji, if you d like) Engage in free multi-party voice and video calls throughout the US and Canada (CERA does our weekly Staff meeting via Hangout video call) Stream live video (handy when staff is away but needs to be involved in a training or meeting) Post video recordings (like those made during your live stream) to YouTube and other locations Screen-share (great for remote workers, tech guidance, videoconferencing, etc.) There are a number of tutorials out there, including Google s own, but I found this one very easy to follow. There s also great stuff to glean here and here. 4. Collaborative Writing Last but not least, consider using Google Drive (which recently ate Google Docs) to share and collectively edit documents in the cloud. Virtually every new written piece that I produce (including this article!) starts as a Google Drive document (who needs Word?), presentation (so long, PowerPoint), spreadsheet (goodbye, Excel) or form. Thanks to this tool, I don t worry that I m working on the wrong version of a document because it continuously saves and allows multiple users to draft and edit simultaneously. Happily, it also keeps track of all changes made, and who they were made by, such that you can retrieve that bit of perfect writing that someone else didn t like. In addition, I can access and work on my Drive materials from anywhere - my office PC, my home ipad, my car Kindle, or even my phone. No more slogging through a weekend snowstorm to grab the datastick containing my homework... Even better, you can do -- really -- so very much more (and so much more than I ve yet learned how to do). For example, with Google Drive you can: Sort and search for files by owner, sharer, stars, name, date, key words, etcetera Preview and save attachments directly from inside your Gmails Take advantage of built-in viewers to see a huge variety of file types (.JPEG,.PNG,.GIF, TIFF,.BMP,.MOV,.AVI,.TXT,.HTML,.C,.JS,.DOC,.DOCX,.XLS,.PPT,.PDF, LPAGES,.ZIP, and so on and so on). Share video or documents that are too large to send as an attachment Publish documents, presentations and spreadsheets to a separate webpage, not linked to the original, to allow sharing with anyone page 19
Back up files from your hard drive You can also install an ever-increasing number of apps and extensions to allow greater functionality. For example, you can: Send and receive free faxes via Hellofax Edit photos via Pixlr or PicMonkey Edit videos via WeVideo Sign documents via Docusign Super-protect your top secret data by creating an encrypted folder inside Drive, via BoxCryptor Sync cloud-storage accounts via CloudHQ page, but once you re there you can flip through the tip cards and see full, step-by-step walkthroughs of each tip or guide. Google Tips are available here. Wishing you a New Year filled with peace, joy, patience and productivity! this is your life, and it s ending one minute at a time. - fight club PCWorld offers a nice review of some of the above apps here. Finally, lifehacker.com offers the following: Even if you already use Chrome, Google Search, Gmail, or Google Maps, there are probably a ton of useful features inside those tools that you may not know about. Google Tips is a new page from Google that s packed with suggestions and how-to to help you make the most of those services. Each of the sections is organized to offer suggestions for the apps you use on the go, at home, at the office, or just by product, so you can see all of the tips available for Chrome, for example, or for Gmail. Some of the ones I noticed were a how-to guide on how to customize Google News to see just the headlines you re interested in, how to play YouTube like a jukebox, how to use Google Drive to keep your most important documents in your pocket, and so on. You ll have to sign in with your Google account to get to the page 20