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 Letter on the Older Americans Act September 14, 1999
The Honorable Howard P. McKeon, Chair Dear Mr. Chair: I am writing to you on behalf of the American Bar Association, in conjunction with tomorrow’s markup of legislation to reauthorize the Older Americans Act, to declare our longstanding support for the Act and the programs it funds and to urge you to retain the current advocacy and legal assistance provisions of the Act, including Title III-B legal assistance, Title VII elder rights, and Title IV national support programs. These programs, integral components of a comprehensive elder rights advocacy system that operates at the federal, state and local levels, are vitally important to protecting and improving the lives of our nation’s most vulnerable elders. In Title III-B, Congress has recognized that legal advice and representation is an essential tool for helping older persons protect their rights and procure the fundamental necessities of life -- an adequate income, access to health and long-term care, and a secure place to live. The Act currently requires area agencies on aging to expend a certain portion (established by the state) of their Title III-B funds on legal assistance, and to target those services to older people in greatest social and economic need. The Act also requires area agencies to give priority to funding programs that provide advice, counseling and representation in the areas of income maintenance, health care, long-term care, nutrition, housing, utilities, protective services, defense of guardianship, abuse, neglect and age discrimination. We are concerned that, if legal assistance does not remain a priority service under the Act, financially stressed area agencies struggling to meet competing demands for the same pool of funds might be tempted to direct their support to programs with more visible results, such as senior centers or transportation. These programs are also essential, but they cannot replace legal advice. Without legal assistance programs, older persons of modest financial means who cannot afford the services of private attorneys, but who do not meet the eligibility or case priority guidelines of pro bono or poverty law programs, may lose their only entry to the legal system. Title VII of the Act currently includes the long-term care ombudsman program, the elder abuse, neglect and exploitation education and prevention program, and the outreach, counseling and assistance program, which empower vulnerable older persons and protect their rights through legal rights education and advocacy, and the coordination of elder rights advocacy resources (including legal assistance). The legal assistance developer is an essential component of that system – the state’s point person, responsible for coordinating existing elder rights advocacy efforts, promoting Title III-B legal assistance delivery, and developing alternative systems, such as pro bono programs, legal hotlines and alternative dispute resolution programs. With Title IV funding, Congress has built a solid foundation for the development and improvement of numerous successful initiatives in housing and long-term care, elder abuse and exploitation, health care and legal assistance and advocacy. Title IV currently provides funding for several statewide senior legal hotlines, as well as the National Center on Elder Abuse, the Long Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center, and five national legal assistance support centers within the ABA Commission on Legal Problems of the Elderly, the National Senior Citizens Law Center, the AARP Foundation National Training Project, the National Consumer Law Center, and the Center for Social Gerontology. These centers provide a valuable network of support to state and area agencies on aging, legal assistance developers, local legal assistance providers, long-term care ombudsman programs, the private bar, and other programs. The Administration on Aging reports that callers to the Eldercare Locator need information about legal matters more than 2.5 times as frequently as any other service issue. Without legal assistance, most people cannot prepare for future incapacity or protect their rights. They may not be assured the receipt of health care, benefits and pensions to which they are entitled. They may not enjoy access to employment in the face of age or disability discrimination, or live in the housing of their choice. Should they become victims of fraud or abuse, they may not have the resources to defend themselves. As you consider the range of reauthorization proposals now before you, we urge you to preserve the current language of the Act as it pertains to legal assistance and elder rights advocacy programs, and to fund those programs at a level sufficient to secure high quality services for our nation’s most vulnerable elders.
Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely,
Robert D. Evans cc. Members, Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education, Training and Life-Long Learning
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AMERICAN BAR
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