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Legal Assistance Developer (continued)
Every state in the United States has a designated State Unit on Aging which is the leader for all aging issues on behalf of all older persons in the State. Through affiliated Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs), state units carry out the requirements of the Older Americans Act (OAA) and provide a wide array of services to any person age 60 or older. These include: nutrition, transportation, in-home services, health promotion, legal assistance and many other services.
AAAs hold public hearings and seek the opinions of older people and their families to make sure the services they provide are the ones most needed in their regions. They combine funding from federal, state and local sources (including the contributions of seniors themselves) to administer the programs and services.
Older people often experience problems that threaten their autonomy, dignity, rights and security, and many of these problems need legal intervention. It is for this reason that the OAA requires states and area agencies to make legal assistance a priority service. The OAA defines legal assistance as legal advice and representation provided by an attorney to older individuals with economic or social needs and includes:
- to the extent feasible, counseling or other appropriate assistance by a paralegal or law student under the direct supervision of an attorney; and
- counseling or representation by a non-lawyer where permitted by law
The OAA also requires states to set a minimum amount of federal money to be spent for the provision of legal assistance. This minimum amount varies from state to state. In Colorado, AAAs must spend 3% of their OAA Part B dollars on legal assistance.
Many AAAs contract with local Legal Services Corporation (LSC) Programs to provide the legal services in their regions. Others contract with the private bar or pro bono programs in their areas to provide the services. Wherever possible, AAAs try to utilize attorneys to participate in their legal assistance programs either for free or for a reduced fee. These legal programs are called Legal Assistance (LA) Providers.
In addition to providing legal assistance to individuals, many LA Providers also hold seminars, workshops and other community education events to make older persons and their families aware of various legal issues that may affect them and to provide information on ways to address their legal needs.
Types of Services
Under the Older Americans Act (OAA), every State Unit on Aging must have the capacity to undertake certain functions with respect to legal assistance. The OAA requires the State agency to:
- provide for the coordination of the furnishing of legal assistance to older individuals within the State, and provide advice and technical assistance in the provision of legal assistance to older individuals within the State and support the furnishing of training and technical assistance for legal assistance for older individuals, and
- provide assurances that each State will assign personnel (one of whom shall be known as a Legal Assistance Developer) to provide State leadership in developing legal assistance programs for older individuals throughout the State.
The office of the Colorado Legal Assistance Developer (CLAD) was created in each State agency in 1976. In Colorado, the program is operated through a contract from the State Department of Human Services to The Legal Center.
The CLAD is required to play numerous roles and to have both broad and specialized knowledge of laws and policies affecting older Americans. At various times, the CLAD may be called upon to act as administrator, legislator, negotiator, diplomat, legal scholar, public speaker, writer, teacher, data-gatherer, head-hunter, reporter and in-person client referral service. The CLAD must stay abreast of changes in state and federal legislation and regulations affecting the delivery of legal services to older persons, as well as in the many substantive areas of law affecting them.
In general, all Legal Assistance Developers participate in the following types of activities:
- planning and policy development;
- coordinating legal assistance programs with the rest of the aging network;
- providing technical assistance on both delivery and substantive issues;
- planning and conducting training
Legal Assistance Developers are, above all, committed to ensuring that the autonomy, dignity, rights and security of older people are protected and preserved.
Since income limits are prohibited for the Legal Assistance Program, low-income older persons are targeted as clients by setting case priorities in such a way as to screen out problems generally experienced by persons with higher incomes.