79-662 4. Ag 52 IMPROVING LEGAL REPRESENTATION FOR OLDER AMERICANS, 94-2 HEARING BEFORE THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING UNITED STATES SENATE ...NINETY-FOURTH CONGRESS Printed for the use of the Special Committee on Aging U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 - Price 85 cents There is a minimum charge of $1.00 for each mail order There are innumerable circumstances where our legal system must protect the elderly. The Older Americans Act, which is now law, requires that appropriations be made to develop legal assistance for the elderly. That provision was put into the Older Americans Act as a result of a hearing that we held here 5 years ago. Perhaps some of the witnesses who testified then, will be testifying today. We also have a Legal Service Corporation which has a budget of approximately $125 million. It was explicit in the drafting of the charter for the Legal Service Corporation that it protect the rights of our elderly people. In 3 weeks, the Senate will be faced with what is called a rescission. President Ford and the Office of Management and Budget are going to say we have got $45 million we don't need to expend because there isn't a demand for it. Now, I don't believe that to be so, and when I stand on the floor of the U.S. Senate, I want to be able to bring to my colleagues in the U.S. Senate testimony from today's hearing which will point to instance after instance where individuals' legal rights have not been protected and where they have been protected. Where they think that either the Legal Service Corporation or the other organizations committed to protecting the legal rights of our elderly people can function more effectively and more efficiently, with more paralegal personnel, and perhaps additional lawyers. I want to welcome those who will testify here today. In many instances they are old friends. They have been extremely articulate and persuasive spokespersons for the elderly people, not only of the Greater Boston area, but for the elderly people of our State and of our Nation. We are looking forward to their comments and suggestions. I will make a part of the record the statements we have by Congressman-and Majority Leader-Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., Congressman Joseph D. Early, Congressman James A. Burke, Congressman Joe Moakley, and Congressman Paul E. Tsongas. [The statements follow:] STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN (AND MAJORITY LEADER) THOMAS P. O'NEILL, JR. As Congressman and now as the House Majority Leader, I have always had a deep and compassionate concern for the well being of the elderly of this commonwealth and the Nation. I have continually worked to improve the lives of our senior citizens, enabling them to live in both comfort and dignity. In fact, the reason why I cannot personally be present at this hearing and have asked my legislative assistant to submit this statement on my behalf is because I must be in Washington to offer an amendment, the O'Neill Amendment, to the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Amendments of 1976. The O'Neill Amendment, which is the first order of business on the House floor today, will affect the lives of many of the senior citizens who are attending this hearing. As you all know, supplemental security assistance provides a basic cash income to people over 65 who are in financial need. The O'Neill Amendment will have the effect of guaranteeing that future cost of living increases are passed through to the recipients. A recent change in the share of Federal/State contribution meant that approximately 130,000 SSI recipients never received the SSI increases to which they were entitled this year. My amendment will correct this discrepancy so that such an injustice can never happen again. I offered a similar amendment to the first budget resolution which put a guarantee in the social security laws that enables benefits to keep pace with inflation. Thus, whenever the cost of living increases 4 percent or more in 1 year, your social security check will increase automatically the following July if you have not already received the increase through congressional action. This means that your purchasing power will be protected against increases in the cost of living in the future. I want to heartily commend Senator Kennedy for holding the hearing here today to determine ways in which the Government can improve legal representation for older Americans. I firmly believe that the Federal Government has a significant and dramatic role in the task of creating a life of dignity for older Americans. It was more than 10 years ago that the Congress created the Older Americans Act, landmark legislation which developed community services to put more meaning into the lives of the senior citizens. Included in this act was a bill of rights for older Americans which sought efficient community services whenever needed. Through the Older Americans Act we have developed programs to meet the nutritional, health, social, and economic demands of older Americans. Now, we must build upon these bills of rights and add an 11th bill of rights-improving the availability and accessibility of legal services to senior citizens. The Older Americans Act amendments that we passed this Congress contained, as one of its four priorities, the availability of legal services. There is a need for legal services for the elderly and a need for review of existing programs. Already grants for research and demonstration projects are in operation. For instance, in 1975, Massachusetts received a grant of $18,385 for a State nursing home ombudsman, to process legal complaints for nursing home inmates, and in the same year, the State received $377,000 for administration of the older Americans program planning. Massachusetts also received $2.3 million for area planning in social services and community services. States are required to adopt a plan of providing legal representation to qualify for Federal funds. No specific guidelines for eligibility are yet in existence. But these initial undertakings are only a commencement. We must improve legal representation for older Americans. The purpose of this hearing is to determine how we can best improve the availability of legal services for the 22 million elderly in this nation. Nearly 30 percent of the senior citizens in the country are living on or below the poverty line. Yet, they receive less than 7 percent of the legal services provided by the Legal Services Corporation. I think we need to press for a change of direction in the allocation of funding of legal services. I wholeheartedly support the objectives of this hearing, and may I assure all of you here that I will urge Chairman Randall and the members of the House Committee on Aging to explore ways in which we can improve upon the legal representation of the elderly through the State agencies which implement the Older Americans Act. The Congress of the United States has a commitment to aid the elderly in this country. We must build upon the bill of rights set forth in the Older Americans Act and continue to develop benevolent and innovative programs as well as improve existing programs for our senior citizens. This is our goal, and all of you participating in this hearing can work with us to make this objective a reality. STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN JOSEPH D. EARLY I appreciate this opportunity to address the Senate Committee on Aging, and I want to especially thank Chairman Frank Church and my distinguished colleague from Massachusetts, Senator Edward Kennedy, for their commendable dedication to the work of the Committee on Aging. Older Americans are clearly one of the most discriminated against minorities in American society. We do not reward our elder citizens for their years of contribution, but penalize them, regardless of their contribution, for growing older. We force them out of the work force despite their abilities, energies and experience. We relegate them to "retirement" and place them in a position where their usefulness and their vast wealth of knowledge are left to waste. Worse, the majority of these senior citizens are totally dependent on income far below a subsistence level. They are stripped of the human dignity they have strived for by a system that no longer recognizes them as assets. We have created a psychological and economic monster by our misguided attitudes and policies toward the aging. Not only do these attitudes and policies destroy a potential in our elder citizens to be productive contributors-to control their own lives and destinies and to continue to enhance our American democracy with their years of experience and their unique perspectives on the futurebut, they rob the rest of us of the benefits of tapping those experiences and perspectives to improve our own lives, our working society and our social future. Truly, what we have done to older Americans is a terrible loss to us all. The Older Americans Act states 10 objectives to assist older people to secure the full and free enjoyment of our Democratic society: an adequate income; the best possible physical and mental health; suitable housing; full restorative services; employment without age discrimination; retirement in health, honor, and dignity; participation in civic, cultural, and recreational activities; community services; immediate benefits from research; and freedom and independence. Reaching these objectives will be no easy road. Our country-its political figures, its economic leaders, and its general population-in establishing priorities, both social and economic, all too often listen to the loudest voice without thought to the direction that voice may take them. Our society has become more and more fast paced and simultaneously less and less stable. Crime has increased tenfold in the past 20 years. The divorce rate in this country is now about two-toone and climbing. Our cities are bankrupt and our rural communities are being starved by the neglect of Federal and State governments to insure equal services. More and more of our earned incomes are going to Federal, State, and local taxes and fewer and fewer services are evident to show for that investment. This is the society that we are asking to reassess its disposition toward Older Americans. And, the battles ahead strike the core of our domestic instability. We want medical services available at reasonable costs. We want equal opportunities in the work force. We want this Nation to face the reality that aging is a process, but a growing process that should be recognized as such and dealt with at every level with respect and dignity. That the law discriminates against the elderly is probably the most symptomatic of our attitudes as a society. It implies that we, as a Nation, fear aging and fear the aged for what they represent-our own destinies. As we have seen, to a large degree, with racial discrimination in this country, the law is the place to start. Changing the laws to guarantee equal treatment of the elderly will begin the process by which attitudes will be changed. The essential in improving legal representation for older Americans is the willingness of older Americans themselves to demand representation. There are many of us who stand ready to help, assist, and direct the attention of these demands-but there is not one of us who can restore senior citizens to their rightful place of participation in this Nation alone. The Committee on Aging has been largely responsible for calling national attention to many of the needs of older Americans. Again, I want to thank Chairman Church and Senator Kennedy for allowing me to submit this statement for the record. The committee has my full support and I stand ready to assist, in any way I can, to promote equal and equitable treatment of the elderly under the law. STATEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN JAMES A. BURKE Today there are over 20 million Americans who are age 65 or older. Over the past several years the Federal Government has increased its commitment to improving the quality of life for our elderly citizens, in addition to numerous liberalizations in the Social Security and SSI programs. A major thrust of federal action has been the Older Americans Act which under the 1975 amendments provides the impetus for addressing many of the social service needs of the elderly. However, one need which continues to go unheeded for great numbers of the elderly is effective access to legal advice, counseling and representation. For those with the means, if a legal problem arises in their daily lives, they have the financial resources to seek out the services of an attorney. But that choice is not readily available to a large segment of the elderly. One in every four elderly families lives on less than $5,000 annually. More than 50 percent of old people living alone live on less than $3,000 a year. People over 65 make up about 16 percent of the poverty population. Most of these people rely on social security or SSI. Many of the elderly, of course, receive free legal services from federal programs administered by the Legal Services Corporation and the Administration on Aging, but the resources of those programs are not sufficient to reach the notential clientele to be served. Although the elderly comprise 16 percent of the |