SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING FRANK CHURCH, Idaho, Chairman HARRISON A. WILLIAMS, JR., New Jersey EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts HIRAM L. FONG, Hawaii DEWEY F. BARTLETT, Oklahoma JOHN A. DURKIN, New Hampshire WILLIAM E. ORIOL, Staff Director VAL J. HALAMANDARIS, Associate Counsel Improving Legal Representation for Older Americans: Part 1. Los Angeles, Calif., June 14, 1974. Part 2. Boston, Mass., August 30, 1976. Part 4. Washington, D.C., September 29, 1976. (IT) CONTENTS Opening statement by Senator Harrison A. Williams. Jr., presiding--- CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WITNESSES Wilson, Rev. R. Alvin, chairman, Advocate Center Executive Committee, Hill, Lessie, attorney, Senior Citizens Advocate Center, Camden Regional Brodsky, Margaret Stone, project director, legal counsel for the elderly, Sirulnik, Eric S., associate professor of law; codirector, Institute of Law APPENDIX Letter from Stanley Di Orio, directing attorney, Legal Aid Foundation, Los -Angeles, Calif.; to Senator Frank Church, dated September 17, 1976---(III) Page 205 207 207 218 221 230 249 IMPROVING LEGAL REPRESENTATION FOR OLDER AMERICANS TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1976 U.S. SENATE, SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING, Washington, D.C. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:45 a.m., in room 4232, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Harrison A. Williams, Jr., presiding. Present: Senators Williams, Hartke, and Clark. Also present: William E. Oriol, staff director; David A. Affeldt, chief counsel; Deborah K. Kilmer, professional staff member; John Guy Miller, minority staff director; Margaret Fayé, minority professional staff member; Patricia G. Oriol, chief clerk; Eugene R. Cummings, printing assistant; and Donna M. Gluck, resource assistant. OPENING STATEMENT BY SENATOR HARRISON A. WILLIAMS, JR., PRESIDING Senator WILLIAMS. We will come to order. Today, the Special Committee on Aging will continue its hearings on "Improving Legal Representation for Older Americans." Our agenda is long and our list of witnesses is impressive this morning. So I shall be brief and make three major points in my opening remarks. First, the committee has a longstanding interest in making legal representation more readily available for the elderly. As chairman of this committee in 1970, I initiated hearings 6 years ago in St. Louis at the American Bar Association conference on the legal problems of the elderly. This hearing made it abundantly clear that older Americans had major legal problems which were receiving far too little attention. Since then, the Congress has enacted a number of measures to focus greater attention on the legal needs of the aged—from the private bar, law schools, the legal services program, and at the community level. One example is the Older Americans Amendments of 1975, which include potentially far-reaching provisions to improve legal representation for the elderly. In addition, the Congress approved increased funding for model projects to develop innovative solutions for the aged's legal problems. Three of our witnesses today operate programs under the model projects section of the Older Americans Act. Second, older Americans should be served by Government and not thwarted by it. Effective service is vital for the elderly because they rely on many Federal programs: social security, medicare, medicaid, supplemental security income, railroad retirement, veterans' pensions, food stamps, and others. But if my mail is an accurate indicator-and I think it is—many older Americans are baffled and confused when they deal with the Government. Of course, they are not alone in this. MANY ELDERLY ARE CONFUSED An elderly widow may wonder why her SSI check is suddenly reduced when social security benefits are increased. A 75-year-old man who is homebound may be understandably upset because of the redtape and bureaucratic lethargy at the local department of social services. Yet, he may be forced unnecessarily into an institution, at a much higher public cost, if he is denied homemarker services. A retired worker may also throw up his hands in utter disbelief when he tries to wade through the retirement income credit schedule of form 1040. Every Senator, I am sure, has heard identical or similar accounts. We try to help those who write and tell us about their problems. Caseworkers in our offices are kept busy working on behalf of these individuals to assure that they are treated equitably, fairly and courteously, by administrators of Federal programs. We also know that there are many more out there who do not write, who do not complain, and who do not know just what to do. Oftentimes they accept wrong-headed decisions or injustice simply because they do not know what recourse is available. Third, a society based on law should take steps to assure that its citizens-whether they be rich, poor, young or old-have equal access to the law. However, perhaps two out of every three Americans, according to some estimates, do not have access to legal services. Reasonable persons may differ about the actual number of Americans who cannot obtain legal help when a problem arises, whatever the reasons may be. But, there is no doubt that a substantial number must look out for their own interests when a legal dispute occurs. And this is especially true for older Americans, whether their problems require the attention of an attorney or a person whose profession is described as paralegal. Fortunately, some steps are being taken now to make legal representation more readily available for the elderly. Our leadoff panel, from Camden, N.J., will provide us with some examples of positive actions at the grassroots level on behalf of aged clients. We at the Committee on Aging have always encouraged firsthand testimony because we want "to hear it like it really is" from the real experts the people affected by Government programs. In the final analysis it is the people who will ultimately decide whether Government efforts are worthy, effective, and helpful. With this in mind, I welcome our panel from Camden. Before we turn to our first panel, Senator Clark of Iowa is here. Senator Clark, do you have an opening greeting? |