omar valverde, u.s. administration on aging david godfrey, aba commission on law and aging keith...
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Omar Valverde,U.S. Administration on Aging
David Godfrey,ABA Commission on Law and Aging
Keith Morris,Legal Hotline for Michigan Seniors and Center for Elder Rights Advocacy
Sue Wasserkrug,Senior Law Center
Strategic Goal To promote the creation of
comprehensive, well integrated, and cost effective legal service delivery systems that target scarce resources to older adults in the most social or economic need
Tactical Application Systems that function with the right
legal entities, handling the right kinds of legal cases, at the right level of service
Essential Features Senior Legal Helplines Needs and Capacity Assessments Leveraging Low Cost Mechanisms Integration with Aging network Outreach and Targeting Reporting Systems and Outcomes Role of Legal Assistance Developer
A. Needs assessmentB. Systems capacityC. Collaboration with aging networkD. TrainingE. Targeting servicesF. IntegrationG. Statewide reporting systemH. Leveraging resourcesI. Outcomes
Understand before you improve Legal Needs Studies examine the
Demand side of the equation Legal Needs vs Legal Wants Benchmarking
Statistically valid sample Targeted sample Online Paper Multiple choice Narrative Interviews Focus groups
Income, Food Shelter Health care Risks to autonomy Risks of abuse, neglect, exploitation
Needs of those we know Who do you never reach?
What is the capacity of the system to meet the needs of the population
How can the supply be enhanced How can the supply be better
coordinated
Traditional and non-traditional providers Collaborations with new partners Quantitative and Qualitative measures
How manyWhat issuesWhat level of serviceThink of the full spectrum of legal assistance
Who else works with or helps your target population?
Reciprocal referral arrangements Cross training Communications sharing of resources Collaborative funding Private bar Invite – invite – invite
Who to train?Staff & volunteersOther legal providersAging services networkGovernment staff, e.g., victim services
TopicsOur services & how to access themSubstantive legal issues Issue spottingServing seniorsCapacity issues
To enlighten the general populations about seniors, their needs and vulnerabilities
To educate the aging services network about low-income issues
To inform about the importance of SLH’s To create collaborations & coalitions To find allies & advocates
Most programs are still very numbers driven and have a hard time changing to impact driven work
Older Americans Act requires targeting to the most economical and socially needy
Cannot means test
A struggle for hotlines because most are used to helping all eligible callers
Hotlines have been effective in helping target III-B programs by triaging all clients to identify ones with priority cases
Use the needs assessment to help you determine what types of services are most important to your target population
Goal is to create a seamless network of referrals and services, from the client’s perspective
Must include both legal and aging Use formal agreements to cement
relationships Hard to overcome territorial feelings
from some programs
Hotlines can play a major role in establishing this seamless program
Use of “warm handoff” is a great benefit to clients
Use technology, such as automated case transfer, to help client and providers
Survey clients to make sure there is no breakdown in the process
How you tell if your efforts for targeting and integration are working
You have to be able to tell your story with an accurate picture
Identify trends and gaps in service
Must have buy-in from AAA because they control the contracts
A strong Legal Assistance Developer is crucial
Michigan’s modelAutomated data extract of non-identifying
client-level informationStatewide system that cross references all
entries to create a uniform reportOne source for all reports
Who moved my cheese? From Day OneNew and innovative Never done before Share projects
Use legal needs and systems assessment to build the case for state and local funding
Involvement builds buy in 50% of spending on Title III legal
assistance
How did your work change the lives of clients?
Define it Measure it Report it Qualitative vs. quantitative Outcomes vs. outputs Crucial for funding!
No wrong door Improved access
www.nlrc.aoa.gov www.legalhotlines.org Omar Valverde,
[email protected] David Godfrey,
[email protected] Keith Morris, [email protected] Sue Wasserkrug,