AoA programs and services funded under the Older Americans Act (OAA) are designed to empower older persons to remain independent, healthy, and safe within their homes and communities, for as long as possible. Legal assistance and elder rights programs work in conjunction with other AoA programs and services to maximize the independence, autonomy and well-being of older persons.

Legal programs under Title III-B, Title IV, and Title VII of the OAA provide and enhance important protections for older persons:

Title III-B attorneys provide legal assistance nationwide on issues such as income security, health care, long-term care, nutrition, housing, utilities, protective services, defense of guardianship, abuse, neglect, and age discrimination. Legal assistance is targeted towards older individuals in social and economic need.

The National Legal Resource Center (NLRC) serves as a centralized access point for a national legal assistance support system serving professionals and advocates working in legal and aging services networks. These professionals can benefit from the case consultation, training, technical assistance, and other legal resources offered by the NLRC.

Model Approaches to Statewide Legal Assistance Systems (Model Approaches) is a discretionary grant program designed to help states develop and implement cost-effective, replicable approaches for integrating senior legal helplines into the broader tapestry of state legal service delivery networks. The cornerstone of these projects are legal helplines, which assist seniors in accessing quality legal services to ensure their rights and financial security, and to enhance their choice and independence.

Legal Assistance Developers (LADs) are responsible for developing and coordinating a state’s legal services and elder rights programs to ensure consistent service and quality results.

The Title III-B legal assistance network, the National Legal Resource Center, the Model Approaches demonstration grants, and Legal Assistance Developers are programs designed to protect older persons from direct challenges to independence, choice, and financial security. These programs also help older individuals understand their rights, exercise options through informed decision-making and achieve optimal benefit from the support and opportunities promised by law.

Here are resources that can provide legal assistance on real estate, foreclosure, and other laws in Nevada.

	State Bar of Nevada - Legal information, attorneys, and other services
	Free Legal Services - U.S. Department of Justice
	Washoe County Legal Services
	Nevada Legal Resources Directory - Free legal assistance organizations
	File a Complaint with the Office of the Attorney General

Other Nevada Resources

	State consumer protection - State Attorney General
	Nevada Real Estate Division - report problems with your real estate broker
	Nevada Consumer Affairs Division
	Better Business Bureau of Southern Nevada - report problems with businesses and get consumer information
	Better Business Bureau of Northern Nevada - report problems with businesses and get consumer information
	Lectric Law Library - consumer information

http://www.aging.ny.gov/ResourceGuide/Index.cfm

Click the link to access many of the following topics for any aging persons in New York...

Senior Citizen's Resource Guide
Table of Contents

    * Health Care
          o Consumer information & license verification service
          o Disease prevention & health protection services
          o Health care proxy
          o Hospital patients' rights
          o Complaints about hospitals and diagnostic and treatment centers
          o Patients' rights for Medicare & Medicaid participants
          o Long Term Care Ombudsman Program (LTCOP)
    * Health Insurance
          o Balanced billing
          o Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage (EPIC)
          o Health Insurance Information, Counseling & Assistance Program (HIICAP)
          o Long Term Care Insurance Education & Outreach Program
          o New York State Partnership for Long Term Care
          o Medicaid
          o Medicare
          o Medicare Buy-In Programs
          o Reporting Medicare or Medicaid fraud
          o Medicare preventive health screening test and benefits
    * Nutrition Information
          o Congregate Meals
          o Home Delivered Meals
          o Food Stamps
          o Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program
          o Determine Your Nutritional Health
    * Fitness & Wellness
          o HIV & AIDS
          o Alcohol and substance abuse
          o Exercise clubs
    * Legal Assistance
          o Age Discrimination
          o Consumer Issues
          o Estate Planning
          o Guardianship
          o Mediating disputes to avoid court
          o Medicaid Eligibility
          o Powers of Attorney
          o Prison Families of New York
          o Professional Misconduct & Unlicensed Practice
    * Financial Assistance
    * Taxes
          o Real Property Tax Credit
          o Local Real Property Tax Exemption
          o School Tax Relief (STAR)
    * Local Support Services
          o NY Connects: Choices for Long Term Care
          o Alzheimer's Disease or other dementias
          o Caring for minor children
          o Elder Caregiver Support Program
          o Eldercare Locator
          o Expanded In-home Services for the Elderly Program (EISEP)
          o Home Care Services
          o Hospice Services
          o Long-distance caregiving
          o Respite services
          o Senior centers
          o Social adult day services
          o Supportive Services
          o Telephone Reassurance & Friendly Visiting
    * Housing Information
          o Active-Adult Community
          o Accessory Apartments
          o Adult Home (New York State licensed)
          o Assisted Living Program
          o Continuing Care Retirement Communities
          o Dementia Care Facility or Wing/Unit
          o Enriched Housing
          o Enriched Housing Program or Adult Home with Limited Licensed Home Care Agency
          o Intergenerational Housing
          o Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs)
          o Senior Housing (with no services)
          o Shared Living Residences
          o Supportive Senior Housing
          o Single Room Occupancy (SRO)
          o Subsidized Housing
          o Private Pay (Market Rate) Housing
    * Energy
          o Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP)
          o Utility Rights
          o Weatherization Referral and Packaging Program (WRAP)
          o Other assistance with utility emergencies
          o Public Service Commission
          o Energy Conservation
    * Transportation
          o Transportation to appointments
          o Transportation discounts
          o Older Driver Family Assistance Project
          o Personal Identification Card
    * Disasters & Emergencies
    * Employment
          o Older American Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP)
          o Workforce Investment Act (WIA)
    * Crime
          o Crime prevention
          o Crime victims' protection
          o Elder abuse prevention
    * Services for Older Immigrants & Refugees
          o SSI Eligibility Concerns
    * Recreation
          o Federal Golden Age Passport
          o Federal Golden Access Passport
          o New York State Parks' Golden Park Program
          o New York State Sporting License
          o Exercise Clubs
          o Empire State Senior Games
    * Volunteering
          o Long Term Care Ombudsman Program (LTCOP)
          o Foster Grandparent Program
          o Health Insurance Information, Counseling & Assistance Program (HIICAP)
          o Senior Companion Program
          o Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP)
    * Veterans Information & Benefits
          o Blind Annuity
          o Burial
          o Disability Compensation & Pension
          o Health Care
          o New York State Sporting License
          o Property Tax Exemption
          o High School Diplomas for World War II Veterans
    * Don't Hesitate to Call
          o Your Local Veterans' Office
          o United States Government
          o New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services
          o New York State Government
          o Your Local Social Services Districts
          o Your County Health Department
          o Alzheimer's Disease Assistance Centers & Programs
          o Toll-free helplines & other important numbers
          o Your County Mental Health Department

Many people are caring for a relative's child: Aunts and uncles caring for neices and nephews, grandparents caring for grandchildren, etc...

Our legal system is complex enough in for a traditional family in need, trying to get kinship assistance can be next to impossible!

I have found a site (courtesy of the American Bar Association) that can shed some light on the issues you are facing. 

 

KINSHIP CARE LEGAL RESEARCH CENTER

 

If you are involved in a domestic violence situation and need help, you can contact the Family Justice Center.

Services include: 

• Advocacy
• Childcare
• Counseling
• Court support
• Food at center
• Forensic documentation of injuries
• Law enforcement
• Legal assistance/Child custody
• Legal assistance/Court representation
• Legal assistance/Divorce proceedings
• Legal assistance/Restraining orders
• Medical services
• Phones (cell phones, phones on site, and phone cards)
• Safety planning
• Spiritual support
• Transportation

 

click here to locate a family justice center near you 

( including Canada, England and Mexico)

ELAP provides persons age 60+ with legal representation, information and education in civil legal matters throughout the state of Georgia. It is required by federal law and funded primarily by the federal Older Americans Act.

Click Here For Website

Program services include:

• Document preparation (i.e., living wills, durable powers of attorney for health care, financial powers of attorney, etc.)
• Legal information
• Legal counseling
• Case representation
• Legal education sessions to help older Georgians prevent more costly, time-consuming legal problems

The program does not base eligibility on a person’s income or resources; however, federal law requires that the program direct services to those persons 60 years of age and older who are in the greatest social and/or economic need, rural or low income minorities.

For low income persons younger than age 60 meeting certain income and resource requirements, Georgia Legal Services Program, Inc.  and Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Inc.  provide free and reduced fee legal assistance.

The Division of Aging Services (DAS) administers the ELAP program through the Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs). Contact your local AAA for more information.

Legal Resources:

http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/findlegalhelp/usa_freehelp.cfm

http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/findlegalhelp/states.html

http://www.philadelphiabar.org/page/PISOrganizations?appNum=1

Hello. I am a 28 yr, single mother of two small children. I recently left an emotionally/mentally abusive, alcoholic husband in Illinois. I came home to California to visit my parents and decided to stay when the neighbor from across the street informed me of some horrible news. It seems that back when my husband and I lived with my parents, he came home with our oldest son one afternoon, and was so drunk, he could barely get our son out of the carseat from the back of the car. My husband has put our children in danger too many times to count, and I am not going to be a bad mother anymore and allow it to happen. I need to keep my children safe and secure.

My husband and his parents moved us to Illinois about 18 months ago. I left California, naively thinking that the promises my husband gave would prove to make our life/marriage/family better. He said he would go to school, attend counseling and that it would be cheaper and less stressful to live there. We were only "moving" to Illinois because there was a house waiting for us to live in. After he got into school, and I got a job, we would move across the river and into Iowa. My Parents, friends and relatives warned me about leaving. They believed there was something sinister behind it all. I tried to calm them and thought that I was doing something that would benefit my family. That was all I wanted. I wanted a clean, sober husband, happy kids and the prospect of saving money to eventually return to California to buy a home. None of this was to materialize, and I soon realized that I had been duped and lured into the middle of nowhere with no help to get away.

I found out he was drinking a little after six months of being there. For those that don't know, there is a law that keeps parents from leaving a state after the children have met the residency requirements. I found out the hard way, by repeated boasting from him and his parents of "Good Luck, you're stuck here" and "You can't go anywhere its against the law".

My husband, Zach, has attempted suicide. He has crashed our car after drinking and driving. He has repeatedly gotten drunk and fallen asleep while watching our kids, while I was working. He spent our savings on drugs. He firmly believes that he is a good father. He refuses to go to AA because "they're a bunch of old people with worse problems, and I don't believe in God". He stopped taking his prescribed medication because "He can do this on his own".

I stupidly stayed with him for over 5 years. I grew up in an alcoholic family. I didn't have a father (he died when I was 16 of a drug overdose). I truly believed that if I supported him enough, loved him enough, that he would be good and my children would have a father I never had. I realize, and its extremely sad and hard for me, that I have done a great disservice to my children and myself. I have entered into counseling, along with my oldest son, who is 4 years old. I am trying to make things right. I am trying to do the right and healthy thing.

My credit is ruined. We used credit cards to live on when money got tight. Things were not better or cheaper in Illinois. We were still living hand-to-mouth. I graduated from a technical college and became a medical assistant. I am a former United States Marine. I have always been the provider for my family. My husband refused to get a job, as it was "too stressful". While I went to college, I was pregnant with our second, and working full time.

I should never have moved. I should never have stayed with him. I should never have brought children into such a horrible mess, but I have them, and I love them dearly, and wouldn't change it for the world.

I am asking for help. I have NO money. I am going back to school to earn a BA in Social Work. My parents have already given what money they have, but it is not enough.

I have a court date for April 2, 2007. I have not been served, and have only a couple days left to answer back in Illinois. I need an Illinois lawyer immediately. There are two that I have talked to, one wants $1500 and the other wants $5000. The only things of value that I own is a 94 dodge minivan and my wedding ring.

Please. If you could help me, you would be an angel of mercy. I am an honest person, I am hard working. I am smart and talented. I am optimistic and do NOT want to believe that nice people finish last.

I am reaching out. Please, can anyone help me?