Programs in those jurisdictions are forbidden by the Act from representing juveniles in such cases unless private representation is not available. A greater number of legal matters involving the elderly poor may also be feegenerating than the legal problems of the poor population in general. Representation in Social Security and SSI benefit claim cases carries a statutory fee of 25 percent of the benefits awarded. Programs must attempt to refer these cases to the private bar before themselves undertaking representation.

Many programs, of course, do continue to

represent a substantial number of benefit claimants in these areas, as the sums involved may be too little to furnish a sufficient fee to members of the private bar.

One final point. From time to time some have urged a requirement that all legal services programs use a particular method for providing service to the elderly--such as a separate specialty unit---or that a portion of the Corporation's appropriations be earmarked for service to the elderly. We think that those steps would be most unwise.

The immense variety in local circumstances and the

needs and priorities of local programs dictate against any one best delivery model for any group. The Corporation has funded several local programs which serve only elderly clients. Through these programs, as well as the many other specialized elderly units operated by local legal services programs and the model projects funded by the Administration on Aging, we will in the next several years be able to learn in much greater depth which delivery mechanisms yield the best results under differing local conditions. For example, training local senior citizens to act as paralegals may be a

very successful delivery method in some areas, but may prove to be needlessly inefficient in others. We will assist local programs to make the best possible delivery decisions under their local cicumstances.

We also oppose earmarking a portion of the

Corporation's appropriations for service to any particular group. The Corporation's mandate is to provide service to all of the poor, concentrating only upon those least able to afford such service. Earmarking funds for any group would

inevitably mean less efficiency in working toward that goal. It would mean that other clients or groups would be denied access to the legal system altogether. Such trade-offs should not be necessary when the sound solution is to provide the Corporation with sufficient resources to perform the job for which Congress established it. The Legal Services Corporation is vitally concerned with ensuring equal access to the system of justice for all of the nation's poor, regardless of age, race, or background. recognize that securing that access for some groups in the population is more difficult than for others. We believe we have made progress in improving the quality and quantity of service to the nation's elderly and juvenile poor. We are aware that many problems remain, and we know that more must be done in the futuer. Given adequate resources, we will do the job.

We

STATEMENT OF UNDERSTANDING

between

THE ADMINISTRATION ON AGING

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE

and

THE LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION

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The need for legal services among persons who are elderly is becoming increasingly apparent. While older persons have the same legal problems as any other age-group housing and consumer matters, for example they also have unique problems associated with their age, such as discrimination in employment, pensions, nursing homes and home health care, and an increasing reliance on public benefits. In addition, the relative lack of mobility of many older persons often causes difficulty in gaining access to legal services, even when they are available.

Congress has assigned responsibility for providing older persons access to legal assistance to both the Legal Services Corporation and the Administration on Aging. The Legal Services Corporation Act of 1974 authorizes the Corporation to provide financial support for legal assistance in noncriminal proceedings or matters to persons financially unable to afford such assistance. This group includes a substantial number of elderly people. The 1975 amendments to the Older Americans Act designated legal services as one of four priority services to be provided older persons through funds available to state and area aging agencies under Title III of that Act.

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Because local legal services programs, in their efforts to deliver services to the elderly, confront particular problems of outreach, education, and transportation, and because the aging network is particularly suited to alleviating such problems, cooperation at the local level can lead to expanded services to the elderly. In many communities, where lack of funding limits local legal services programs to the general practice of law, the availability of resources under the Older Americans Act can make possible specialized services for the elderly. The participation of local legal services program personnel in the activities of the aging network, including education of older persons about their legal problems, and training and technical assistance to network personnel working with older persons, can increase access to legal services for the elderly.

The purpose of this agreement is to promote such cooperative working relationships between the Administration on Aging and the Legal Services Corporation, and more importantly to encourage those relationships between LSC funded legal services programs and AoA funded projects and agencies at the state and local level, to maximize the capacity of both to provide access to legal services for the elderly, and to use their combined influence to encourage greater participation in such efforts by the private bar and by law schools. To realize that goal, the Administration on Aging and the Legal Services Corporation are committed to the following objectives:

1. To expand the awareness by legal personnel of the legal concerns
and problems facing older persons;

2. To expand the understanding by older persons of their legal rights;
3. To increase the number of legal personnel trained to serve and

working on behalf of the elderly of the nation; and

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4. To improve the access of older persons to existing legal services
and to increase the number of communities in which such services
are available.

OBJECTIVE ONE:

To expand the awareness by legal personnel of the legal
concerns and problems facing older persons today.

In order to promote the achievement of this objective, the Administration on Aging will: (1) prepare a report on the social and legal problems facing older persons for distribution to law schools, legal organizations, legal services programs and legal journals; (2) encourage the inclusion of the legal concerns for older persons issue in national, regional and State legal conferences; (3) sponsor the drafting of suggested curricula materials relating to older persons for use in legal training programs; (4) encourage State and Area Agencies on Aging to be in contact with state and local bar associations and with legal services programs to discuss the legal problems of older persons and to explore ways in which the bar associations, legal services programs, and the National Network on Aging can cooperate to expand legal services to the elderly; (5) make available to law schools, legal organizations and legal services programs materials developed by legal services model project grantees; (6) sponsor the conduct of national and regional workshops on legal-social issues and the elderly; and (7) other activities which are appropriate to the achievement of this objective.