OVC FY 16 Vision 21: State Civil Legal Services Hotline for Elder Crime Victims

Funding senior legal services programs in five states to provide legal assistance to older victims of crime. Due to the increased number of cases involving older adults, there is a new demand to provide legal assistance to these victims. Many older victims have questions about legal documents they receive in the mail, questions about potential fraud/exploitation committed by family members, caregivers, and even strangers, and/or incidents of abuse. Some unique challenges to older victims is being able to physically and independently access legal assistance making a hotline ideal for these victims. A state-level legal hotline to answer questions and refer older victims to resources in their local area is an effective and impactful method of reaching a substantial population of elder crime victims who may otherwise be unable to access legal assistance. The objective would be to fund the establishment of five state-wide hotlines. Funding would be used to establish or expand hotline services to specifically target older crime victims in these five states. Due to the nature of this project, performance measures will be required rather than participation in a formal evaluation. The selected applicants will be expected to provide baseline data at the beginning of the project and throughout the duration of the project for assessment purposes. As the civil legal providers are experts, no technical assistance will be required. However, applicants will be required to demonstrate their expertise in the application as well as their familiarity and access to existing legal services in their state (e.g., OVC-funded legal services, Office on Violence against Women funded legal services, Legal Services Corporation). Applicants will also be required to submit a sustainability plan. Applicants will be encouraged to join the National Association of Senior Legal Hotlines (NASLH). Any membership to join the NASLH will be allowable expenses under this program.