WNY Legal Services for the Elderly

- About Us -

The Mission of LSED

It is the mission of Legal Services for the Elderly, Disabled or Disadvantaged of Western New York to improve the quality of life for elderly, disabled and low-income persons in Western New York. We do so through the provision of free civil legal services, primarily to individuals age sixty and over as defined by the federal Older Americans Act, but also to younger disabled and low-income individuals, as funding permits. Our primary goal is to use the legal system to assure that our clients may live independently and with dignity.

Overview of Services

LSED is a nonprofit human services agency incorporated in 1978. Our purpose is to provide specialized, free civil legal services to elderly people in the community of Western New York. Currently we contract with the Departments of Senior Services in the following counties: Erie, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Allegany, and the Seneca Nation of Indians. In Genesee County we contract with the Department of Social Services to handle Medicare appeals for Medicaid recipients. In 2005, we expanded our "Medicare Maximization" project to include Niagara County, as well.

Through our health care program we seek to ensure access to adequate health care by handing appeals and questions regarding Medicaid, Medicare, private health insurance, home health care and patients' rights. Health care issues continue to be a major focus for us, making up more than 32% of our caseload and provide the subject matter for every one of our impact cases.

The goal of our housing program is to help our clients avoid homelessness by defending them in evictions, tax foreclosure proceedings and predatory lending schemes. We also represent elderly homeowners faced with housing code violations and assist those clients in obtaining grant money to make the necessary repairs. Many seniors are long-term city residents and, by helping them remain in the community, we also ensure the stability and character of local neighborhoods.

Our protective services program developed as a result of the large number of calls we received about seniors with diminished mental capacity. When caseloads permit, we are available to serve as defense counsel, court-appointed guardian and court evaluator. We also draft advanced directives for our clients, both powers of attorney and health care proxies. It is our hope that by promoting the use of advanced directives, we can reduce the burden on our courts and community caused by the commencement of guardianship proceedings.

We handle issues of income maintenance and some consumer matters with the goal of increasing the self-sufficiency of our clients. We remove illegal liens on the Social Security accounts of our clients, help devise payment plans for delinquent water bills (thereby avoiding shut-offs) and represent clients in appealing adverse decisions in the areas of Social Security retirement, non-disability SSI and Veterans benefits.

In 2001 we began a Grandparents' Rights Program. The goal of this program is to provide support to seniors caring for minor children. A secondary goal is to preserve intact families and keep children out of the foster care system. The project is funded by the Erie County Department of Senior Services with a federal grant through Title III-E of the Older Americans Act. Senior relatives can get assistance with custody and adoption of their minor family members and can also obtain help with issues involving the child's (and their own) public benefits.

Clients Served

Buffalo is the second poorest large city in the country. According to the 2000 census although Western New York is generally losing population, as the baby boomers age, the percentage of seniors will actually increase. Erie County estimates that by 2015 there will be a 73.8% increase in the number of seniors age 85 and older as compared to 1990 and that almost 1 in 4 residents will be sixty or older. www.erie.gov/depts/seniorservices/index.asp. As the number and percentage of seniors increase in all counties of Western New York, there will be an increased need for our services to advocate for clients, many of whom will have lost family support as younger people leave the area. The problem was highlighted by a September 5, 2007 article in the Buffalo News:

"As the baby boom turns into the elder boom in the coming years, economically struggling areas like the Buffalo Niagara region are likely to face a squeeze providing needed services for their swelling core of older residents, a new study said Tuesday. The report, from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Buffalo branch said upstate New York's high concentration of older adults will spur increased demand for senior-related services and affordable housing at a time when governments and nonprofit groups are strapped for cash... "This is going to be an increasingly important issue for us" said Richard Deitz, the Federal Reserve branch's senior economist, who wrote the report with former Fed economist Ramon Garcia. "They are going to be seeking more money in the context of tighter budgets and fiscal distress" Deitz said. "The demand for services and infrastructure tends to be greatest in those parts of upstate New York that are already experiencing fiscal stress because of rising expenditures and eroding tax bases."

In 2007 LSED closed 998 cases, providing assistance to 1,327 Western New Yorkers. Based upon the information from our closed cases, it is possible to get a picture of our client population. The typical client in 2007 was more likely to be female (61%), and disabled (55%). Forty-three percent of our clients identified themselves as belonging to a minority group. As our local population ages, our client base does as well: 56% of our clients were age 75 or older in 2007. Although the Older Americans Act prohibits us from having a strict income test for eligibility, we target economically and socially disadvantaged individuals.

As required by the Older Americans Act, every client receives a survey at the close of his or her case. An impressive 95% of our clients are either very satisfied or satisfied by our services and staff. The following comments are typical:

I can't stress enough how valuable your program is to those of us trying to protect our grandchildren. Please keep up the great work you do."

"I am very thankful that you offer services for the elderly and as an older person, we need representatives because lots of people try overlooking the elderly in hard times."

"I suggest that the great work that's being done there be kept up. The help I received from Mr. Tom Hayduk was a blessing from God."