Elder Law Project
Contact: Kathy Pryor
Phone: 804-782-9430 ext. 14
Fax: 804-649-0974
E-mail: kathy [at] vplc [dot] org
Overview
The Elder Law Project addresses the legal needs specific to those over age 60, through training and technical assistance to legal aid staff and other service providers, community education about elder law issues, administrative and legislative advocacy, and direct representation in limited areas. The legal issues which the Elder Law Project addresses include nursing home and assisted living law/rights, Medicaid eligibility and planning, guardianship and alternatives to guardianship/substitute decision making (such as powers of attorney, advance medical directives, living wills), financial exploitation and scams, elder abuse and neglect, and Social Security.
What services does the Elder Law Project provide?
Advocacy
Much of the work of the Elder Law Project is addressed through public policy work, through advocacy with the General Assembly or administrative agencies. For example, VPLC helped advocate for a law to establish a group of stakeholders to develop a plan to improve the quality of care in nursing homes through the use of civil monetary penalties collected from noncompliant facilities. Since that law passed, VPLC has been an active stakeholder in developing a plan for the use of those funds and is also involved as a stakeholder in efforts to discover ways to encourage nursing homes which provide better service to their residents through a special rating system or increased payments.
Together with the Virginia Department of the Aging and the Office of the State Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, VPLC is working to improve and enhance the delivery of legal service to the elderly throughout the state of Virginia. VDA and VPLC have received a three year grant from the Administration on Aging for "Project 2025—Enhanced Access to Legal Assistance for Older Americans in Virginia." With other stakeholders, Project 2025 is working to bring together legal services providers, area agencies on aging staff, long term care ombudsmen, private attorneys and private bar associations to improve communication and awareness of what others are doing, to collaborate on training, community education, and recruitment of attorneys—to the end that limited funds can be used to the maximum advantage to serve the legal needs of elderly Virginians.
Community Education
Because "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," the Elder Law Project believes that educating elderly persons and their families about their rights can avoid many legal problems in the future and can enable some senior citizens to effectively advocate for themselves. We are developing more educational materials on our website at VaLegalAid.org. If you would like VPLC to come talk to your group about long term care issues or substitute decision-making, please contact us.
Training
Through the Elder Law Project, VPLC provides training and technical assistance to legal services, long term care ombudsmen, private bar attorneys, and other service providers about long term care and other elder law issues.
Representation
Because it is a statewide support organization for local legal aid programs throughout Virginia, VPLC does not generally handle individual cases except where asked to co-counsel by a legal aid attorney. However, direct representation is available through the Elder Law Project in limited cases involving long term care, particularly where a nursing home resident is threatened with an inappropriate discharge from a nursing home or a nursing home has refused to readmit a resident after a hospitalization. For assistance with other types of cases, call your local legal aid office or call 1-866-534-5243 to reach your local legal aid office.