On Wednesday March 23rd, VOLS Legal Director, Peter Kempner testified at an oversight preliminary budget hearing held by the New York City Council Committee on Aging. Our testimony highlighted VOLS work providing civil legal services that include life planning services and legal presentation for senior New Yorkers. The Senior Law Project strives to make sure underserved seniors are able to receive free legal services and resources to plan to their future. Peter Kempner’s testimony is below:
NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON AGING
Wednesday, March 23, 2022, 2:30 p.m.
SUBJECT: Oversight – Preliminary Budget Hearings – Aging
Good afternoon, Chair Hudson and members of the Committee on Aging. My name is Peter Kempner. I am the Legal Director and Senior Law Project Director at Volunteers of Legal Service (VOLS). VOLS was established in 1984 and our purpose is to leverage private attorneys to provide free legal services to low-income New Yorkers to help fill the justice gap.
For over 20 years, the VOLS Senior Law Project, formerly known as the Elderly Project, has provided free civil legal services to New York City seniors aged 60 and over with incomes up to 200% of the Federal Poverty Level, a universe of 541,000 older New Yorkers. We operate a free legal hotline, hold in-person and virtual legal clinics in collaboration with our community partners, produce know your rights guides, hold educational workshops, and provide free legal services to New York City seniors and their caregivers on over 1,600 matters each year.
The core work that the VOLS Senior Law Project does is the drafting and execution of life planning documents which include Last Wills and Testaments, Powers of Attorney, Health Care Proxies, Living Wills, and other advance directives. We help ensure that our clients have the right plan in place in the event of incapacity or death. In addition to this primary work, the VOLS Senior Law Project also provides representation and advocacy on housing issues, benefits access, and other legal issues seniors face.
The critical documents we draft for our clients make certain that their wishes are clear and are carried out by the people they love and trust the most. They also ensure that seniors can live in the community for as long as possible and help to avoid costly and intrusive legal proceedings like guardianships. These documents enable older New Yorkers to maintain income, avoid homelessness, they safeguard that dying wishes are fulfilled, unnecessary medical treatments are avoided, and ensure caregivers can provide the needed support so seniors can age in place with dignity and respect.
As they age, many seniors become incapacitated and reliant on caregivers. If seniors do not have their documents in place, caregivers will be unable to pay rent or utility bills. This could result in homelessness or placement in a nursing home. A caregiver without power of attorney may be forced to file for guardianship through the courts. Guardianship proceedings are costly and can be exploited by predatory caregivers and often can be avoided with the right future planning.
Avoiding premature institutionalization and the ability remain in their homes for as long as possible, is the desire of 76 percent of Americans over the age of 50, according to
a 2018 survey by AARP. Seniors who engage in advance care planning will be less likely to die in a hospital or to receive futile intensive care. Seniors will attain a better quality of life knowing they have appointed individuals they know and trust to make decisions on their behalf should they become incapacitated. Seniors will receive medical and end of life care that is in sync with their values and personal goals. Seniors are empowered to gain control of their care when they record what they want and don’t want at the end of life.
The Senior Law Project reaches out to underserved subsets of New York’ City’s aging population where poverty is more concentrated and additional barriers to accessing services exist. We serve older veteran, immigrant, and LGBTQ New Yorkers through partnerships with the organizations serving them. Immigrant seniors are twice as likely to live in poverty as their native-born counterparts. Many low-income and senior individuals of color have lacked access to quality healthcare prior to and during the pandemic, while their communities have been particularly vulnerable to COVID- 19, with Black or African American, Non-Hispanic persons dying at 1.7 times the rate of their White, Non-Hispanic persons counterparts, and Hispanic or Latino persons at 1.9 times the rate.
The devastating impact of the pandemic on vulnerable seniors, who have suffered 80% of the COVID-related deaths in New York City, has only reinforced the urgency and importance of planning for disability and end of life. Sadly, too few seniors have properly planned for the future. Among the U.S. population, it is estimated that only one-third have completed an advance directive. Many low-income seniors think that because they do not have resources or wealth to pass on to the next generation, they do not need to have advance directives in place. They are wrong.
There are many examples of why low-income seniors experiencing cognitive or physical decline would need to have the right documents in place to stabilize their lives. A senior who has executed a Power of Attorney authorizes their agent to seek government benefits to pay for housing costs, to sign leases, to do their annual recertification for their NYCHA tenancy, to apply for and recertify for SCRIE benefits and to deal with any issue that may arise with their apartment. Without this tool a caregiver may find themselves powerless and the senior at risk of eviction because rent is not being paid and benefits recertifications have lapsed.
This is why the New York City Council’s financial support for our program is so crucial and we thank the Council for the funding you have given to our work for aging New Yorkers. Volunteers of Legal Services looks forward to working with the members of the City Council and the administration to ensure that New York City can best support our seniors in need.
Peter Kempner, Esq.
Senior Law Project Director and Legal Director
To watch the video of the hearing and VOLS’ testimony, click here. Peter’s Testimony Begins at the 2:13;25 mark.