Volunteers of Legal Service (VOLS) Legal Director, Peter Kempner, submitted testimony yesterday to a joint hearing of the New York City Council’s Committees on Aging and Public Housing who were looking into “seniors aging in place in NYCHA during a pandemic.” Our testimony highlighted the importance of future planning for low income NYCHA seniors. 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 NYCHA 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, and ensure caregivers can provide the needed support to access health care services so they age in place with dignity and respect.
Full testimony below:
NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEES ON AGING AND PUBLIC HOUSING
Wednesday, April 7, 2021, 10:00 a.m.
SUBJECT: Oversight – Seniors aging in place in NYCHA during a pandemic.
Good morning. My name is Peter Kempner. I am the Legal Director and Elderly Project Director at Volunteers of Legal Service (VOLS). Thank you, Chair Chin, Chair AmprySamuel, and the members of the Committees for holding this important hearing.
Prior to the pandemic related shutdowns, the VOLS Elderly Project conducted over a dozen monthly legal clinics at New York City senior centers. Some of these legal clinics were held at senior centers located in New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) developments. We targeted these senior centers to ensure that we are reaching seniors who need our services the most. Over the course of the last year, we have shifted to a remote delivery model but are looking forward to the day sometime soon when we can resume our in-person clinics safely. It is one our goals to make certain that New York City seniors living on fixed incomes and residing in NYCHA apartment are protected from displacement. Most cannot afford to rent apartments in the private market and alternative forms of affordable housing are tragically scarce. The stability seniors find in their NYCHA tenancies may be all the separates them from homelessness and the city’s shelter system. We recognize this as a legal services provider and our objective is to equip these seniors with some tools that may help them achieve long term stability.
The core work that the VOLS Elderly 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 Elderly Project also provides representation and advocacy on housing issues, benefits access, and other legal issues seniors face. We serve clients with incomes up to 200% of the Federal Poverty Level, a universe of 541,000 older New Yorkers. 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, and ensure caregivers can provide the needed support to access health care services so they age in place with dignity and respect.
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, 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 NYCHA recertifications lapsed. The agent can also apply for Medicaid benefits to access home care services to allow the senior to stay in their home instead of being placed in a nursing facility.
Sadly, we have encountered unnecessary and illegal barriers put in place by NYCHA which have hindered seniors and their agents who have properly planned. We recently assisted a senior who had risen to the top of the NYCHA transfer list, and an apartment was made available for her to move. When the time came to sign the transfer documents she was hospitalized and could not appear in the management office to sign her paperwork. She had a Power of Attorney in place and her agent attempted to sign the paperwork on her behalf. NYCHA refused to allow the agent to sign, insisting that the paperwork be brought to the tenant’s hospital bedside. Unfortunately, this was next to impossible because the pandemic had shut the hospital down to outside visitors. When we reached out to the NYCHA legal department to assist this client they pointed us to a provision in the NYCHA Standard Procedures Manual that stated that only tenants who have “lost mental capacity” may have their agent under a Power of Attorney sign documents on their behalf.1 This NYCHA policy, memorialized in their Manual, not only violates New York State Law which requires government agencies to honor properly executed Powers of Attorney regardless of the capacity of the principal, but also fails to recognize the needs of many seniors who may be of sound mind but physically frail. Fortunately, the agent was able to get these documents to the tenant’s hospital room through great determination, Had NYCHA followed state law and taken a practical approach to accommodating this disabled senior, the agent’s extraordinary actions would have been unnecessary.
Our hope is that the oversight being conducted today by your two Committees, and the actions outlined in Int 0415-2018 and Int 1827-2019 will bring to light many of the issues that plague seniors living in NYCHA developments. Cooperation between the New York City Department for the Aging and NYCHA as well as the transparency that is brought by annual reporting on seniors residing in NYCHA developments can only serve to better the lives of the seniors living in and seeking services through NYCHA.
Thank you for allowing us to submit this testimony and for supporting our work with New York City seniors.
Peter Kempner, Esq.
Volunteers of Legal Service
Legal Director and Elderly Project Director