Conn. Gets Grant to Prevent Fraud Against Elderly
By Marty Toohey
WASHINGTON, Oct. 09, 2002–Connecticut Legal Services will be beefing up a little-known consumer protection and fraud hotline for seniors, thanks to a $375,000 grant from the federal Administration on Aging.
The hotline, currently staffed by one employee in CLS’s Willimantic office, provides seniors quick access to legal advice and representation. The grant will be spread over three years, and CLS hopes to offer an expanded-service hotline by next April.
In addition to fraud response, the hotline will provide advice for dealing with debt, home ownership and other issues of concern to seniors, said Marvin Farbman, CLS’s executive director.
“This is huge for us,” Farbman said. “This will help us provide good legal information and advice and, when necessary, high-quality legal representation.”
Such advice and representation was useful to an elderly fraud victim identified as JS in the grant application.
JS is an elderly woman prone to confusion, the application said. Last year, two door-to-door salesmen sold her what she thought was an $800 vacuum cleaner, even though she already owned a functional one, which they persuaded her to trade in as part of the deal.
It turned out the contract she signed for the vacuum required her to pay considerably more than $800.
JS contacted her local Agency on Aging, which provides advocates for the elderly. The advocate contacted CLS, which in turn contacted the vacuum company, got the contract rescinded and persuaded the company to pay the woman fair-market value for her old vacuum.
The hotline would provide such services on a regular basis.
“Senior citizens frequently face issues like these, particularly fraud from people preying on the elderly,” said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who has frequently listed fraud against the elderly as one of his prime concerns. “It’s essential to provide means for senior citizens to protect themselves and protect their financial independence.”
The grant will fund a collaborative effort between CLS, the Attorney General’s office, the state Department of Consumer Protection, the Area Agency on Aging and the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut, which will aid in tracking down difficult-to-reach seniors. In addition to funding the hotline itself, the money will pay for CLS staff and Area Agency on Aging advocate staff training.
The hotline is intended for consumer protection, but if other underlying issues arise while CLS is interviewing a senior citizen, the legal services agency will provide counsel for those problems, as well.
“We’ll treat these problems holistically,” Farbman said.
It’s the inclusive and “comprehensive nature of the program” that won the grant, said Edwin Walker, a spokesman for the Administration on Aging, a branch of the Health and Human Services Department..
“We ask for an emphasis on innovation, and we saw that in CSL’s request,” Walker said.
The grant is one of six given each year by Walker’s agency. The grant money must be used specifically to create a hotline.
The current hotline number is 1-800 413-7796, but that number may change when the hotline is expanded, Farbman said.
Published in The New Britain Herald, in Connecticut.
