New Partnership Between State Offices to Help Elderly, Disabled with Legal Services

On Thursday Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a partnership between the State Office for the Aging, the State Office of Court Administration and the New York State bar association to find new ways to better provide affordable legal services to senior citizens and New Yorkers with disabilities.

For older New Yorkers and individuals with disabilities, access to affordable legal services can be a critical factor in their ability to continue to live in their homes and communities of choice.

Financial, health care, and family problems can also pose complicated legal issues. To determine the adequacy of existing programs, the partnership will assess legal needs and identify legal assistance programs and resources.

It will survey legal services providers, attorneys, judges, the general public, and county-based agencies on aging that administer the State Office for the Aging's legal assistance program.