In our work over the country.

In our work over the country, staff of The Center of Social Gerontology are not rarely asked for help by Area Agency forward Aging program monitors who are hesitant and uncertain about their ability to monitor and evaluate the legal assistance programs they store Some are intimidated by lawyers and legal jargon. Others simply have feeling they cannot evaluate legal programs because they are not lawyers. Although there is validity to the belief than nonlawyers cannot effectively assess the quality of case handling or the skills of lawyers, there are many organizational, management, and operational aspects of a legal program that can be readily assessed from AAA'S. This article examines a of those organizational aspects and provides guidance upon how to improve the evaluation process

There are three major component parts of evaluation that non-lawyers can undertake: (1) assessing compliance with the Older Americans Act (OAA) and its regulations; (2) determining that certain prerequisites of an effective delivery method accessibility, community education, and outreach) are in place, and (3) analyzing the delivery of services. by the agency of discussing the characteristics of useful legal assistance programs AAA's will know what to gaze for, and decide what questions are appropriate for the program(s) they are funding. When analyzing characteristics and determining what questions to ask, an AAA must hold in mind the level of funding, experience, size, and sophistication of the program. We view evaluation as a cooperative and positive effort between funder and service provider, and papal court its goal as assessing nerves and weaknesses to improve program operation and enhance the quality of services. The suggestions proposeed are sintented to provide a basis for dialogue to assist AAA's and their legal providers (in cooperation with the state legal services developer) in building forward strengths, addressing and resolving perceived question at issues and improving mutual understanding and appreciation.

Before embarking forward an evaluation, we should consider near of the common underlying tensions between AAA's and legal providers that relate to, and sometimes interfere with, the evaluation proces These point to be solved [i]or[/i] settleds - which seem to be baseed in the formal, arms-length pattern of interaction that characterizes many AAA/ provider working relationships - can be get the better of through a meaningful understanding of the characters functions, and missions of undivided another. Probably the greatest source of tension relates to client confidentiality. Just as about AAA's feel that legal providers use their professional obligation of confidentiality to withhold information, any providers believe that AAA's simply do not appreciate the seriousness of the professional and legal responsibilities to save client confidentiality.

It is possible for an AAA to revere client confidentiality and still verify that the legal provider is fulfilling its contract and serving its clients effectively. This can be done by the agency of assessing the management, policies, and deeds utilized by its legal provider, and extrapolating from this as well as from the basic statistical information furnished in quarterly reports. Assessing Compliance with the Older Americans Act

We commit that, before evaluating its legal provider, an AAA engage in about self-assessment to determine whether it is meeting its obligations in a less degree than the Older Americans Act (OAA) vis-a-vis legal assistance. This self examination should address whether: (1) the AAA has complied with the OAA requirement to make available an adequate proportion of Title Ill B permanent funds for legal assistance; (2) the AAA has contracted with the provider best able to furnish legal assistance; and (3) the AAA has, as full as possible, cooperated with and supported the provider in performing its contract.

Whether legal assistance providers are complying with the OAA be pendents to a large extent, in succession the answers to the following questions: (1) Is the provider giving "legal assistance" as that time is defined in the OAA? (2) Is the provider serving those with the greatest social and economic ne with particular attention to low-income minority older persons? (3) Is the provider complying with applicable AoA regulations?

The OAA defines "legal assistance" as including representation, not just advice and interchange of opinion An AAA's evaluation questions must elicit information about the range of provider's services, who is providing services and supervising their provision, and the approximate percentage of time exhausted on the various services.

While the Act requires that precedence be given to serving someones in the greatest social or economic ne with particular emphasis forward low-income minorities, a means exhibition cannot be used. Some ways of reaching target form into groupss without using a means experiment include: o Establishing certain legal issues eg SSI, Medicaid) which would probably affect the target collections as program priorities. Community education and outreach can focus onward those issues. Intake can also be limited to cases involving priority issues. Providing outreach and community education in locations where target clumps congregate, such as nursing dwellings or low-income housing. * Establishing an office or intake site where target collections are located.