2010 Elderly Legal Assistance Program Overview

Georgia State Seal

Georgia Division of Aging Services
Access to Services Manual

Chapter:

2000 Elderly Legal Assistance Program (ELAP)

Effective Date:

Section Title:

Elderly Legal Assistance Program Overview

Reviewed or Updated in:

MT 2016-01

Section Number:

2010

Previous Update:

Individuals who are residents of the State of Georgia must be sixty years of age or older and have a legal problem that falls within the priority area in order to be eligible for the Elderly Legal Assistance Program Services are targeted to those eligible persons in the greatest social and/or economic need, LEP, rural and low-income minorities.

ELAP provides civil legal assistance to persons sixty years of age and older in a variety of areas such as:

  • Accessing health care

  • Accessing long term care

  • Debt Collection

  • Housing

  • Consumer Issues

  • Medicare: appeals and exceptions

  • Medicaid: appeals

  • Social Security Claims and Hearings

  • Elder Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation

  • Consumer Fraud

  • Defense of Guardianship

  • Advance Directives

  • End-of-Life Issues

Services provided include: legal information, legal community education and direct case representation.

Prohibition on Means-Testing – Federal law prohibits using income and/or assets tests to consider whether or not an individual is eligible for services under this program.

Voluntary contributions are allowed and even encouraged by the Older Americans Act, but should be mentioned in a way that does not discourage the use of services under this program.