BIL 211 Draft 01 2008-2010 (Part 1, Vol. II)

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AGING AGING Program Highlights (continued) Legal Services Through their Senior Citizen Program (SCP), the Legal Aid Society of Hawai`i (LASH) did an excellent job of serving older individuals in Hawaii County in fiscal year 2008 -2009. As in previous contract years, LASH well exceeded the contract objectives. They assisted 341 older individuals with a variety of legal issues which totaled approximately 2,066 hours of legal services for our older adults across Hawaii County. There were 115 home visits conducted by LASH over the year in order to accommodate the clients' travel limitations. During the fiscal year, 64.8% of the clients seen were economically needy, 44.8% of the clients were minority and 11.4% of the clients were homebound, institutionalized, or at -risk for institutionalization. LASH's SCP program has paralegals that stay in constant contact with the Hawai'i County Aging network through participation in the 4 monthly Case Management Interdisciplinary Team (IDT) meetings throughout the island. The SCP coordinator also completed 11 lectures /presentations on various topics to older adult groups around the island this year. Outreach Services The Coordinated Services for the Elderly Program (CSE) continues to be the sole contractor providing outreach services to older individuals in Hawai`i County. Through their outreach services CSE offers excellent information and referral assistance as well as linkages for seniors to needed services. CSE made 3,039 referrals for 2,735 older adults for benefits and /or services such as Food Stamps, Housing, Case Management, Nutrition, Day Care, Energy Assistance, Medicaid, Social Security Medicare and Supplemental Security Income and Medical and Legal services. As a method of reaching out to older adults in Hawaii County, CSE scheduled special senior ID distribution sessions at various shopping centers as well as during activities such as health fairs and recreational events across the island. These sessions as well as other outreach activities resulted in 902 additional older adults being identified and registered in Hawai`i County Office of Aging's (HCOA) Social Assistance Management Systems (SAMS) database this past year with a total of 979 Senior ID cards issued during the fiscal year. As in previous years, CSE exceeded their contracted units and has proven to be a reliable partner in other community collaborative projects. CSE continues to be a major partner of the USDA Senior Produce Program and this past year completed 232 plus Hawaii Island Food Bank Senior Produce Program applications and re- certifications. CSE also referred 78 seniors to Hawai`i County Economic Opportunity Council for the Low Income Housing Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) during June 2009. 10