In January 2008, the Volunteer Lawyer Program of Northeast Indiana, Inc. (VLP) created the Volunteer Advocates for Seniors and Incapacitated Adults (VASIA) program. In 2006, local attorneys Margaret Falls and Mark Witmer, also a VLP Board member, having recognized certain unmet needs for seniors and incapacitated adults in Northeast Indiana, asked the VLP to help. Subsequently, a VLP subcommittee, over the course of a more than a year, met numerous times with members of the Allen County judiciary and many local leaders of social service agencies and providers, and recommended that the VLP meet this need. During this process, the VLP subcommittee also learned that the State of Indiana previously identified that these unmet needs for seniors and incapacitated adults were a statewide problem and was in the early stages of implementing programs throughout Indiana to help. The Indiana Legislature passed a special statute for these types of programs, and the VLP-VASIA program’s name is actually an acronym from this 2004 Indiana statute (I.C. 29-3-8.5, amended in 2006).
The VLP-VASIA program is designed to serve the needs of those individuals who do not have family or friends willing or able to assist or care for them when they are no longer able to care for themselves. Modeled after the State of Indiana’s Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program, the VLP-VASIA program meets these needs through a full-time Program Coordinator who manages the services of volunteer lawyers as well as caring individuals from the community who volunteer their time for those in need. The VLP-VASIA program may help people in preparing and executing powers of attorney and medical directives. In cases where a physician has certified that an individual is not legally competent to manage his/her own affairs, the VLP-VASIA program may establish guardianships for individuals in Allen County’s Probate Court.
The clients that the VLP-VASIA program serves come via various referring sources, including the Courts, Adult Protective Services, nursing homes, hospitals, and social service agencies. Currently, the VLP-VASIA program is limited to those people who generally are considered to be of very modest means or to have no resources at all. For those individuals who have assets but no family or friends willing to assist them, the VLP-VASIA program will provide information on other resources who can help outside of the VLP-VASIA program.
After receiving a referral, the VLP-VASIA program will investigate and confirm the client’s health needs and try to locate a family member or friend to act as guardian. If no appropriate individual is found to assist the individual and/or to serve as that individual’s legal guardian, the VLP will investigate the client’s financial resources to determine if they qualify for VLP-VASIA services. If so, the VLP-VASIA program will assess what services are needed for the individual. If the person is competent, the VLP-VASIA program will assist the person as he/she requests; if the person is not competent, the VLP-VASIA program may seek legal guardianship, and then help the individual in a variety of ways, including with applications for Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid, housing, nursing care if necessary, medical appointments and medication monitoring, as well as to make other important decisions for that person.
The VLP also created an Advisory Council to oversee the VLP-VASIA Program. This Council is comprised of individuals from various service providers in Northeast Indiana, including local hospitals, nursing homes, government and social service agencies. The Council meets quarterly to review matters and to help establish protocols for the VLP VASIA Program. The Council is in the process of developing a community Master Ethics Committee that would serve as an ethical issues resource not only for the VLP-VASIA program but also for other agencies in Northeast Indiana.
The VLP-VASIA Program developed and has in place a system to recruit and train the community volunteers who assist the Program Coordinator. There is a comprehensive training manual. Individuals are carefully screened and must complete thirty hours of training covering such topics as Case Management, Medicare/Medicaid, Admissions to Long Term Care Facilities, Court procedures and Ethics. Volunteer professionals who are prominent in their respective fields facilitate the training. Honorable David J. Avery of the Allen County Superior Court, Magistrate Phillip Houk of the Allen County Superior Court Probate Division, IPFW Professor William Bruening, Ph.D., and Julie Cameron, Registered Guardian and Acting ISGA President, are just some of the trainers for this program.
Volunteers are required to visit their client once a month and make a written report to the Program Coordinator. Needs are assessed on a case-by-case basis and some clients may need additional attention and this is taken into consideration when assigning a volunteer. Volunteers are encouraged to have regular contact with case managers and participate in care plan meetings. It is possible a volunteer may be contacted via phone for specific orders or in emergency situations, and in all cases the Program Coordinator and VLP Executive Director serve as back up if the volunteer cannot be located.
The VLP-VASIA program’s inaugural training session is in April 2008, with the program planning to regularly begin accepting clients through referrals as early as June 2008. During the first year the board members anticipate serving twenty-five clients and doubling the number of clients in 2009. Further, while starting in Allen County in 2008, the VLP-VASIA program plans to “roll-out” its services to two (2) counties contiguous to Allen County in 2009 and then gradually to include the nine (9) counties that compromise all of the area served by the VLP.
The VLP is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization that was incorporated in 2002 but has been in existence since 1992 and served throughout, including in lean times, by Judy Whitelock, its Executive Director. In 2006, through the VLP, 179 attorneys volunteered free-of-charge over 1761 hours of their time and served hundreds of need-based clients. Its funding is from individual and corporate donations as well as IOLTA and Civil Legal Aid Fund grants.
For further information about the program or volunteer opportunities please contact Michele M. Wagner, VASIA Program Coordinator,at 260-407-0917 or toll free at 877-407-0917.