In Fall 2024, Pro Bono Net and its partners hosted a special webinar to share insights and lessons learned from the Legal Risk Detector. During the webinar, developers and managers of Risk Detector-powered partnerships discussed their experiences, highlighting both the successes and challenges of implementing these innovative models. Attendees also gained valuable insights into the program’s real-world impact and its pivotal role in addressing legal issues that often go undetected or unreported.

 

Building Tech-Enabled Community Partnerships to Serve Older Adults:

Insights from the Legal Risk Detector

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In the fall of 2019, Pro Bono Net, in collaboration with the Center for Elder Law & Justice, hosted Aging Safely: A Webinar Series on Technology and Partnership Strategies to Better Combat Elder Abuse and Financial Exploitation. 

The goal of this three-part webinar series was to highlight the goals of the Aging Safely project, how the Legal Risk Detector and new online forms powered by LawHelp Interactive can be used by senior-serving organizations, and how other programs can take advantage of resources and learning developed under this project.

We welcome your feedback about this series in our online questionnaire. Your input will help us enhance this project and resources we create for advocates in the future. 

 

The Legal Risk Detector:

Powering Community Partnerships to Address Elder Abuse and Financial Exploitation

This webinar introduces the goals of this series, and the need for novel approaches to addressing elder abuse and financial exploitation among older Americans. It includes an overview of the Legal Risk Detector project, an innovative tool and community partnership model designed to screen, identify and refer seniors facing these issues to legal services. We spotlight the use of the Legal Risk Detector within Center for Elder Law & Justice to more comprehensively reach and service seniors vulnerable to these issues in the Buffalo, New York region.

 

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Starting a Risk Detector Initiative in Your Community:

Case Studies from the Field

This webinar highlights examples of projects in two additional regions – one urban, and one rural – in which the Legal Risk Detector is being used to successfully expand outreach and referral efforts to seniors on elder abuse, neglect and financial exploitation issues. Panelists will discuss differences in these service models, the community partners involved, and factors to consider when designing similar projects. Attendees will also learn about resources and information available for programs interested in adopting the Risk Detector or developing a similar project in their local communities.

 

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Online Legal Forms to Mitigate and Protect Against Common Forms of Abuse

This webinar highlights newly developed online legal forms designed for use by seniors, caregivers, or providers assisting them, to mitigate and protect against common forms of abuse and financial exploitation. The forms are available for free to seniors, and nonprofit legal services providers and senior-serving organizations assisting individuals with these issues, and can be used in any state. Panelists will discuss why these forms where selected, discuss potential use cases for the forms, and how to access them. This webinar also highlights additional resources to support safe and effective uses of technology by seniors.

 

The Legal Risk Detector Case Studies

The Legal Risk Detector is transforming how organizations address critical legal challenges faced by older adults. In Nebraska, it empowers statewide aging services to identify legal risks and intervene early, while in New York City, JASA leverages the tool to protect vulnerable seniors from financial exploitation and scams. The following case studies highlight the successes, challenges, and real-world impact of integrating the Risk Detector into diverse service models—demonstrating its potential to enhance collaboration, streamline workflows, and improve outcomes for older adults.

 

Case Study: Leveraging Technology to Protect Older Adults - The Impact of JASA’s Risk Detector Tool

Case Study: The Impact of the Legal Risk Detector on Aging Services in Nebraska

The Legal Risk Detector Toolkit provides a road map for how nonprofit legal aid and elder justice programs can successfully build a Legal Risk Detector-powered outreach, issue-spotting and referral program in your jurisdiction. It contains information about the origins of the Legal Risk Detector, what it is, how it works, how the Center for Elder Law & Justice has used it, how it can be customized for new regions, as well as suggested practices and tips for deployment. 

• Download the Legal Risk Detector Toolkit (PDF)

We welcome your feedback on this Toolkit, and how we can improve it in the future. Please contact Pro Bono Net with any feedback or suggestions, or questions about how the Risk Detector can be adapted for your jurisdiction. 

Pro Bono Net and the Center for Elder Law & Justice have partnered to create two toolkits to help senior-serving organizations adopt the Legal Risk Detector and Aging Safely online forms, powered by LawHelp Interactive, developed under this project.

The online forms are designed for use for free by older adults, or providers or caregivers assisting them, to help mitigate and protect against common forms of abuse and financial exploitation. The forms were reviewed by legal experts from nonprofit legal aid organizations serving older adults and can be used in any state. They cover three areas: 

• Domestic violence
• Safety planning 
• Consumer law, specifically, identity theft and financial exploitation

We created two different versions of the consumer law forms, one set designed for use by older adults that uses an avatar-based interface, known as A2J Author 6, that guides the user though the interview along a visual path to the courthouse. The alternate version uses the HotDocs interface, and is more streamlined for use by advocates or other repeat users of the forms.

The Aging Safely Online Forms Toolkit provides information about why these forms were developed, where to find them, and how organizations serving older adults can use them in various modes of service delivery. It also contains more information about the advocate versions of the consumer law forms.  

• Download the Aging Safely Online Forms Toolkit (PDF)
   
• Visit our Resources for Older Adults page to access all of the forms created for use by older adults, and instructions for using them
   
• To access the advocate versions of the consumer law forms, visit:
  • Letter to a creditor to request debt forgiveness when a bill is owed
  • Letter to a creditor to dispute a charge from a bank or company
  • Letter to a credit bureau to dispute an item on a credit report

We welcome your feedback on this Toolkit, and how we can improve it in the future. Please contact Pro Bono Net with any questions, feedback or suggestions.