[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3981 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3981

   To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to authorize a national 
  network of Statewide senior legal hotlines, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 17, 2021

Mr. Cartwright (for himself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Buchanan, Mrs. Hayes, 
 Ms. Johnson of Texas, Mr. Lynch, Ms. Norton, Ms. Schakowsky, and Ms. 
    Wild) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to authorize a national 
  network of Statewide senior legal hotlines, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Senior Legal Hotline Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. STATEWIDE SENIOR LEGAL HOTLINES.

    Subtitle B of title VII of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 
U.S.C. 3058aa et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 753. STATEWIDE SENIOR LEGAL HOTLINES.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Eligible entity.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `eligible entity' means 
                a nonprofit organization or a partnership described in 
                subparagraph (B) that--
                            ``(i) provides legal assistance to older 
                        individuals at no cost to such individuals; and
                            ``(ii)(I) operates a senior legal hotline 
                        in existence on the date on which the entity 
                        submits an application under subsection (c); or
                            ``(II) demonstrates the capacity to provide 
                        legal assistance to older individuals through a 
                        Statewide senior legal hotline.
                    ``(B) Partnership.--A partnership described in this 
                subparagraph is a partnership between--
                            ``(i) multiple nonprofit organizations; or
                            ``(ii) one or more nonprofit organizations 
                        with one or more State or local governments.
            ``(2) Senior legal hotline.--The term `senior legal 
        hotline' means a program or partnership of programs that--
                    ``(A) provides legal services, such as counseling, 
                advice, advocacy, information, referrals, and other 
                services, as appropriate, to older individuals on a 
                broad range of civil legal issues;
                    ``(B) provides such services by telephone (and may 
                provide such services by additional forms of 
                communication), regardless of whether such services are 
                provided 24 hours a day and 7 days a week;
                    ``(C) provides such services at no cost to the 
                older individuals receiving such services;
                    ``(D) serves older individuals with the greatest 
                social need and greatest economic need as a target 
                population for such services; and
                    ``(E) develops partnerships with other programs and 
                legal assistance providers to ensure that older 
                individuals who need more extensive services, including 
                representation, have access to such services.
            ``(3) Statewide senior legal hotline.--The term `Statewide 
        senior legal hotline' means a senior legal hotline that serves 
        older individuals throughout a State.
    ``(b) Authorization.--The Assistant Secretary may award grants, on 
a competitive basis, to eligible entities that submit an application 
under subsection (c) to establish or operate a Statewide senior legal 
hotline in accordance with the requirements under subsection (d).
    ``(c) Application Process.--
            ``(1) In general.--An eligible entity seeking a grant under 
        this section shall submit to the Assistant Secretary an 
        application at such time, in such manner, and containing such 
        information as the Assistant Secretary may reasonably require, 
        including the contents described in paragraph (2).
            ``(2) Contents.--An application submitted under paragraph 
        (1) shall contain, at a minimum, each of the following:
                    ``(A) An identification of the State to be served 
                by the Statewide senior legal hotline.
                    ``(B) A plan indicating how the eligible entity 
                will satisfy each requirement under subsection (d) with 
                respect to establishing or operating a Statewide senior 
                legal hotline.
                    ``(C) An assurance that the eligible entity will be 
                able to provide, from non-Federal funds, an amount 
                equal to not less than 25 percent of the estimated 
                amount awarded through the grant under this section. An 
                eligible entity may use in-kind contributions to meet 
                the matching requirement under this subparagraph.
                    ``(D) A description of the certification process 
                the eligible entity has in place to ensure that staff 
                members of and volunteers serving the Statewide senior 
                legal hotline will have no conflict of interest 
                (including any financial or substantive conflict of 
                interest) in providing services through the hotline.
            ``(3) Selection.--The Assistant Secretary shall, in 
        selecting eligible entities to receive a grant under this 
        section--
                    ``(A) consider--
                            ``(i) the extent to which the application 
                        submitted by the eligible entity under 
                        paragraph (2) meets the requirements of such 
                        paragraph; and
                            ``(ii) the demonstrated capacity of the 
                        eligible entity to administer a Statewide 
                        senior legal hotline, including the experience 
                        and history of the eligible entity in 
                        delivering high-quality advice, assistance, and 
                        other legal services, to older individuals 
                        through low-cost and innovative methods; and
                    ``(B) ensure that no 2 eligible entities receiving 
                a grant under this section for a fiscal year are 
                planning to establish or operate a Statewide senior 
                legal hotline that serves the same State for such 
                fiscal year.
    ``(d) Requirements.--Each eligible entity receiving a grant under 
this section shall, in establishing or operating a Statewide senior 
legal hotline supported by such grant--
            ``(1) provide for a sufficient number of appropriately 
        trained attorneys, paralegals, other staff members, and 
        volunteers to ensure effective delivery of the services 
        described in subsection (a)(2)(A);
            ``(2) collaborate with the appropriate State unit on aging, 
        including any legal assistance developer, and free or low-cost 
        legal service providers throughout the State, including those 
        who provide free legal assistance to older individuals, to 
        maximize coordination and cost-effective delivery of legal 
        assistance to older individuals;
            ``(3) strive to maximize coordination in the delivery of 
        legal assistance to older individuals in the State, including 
        legal assistance funded by the Legal Services Corporation under 
        the Legal Services Corporation Act (42 U.S.C. 2996 et seq.), 
        legal assistance supported by a grant under part B of title III 
        of this Act, legal assistance provided by a law school clinic, 
        and any other legal assistance provided at no cost to the 
        persons receiving the assistance;
            ``(4) build effective communication within the aging 
        network operating in the State to provide coordinated 
        assistance and referrals as appropriate;
            ``(5) establish mechanisms to make referrals for 
        representation and other assistance beyond the scope of the 
        hotline to--
                    ``(A) other divisions or projects of the same legal 
                aid agency of which the hotline is a division or 
                project;
                    ``(B) other legal aid agencies;
                    ``(C) private attorneys, including those providing 
                pro bono legal services;
                    ``(D) providers included in the aging network 
                operating in the State;
                    ``(E) advocacy and assistance programs for older 
                individuals; or
                    ``(F) any other individuals or entities, as 
                appropriate; and
            ``(6) conduct outreach through the aging network operating 
        in the State, and by other means, to inform older individuals 
        about the availability of the services provided by the hotline, 
        specifically targeting older individuals with the greatest 
        economic need and greatest social need.
    ``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $10,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2022 through 2026.''.
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