October 20-26 is the 2024 National Celebration of Pro Bono. The purpose of this week is to highlight the need for pro bono and the valuable pro bono work that attorneys do. The first National Celebration of Pro Bono took place in 2009, a time of hardship for many Americans. Today, many in our community also face tremendous hardship, making pro bono more important than ever.

Pro bono means legal services provided without the expectation of compensation. Traditionally these services are provided to indigent individuals or to non-profit organizations that serve low income individuals or work on behalf of those individuals. Click here to learn more about what legal work qualifies as pro bono.

There is a huge need for free legal assistance in California. Studies show that the number of people who need legal assistance but are unable to obtain that assistance is large and growing. California has an estimated 7 million residents who live below 125% of the poverty line. The state has only one legal aid attorney for every 8,000 individuals who qualify for free legal help.[1] Contra Costa County has a growing population of elders. Approximately one in five residents of the county are 60 or older, representing a 30.4% increase from 2010.[2] As this population grows, so will the demand for legal services for older adults.

While attorneys in California are not required to do pro bono work, the State Bar of California urges all attorneys to do at least 50 hours per year of pro bono work in its Pro Bono Resolution. Pro bono work has many benefits for attorneys. Part of the ethos of the legal profession is to help those in need. Doing pro bono allows attorneys to help vulnerable members of their community and make a difference. Attorneys can gain a new perspective on life and feel good about the work they are doing. Pro bono work also allows attorneys to develop new skills and practice an area of law they otherwise wouldn’t get to work in.

Contra Costa Senior Legal Services offers pro bono opportunities for attorneys. We have legal clinics around Contra Costa County that are staffed by volunteer attorneys and we are always looking for new volunteers. Click here to learn more.

[1] https://www.calbar.ca.gov/Portals/0/documents/accessJustice/Pro%20Bono%20FAQs%20Revised_02%2019%2016.pdf

[2] US Census Bureau, 2021 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates

Every October, we come together to recognize Domestic Violence Awareness Month. This month is about recognizing those who have lost lives to domestic violence, celebrating progress towards ending abuse, and connecting with others to raise awareness about domestic violence. Domestic violence happens across all communities and occurs between family members, spouses, intimate partners.

Note: CCSLS will be co-sponsoring a Domestic Violence Awareness Walk on Sunday, October 27^th at 11am Central Park in San Ramon. Join us! Click here to learn more about it.

What is Domestic Violence?

When many people think of domestic violence they think of physical abuse, like hitting someone. Domestic violence isn’t limited to physical violence though. Domestic abuse includes many non-physical forms of abuse and includes the following:

• Physical abuse, including hitting, kicking, pushing, biting, choking or strangling, and injuring or attempting to injure you
• Stalking, including making repeated unwanted contact with you and tracking, controlling, or blocking your movements
• Isolating you from family, friends, or other forms of support
• Stopping someone from accessing or earning money
• Preventing someone from obtaining food or meeting basic needs
• Making threats based on your actual or suspected immigration status
• Using force, threats, or intimidation to make you do something
• Attempting to control or interfere with your contraception, birth control, pregnancy, or access to health information
• Harassing you
• Sexual abuse
• Destroying your property
• Abusing your children or a pet or animal
• Threatening to hurt or kill you

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, there are resources in Contra Costa County to support you. The following organizations provide support to survivors of abuse:

Contra Costa Senior Legal Services provides assistance with restraining orders.

Family Justice Center

Elder Abuse Prevention Project

Stand for Families Free of Violence

Learn about domestic violence restraining orders

Recent reports that hackers gained access to a company called National Public Data in April 2024 have caused many Americans to worry that their personal information was compromised in the breach. Allegedly, many American’s social security numbers were obtained by the hackers. If you’re worried about whether the hackers obtained your information, continue reading to learn how to protect yourself from identity theft.

Check Your Credit Report

Check your credit report regularly to catch fraud and ensure that entries on your report are accurate. If you see something that looks fraudulent on your credit report, report this to the credit reporting company and ask them to remove the fraudulent entry from the report. You can also review your credit report to catch errors. It’s not uncommon for credit reports to contain errors, such as misstating the amount of a loan. It you spot any mistakes on your credit report, you can ask the credit reporting company to fix these errors. Federal law entitles you to obtain one credit report for free every year. Click here to learn more and obtain your free credit report.

Freeze Your Credit

A credit freeze restricts access to your credit report. To put a credit freeze in place, you need to contact each of the three major credit reporting companies, Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax, and freeze your credit with all of them. Freezing your credit means that these companies won’t release your credit to report to creditors who want to run a credit check on you when someone applies for credit in your name. Freezing your credit prevents someone from opening an account in your name, such as taking out a new credit card in your name. This is because creditors will deny applications for new credit if they cannot run a credit check on you.

If you want to open a new credit account, you can temporarily unfreeze your credit with each of the creditor reporting companies, and then refreeze your credit once your business is taken care of. A credit freeze remains in place until you lift the freeze. You can put a credit freeze in place online, by phone, or by mail. Click here to learn more.

Fraud Alert

If you are a victim of identity theft, you can put a fraud alert in place with one of the three major credit reporting companies. Anyone who suspects that they are a victim of fraud can place a fraud alert on their credit report. A fraud alert protects you because it makes it more difficult for someone to open a new credit account in your name. A fraud alert requires businesses to verify your identity before issuing new credit in your name. Unlike a credit freeze, which you must put in place with Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian, you only need to place a fraud alert with one of these companies. A fraud alert lasts one year and can be renewed. You can put a fraud alert in place online.

Click here to learn more about fraud alerts and credit freezes.

I can remember things from 40 years ago, but I could not tell you what I had for dinner last night.

When I turned 67, I noticed that I had trouble remembering the names of things and celebrities. The noun or name would come to me after a delay of a minute or two.  I have been told that this a normal part of aging.

Difficulty with a person’s thinking memory and concentration is called cognitive decline.

Common signs of cognitive decline are:

• Forgetting things more often
• Forgetting important appointments or social engagements
• Losing your train of thought or a thread of conversations, books or movies
• Feeling increasingly overwhelmed by making decisions, planning steps to accomplish a task or understanding instructions
• Experiencing difficulty in finding your way around familiar environments
• Becoming more impulsive or showing increasingly poor judgment

Your family and friends may notice these changes.

CAUSES OF COGNITIVE DECLINE IN SENIORS:

• Vitamin deficiencies, such as low levels of V12 and other B vitamins
• Medications
• Kidney or liver dysfunction
• Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions.

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, consider the following steps to help prevent cognitive decline.

HOW TO PREVENT COGNITIVE DECLINE IN SENIORS:

• Daily exercise
• Avoid drinking alcohol
• Don’t smoke
• Eat a healthy diet
• Stay socially connected
• Avoid stress
• Engage in mentally stimulating activities such as reading and crossword puzzles
• Keep learning

If none of these activities bring any improvement, please consult a medical professional for assessments to determine if there is something else happening which may be causing the decline.

It’s July 1st which means that there are important changes to the Security Deposit Law is going into effect.

We are revisiting a prior post to remind people of this important new information.

Click here to learn more.

As we head into the culminating weekend for PRIDE, we wanted to share information that could be relevant to members of the LGBTQ+ Community and their loved ones.

First, in case you missed it, the Biden Administration Pardoned Ex-Service members convicted under a defunct gay sex ban so they can regain benefits. This announcement on 6/26 could possibly apply to family members and partners of the service members. Learn more about this historic new policy change and its implications for benefits here.

Second, we wanted to share a wonderful resource provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (HHS OCR). This new resource was developed to help LGBTQI+ older adults and advocates understand and enforce their rights when receiving health and long-term care. The LGBTQI+ Older Adults – Know Your Rights Resource Guide explains how recently updated regulations implementing the Health Care Rights Law (Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, HIPAA, and grants to HHS-funded programs reinforce important protections and prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex—including sexual orientation, gender identity, sex characteristics, and sex stereotypes—and on the basis of disability, including HIV.

From tech support scams to grandkid scams, the threat of digital exploitation of senior citizens is increasing daily. June is Elder Abuse Awareness Month and we are revisiting some articles to highlight scam prevention. To learn about different types of scams, and what to do if you’ve been a victim of a scam please click here.

(Note: June is Elder Abuse Awareness Month and all monthlong we will be posting relevant content to help raise awareness.)

First, let’s talk about what cryptocurrency is. Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies that don’t require verification by financial institutions and can be used to buy goods or services or traded for a profit. There are different types of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin and Ether. Cryptocurrencies can be bought online using your phone or computer or at a special ATM for cryptocurrency. Buying cryptocurrency can be done through apps, exchanges, or websites.

Cryptocurrency is stored in a digital wallet. It can be difficult or impossible to recover your funds if something happens to your wallet. For example, if you send your cryptocurrency to the wrong person, lose your password, or your digital wallet is stolen or compromised in some way, your money will likely be gone.

Cryptocurrencies lack the legal protections that credit cards and debit cards have. Unlike the U.S dollars you have in an FDIC insured bank account, cryptocurrency accounts are not backed by the government. This means you can’t dispute a purchase of cryptocurrency the way you can dispute a credit card purchase. When it comes to cryptocurrencies, there may not be a process for getting your money back. Cryptocurrency payments sent to scammers are often irreversible.

Signs of Cryptocurrency Scams

Cryptocurrency scams are alive and well, including in Contra Costa County. Learn the following signs of a cryptocurrency scam so you can spot these scams and protect yourself.

• Legitimate businesses or the government will not ask you to pay in cryptocurrency, including to buy something or to protect your money.
• If someone you meet on a dating app or website asks you to buy cryptocurrency, it’s probably a scam. Be especially cautious if you haven’t met the individual making this request in person.
• Don’t trust people who promise or guarantee big profits or big returns. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
• The cryptocurrency trading platform lacks a customer service line or legitimate physical address.
• Many raving reviews or testimonials can indicate a scam. Be skeptical of rave consumer reviews on a cryptocurrency website, those reviews may be fake.
• A cryptocurrency website has many generic awards like “Customer Satisfaction” but it’s unclear who gave the award or you may never have heard of the award.
• Poor spelling, bad grammar, or broken links can indicate a scam.
• The website promises that the more you invest, the more money you’ll get in return. These types of investment plans are too good to be true and are designed to trick you into investing more money.
• If a cryptocurrency platform won’t accept transfers from your bank, it’s likely a scam. Scammers don’t connect their trading platforms to traditional and legitimate financial institutions because the scammers can get caught.

Steps to Protect Yourself

• Don’t send cryptocurrency to someone who contacts you unexpectedly and unsolicited, demanding you pay cryptocurrency
• Never pay a fee to get a job
• Never buy cryptocurrency as part of a job
• Don’t click on links from text messages, social media messages, or emails from people or companies you don’t know
• Don’t answer phone calls from numbers you don’t recognize

What to do if you are Scammed

Report the scam to the following:

• Adult Protective Services: landlines call (877) 839-4347; cell phones call (925) 602-41791
• FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov
• Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) at CFTC.gov/complaint
• U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) at sec.gov/tcr
• Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at ic3.gov/Home/FileComplaint
• The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation at https://dfpi.ca.gov/submit-a-complaint/.
• The cryptocurrency exchange company you used to send the money

If you need help reporting the scam, call Contra Costa Senior Legal Services at (925) 609-7900 and we can help you.

TABORA GARDENS SENIOR APARTMENTS

Waiting List Opening Soon

The waiting list for 1-bedroom units at Tabora Gardens opens on May 29, 2024 at 9:00 AM.

Applications will be available to submit online.

Please visit www.sahahomes.org/apply for more information.

Online applications must be submitted by 5:00 PM on June 12, 2024.

Paper applications will also be available to pick up at 3701 Tabora Drive, Antioch, CA 94509 at the following times:

• Friday, May 31, 2024, 10am – 4pm

• Wednesday, June 5, 2024, 10am – 4pm

• Friday, June 7, 2024, 10am – 4pm

• Wednesday, June 12, 2024, 10am – 4pm

Paper applications will also be available online to print. Paper applications must be mailed to the address listed on the application. Paper applications must be postmarked by June 12, 2024 AND received by the manager’s office by 5:00 PM on June 19, 2024.

A lottery will be conducted for all applications received by the deadline.

The top 400 applications will be placed on the waiting list for consideration.

The 24-hour support phone line will open on May 29, 2024 at 9:00 AM and close on June 12, 2024 at 5:00 PM. Please call the number below for assistance. Persons with disabilities have the right to request reasonable accommodations to participate in the application process. If you need a reasonable accommodation, please email tabora@sahahomes.org or call : (844) 719-5759.