00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - What's up Kern County?
00:05 It's Ryan Nelson and you are watching Kern Living.
00:08 On today's episode we're talking to our friend Cassie
00:10 from GBLA, how are you?
00:12 - I'm good Ryan, how are you?
00:13 - I'm great because you always come with great information,
00:16 especially for our seniors.
00:17 We're talking about the Senior Law Center.
00:19 Would you be able to tell our audience
00:20 what exactly that is?
00:21 - Sure, so the Seniors Law Center
00:23 at Greater Bakersfield Legal Assistance
00:25 provides a wider range of legal services
00:28 surrounding civil issues for individuals
00:30 that are 60 years of age and older.
00:32 And this is open to all residents in Kern County.
00:34 - Okay, now what type of services do you offer to them?
00:37 - So those civil services include things like
00:39 assistance with power of attorneys,
00:41 revocation of a power of attorney,
00:43 advanced healthcare directives.
00:45 We also handle a lot of consumer fraud
00:47 or debt collection issues.
00:49 We handle a lot of elder abuse cases or fraudulent cases.
00:54 In addition to that we also provide services
00:56 for guardianship for individuals
00:58 that like to obtain guardianship of their grandchildren.
01:01 And then we do a lot of consumer education
01:04 about what to do and what to say
01:06 and how you can prevent yourself from being--
01:09 - Taken advantage of.
01:12 - Yes, yeah, yeah.
01:13 - And that's great because a lot of times
01:16 our elder community members, that happens to them
01:20 because they just don't know about technology
01:21 and things like that.
01:22 So it's great that you advocate for them.
01:24 But I definitely have to ask on behalf of them,
01:26 what are some of the eligibility requirements?
01:28 - So we don't have any income requirements
01:30 for individuals with Seniors Law Center.
01:32 So the biggest one is you have to be
01:33 60 years of age and older.
01:35 But we wanna make sure that we iterate,
01:37 it's open for all Kern County residents.
01:39 So anybody 60 plus.
01:40 And with that, although we don't have
01:43 income eligibility requirements,
01:44 highest priority does go to our low income individuals.
01:47 - Okay, that's only right, that's fair.
01:49 Now is there any other additional resources available?
01:52 - So there are many agencies here in Kern County
01:54 that also provide services for the elderly.
01:57 So you have Aging Adult Services,
01:59 the Independent Living Center of Kern County.
02:02 We also have the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program at GBLA.
02:05 And then of course there's always
02:07 the State Attorney's General Office.
02:09 - Okay, so for any of our senior citizens that are watching,
02:11 how can they get in contact with you?
02:13 - So the best way to reach us is always to give us a call
02:15 at 661-325-5943.
02:18 But we also accept walk-ins
02:19 and we are back open to the public.
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