Last week, I had the honor of attending a meeting convened by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Office of Older Americans in Washington, D.C. The purpose of the meeting was to bring together national nonprofits to learn more about the many programs the CFPB is working on to combat the financial exploitation of seniors. Also, each nonprofit had an opportunity to discuss what they were doing in this area.

I went as the Director of the Center for Elder Rights Advocacy (CERA), the program that works with senior legal helplines. I am not proud of this fact, but I was the only one they had stop because I went over my allotted time talking about the work senior legal helplines are doing to help seniors. With programs like developing training for hotline advocates to identify red flags to working with APS programs, senior legal helplines are responding to the needs. Of course, the data that senior legal helplines have on the types of cases and trends is a coveted resource.

Everyone that attended the meeting thought it was a great opportunity to share information and to look for opportunities to work together. I was able to make several connections that I think will help us do a better job of helping seniors.

I applaud the CFPB for convening this meeting and look forward to another opportunity to tell about the value of senior legal helplines.