Partnership in Law & Aging Program
The Borchard Foundation Center on Law & Aging and the American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging in Washington, D.C. collaborated for several years to co-sponsor the Sharpe-Borchard Foundation Center Partnership in Law and Aging Program (PLAP), which until 2005 awarded 10 $7,500 mini-grants annually to bar associations, legal services providers and other local organizations to encourage the development of collaborative, law-related projects.
The goal was to encourage programs to explore alternative methods for educating the elderly about their legal rights and expanding the elderly's access to legal services. In February, 2005 the PLAP awards was restructured to provide for two different funding levels and two different terms.
Eight (8) “original” one-year grants were awarded annually in the amount of $7,500 on topics proposed by the applicant. Two (2) “special initiative” eighteen (18) month grants were awarded every other year in the amount of $15,000 on topics selected by the grant co-sponsors. Since 2009 the program has been suspended.
For further information on the program and a list of past recipients, visit the American Bar Association Commission on Law & Aging website on the Partnership Program.
A retrospective of this innovative grant program aimed at increasing awareness and access to legal services for older people appeared in the March-April 2010 edition of Bifocal.
Summer Internships
The Borchard Foundation Center on Law & Aging provided for several years funding for law student summer internships in elder law. These internships were with non-profit agencies around the country. Applications for the internships were made directly with these agencies.
Past summer internships have been with the American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging in Washington, D.C., the Senior Lawyer Volunteer Project with Utah Legal Services in Salt Lake City, Utah, the Senior Legal Hotline with Northern California Legal Services in Sacramento, California, and the National Senior Citizens Law Center offices in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Oakland, California.
