White Plains, N.Y.- August 19, 2005-- In response to alarming figures on elder abuse, the Westchester County Department of Senior Programs and Services will fund the creation of a new Senior Civil Legal Services Program at the Pace Women's Justice Center (PWJC), the first of its kind in the area. Susan Ferlauto, Esq., a former assistant district attorney with an extensive background in elder abuse, has joined PWJC to provide the legal services under the new grant.

This is an expansion of PWJC’s Elder Law Program, which provides services to Westchester County residents ages 60 and over. The grant includes representation, consultation, advocacy, referrals, and assistance in a number of areas including: family court matters, public benefits applications, housing, consumer fraud, health care issues, and other services that may become necessary. In addition, PWJC will continue to provide services appropriate to support the safety and autonomy of the client.

The unique aspect of this grant is the Westchester County Safe Centers. Clients will be identified through Westchester County's Safe Centers and through PWJC’s expansive referral system. PWJC will build on its partnership with the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office and the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Center at the Hebrew Home for the Aged at Riverdale to provide intervention, prevention and response for victims of elder abuse.

It is estimated that between 1.5 and 2 million elderly adults are abused each year; only one in every eight cases is reported to authorities. Tragically, in 90 % of the cases, the abuser is a family member.

"The Pace Women’s Justice Center hopes to continue to be part of the process that returns the "golden years" to our elderly," said Pace Women’s Justice Center Executive Director Susan L. Pollet, Esq. "We want to ensure that elder victims receive the civil legal services they need to remain safe in their communities."

The Pace Women’s Justice Center is a non-profit organization that annually conducts trainings for thousands of judges, law enforcement officers, attorneys, and law students. Each year the PWJC provides direct representation to more than 1,500 victims of domestic violence and their children. Annually, the PWJC conducts more than 100 training programs on domestic violence, elder abuse and sexual assault, and other topics. PWJC has produced public service announcements for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Violence Against Women’s Office concerning domestic violence, written judicial training manuals, and published many articles on gender violence. The PWJC Help Line (914-287-0739) answers over 1,400 calls per year. http://law.pace.edu/bwjc/about.html 

Founded in 1976, Pace Law School is a New York Law School with a suburban campus in White Plains, N.Y., twenty miles north of New York City. Part of Pace University, the school offers the JD program for full-time and part-time day and evening students. Its postgraduate program includes the LLM and SJD degrees in Environmental Law and an LLM in Comparative Legal Studies. Pace has one of the nation's top-rated Environmental Law programs and its Clinical Education program also is nationally ranked, offering clinics in domestic violence prosecution, environmental law, securities arbitration, criminal justice, and disability rights. www.law.pace.edu 

Pace is a comprehensive, independent university with campuses in New York City, Pleasantville and White Plains, N.Y., and a Hudson Valley Center at Stewart International Airport in New Windsor, N.Y. More than 14,000 students are enrolled in undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree programs in the Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, Lubin School of Business, School of Computer Science and Information Systems, School of Education, Lienhard School of Nursing and Pace Law School. www.pace.edu