The objectives of the Preventive Law for the Elderly Program are therefore:

1. To create and foster a staff committed to establishing outreach programs for poor and minority senior citizens which will educate them about the laws that impact upon their lives.
2. To make the concept of preventive law as well known as preventive medicine, so older adults will be able to recognize and diagnose potential legal programs before these problems become too costly, too critical or too advanced to treat.
3. To create a university-supported model program which supplies the necessary academic training and supervised hands-on experience to prepare personnel, so that similar preventive law programs can be established in senior citizens centers throughout the United States.
4. York College and the CUNY Law School have developed and is offering courses in Preventative Law for the Elderly.  See 395 York College and the Elder Law Clinics at the CUNY School of Law.

Angelo A. DiGangi, Esq. is a Grandfather, Father, Son and a member of a Jesuit parish. Angelo is a teacher. Upon completing his legal education as a member of the inaugural class of the City University of New York School of Law, Angelo A. DiGangi, Esq. began his professional career as a University of Berkeley, Southern California Fellow. There is no better professionally written way to describe Angelo A. DiGangi, Esq. then how the, American Bar Association’s states within their, “Delivery of Legal Services; Innovative Programs to Help People of Modest Means Obtain Legal Help”.

“Angelo DiGangi wrote the blueprints for the Preventive Legal Services for the Elderly Program in New York City. In 1988, Mr. DiGangi founded the Community Advocacy Center Inc., (CAC). CAC was established to make society aware of the socio-economic and legal problems which affect senior citizens. The Community Advocacy Center has as its specific goal to work with foundations, universities and community leaders in order to stimulate the development of Preventive Law for the Elderly Programs throughout the United States. Preventive Law is based on the concept that the best legal service most often accomplished through educating a target population. To this end, Mr. DiGangi established the Legal Awareness Clinic. Staff Lawyers, inters and volunteers go into senior citizen centers to lecture on various topics of law which affect the senior population. After such lectures, there is an opportunity provided for private consultation, with any senior citizen who feels she/he may be in need of assistance. Mr. DiGangi is also the founder of the Legal Awareness Bulletin, a newsletter which is distributed quarterly to over 10,000 seniors throughout New York City. DiGangi established annual events such as Preventive Law Fair Day, the Annual Journal Dinner Dance, a Night Out Against Crime for Seniors, and New York City conferences on aging as well as law school, college and high school courses in Preventive Law.

Mr. DiGangi has taught at the grade school, high school, college and graduate level. Mr. DiGangi received international recognition for his peace efforts and love for humanity from the Lt. Petrosino International Association Padula, Italy and an award as Arbitrator of the Year by the New York City Court System. Angelo A. DiGangi, Esq. is a 4th degree Knight of Columbus earning his patriotic degree. He also received the Raoul Wallenberg Humanitarian Award. 

The Community Advocacy Center has been funded through the City of University of New York since 1988 and from its inception, we have become the model program for all other Preventive Law Programs throughout the Country. The City University of New York has signified its commitment to this Program through the involvement of York College and The CUNY Law School.

Dean Haywood Burns of CUNY Law School stated, “Just as medical schools engage in preventive medicine, our role should be to engage in a type of “preventive law” to educate the wider public to their legal rights and help immunize them against foreseeable legal difficulties. We will do this through outreach programs in the schools, civic organizations, senior citizen centers and other community organizations."

The City University of New York (CUNY) has a unique opportunity to address these needs among the residents of New York City and to work toward the achievement of preventive law. Through its wealth of academic resources, public health expertise, strong community relations and exceptional student body, CUNY has established itself as an integral component in the lives of individuals living in New York City and is prepared to address the legal difficulties among New York City’s Senior and disabled populations.

Among these opportunities it should be set forth that:

• The CUNY Law School will continue to work in cooperation with the Community Advocacy Center and York College in developing a model Preventive Law for the Elderly Program in New York City that can be implemented in other regions of the country.
• York College and the CUNY Law School will continue working together to create clinical programs consisting of courses, training sessions and professional supervision focused on providing the academic background and developing the requisite skills to individuals providing preventive legal services for the elderly.

Although some people have yet to understand what Preventive Law is, we quote the words of Louis Brown, (the father of Preventive Law) taken from his book, Lawyering Through Life, The Origin of Preventive Law, (Fred B. Rothman and Co., Littleton, Colorado 80127, 1986):

“In Preventive Law, we seek to prevent legal problems, we also try to identify legal opportunities and develop methods so that people become aware of benefits in time to take advantage of them”.

The Community Advocacy Center’s Preventive Law Program operates by implementing the following services:

• LEGAL AWARENESS CLINICS: The Legal Awareness Clinics serve as the linchpin in the Preventive Law for the Elderly Programs. Benefits and Entitlements are describe, intake interviews are conducted and applications, as well as assistance in their completion are made available.
• ADVOCACY INTAKE: Staff and interns conduct intake interviews to collect information from seniors who solicit assistance using the intake interview sheet we have-developed. Each case handled is discussed at weekly inter-agency staff meetings where necessary action plans for each client are formulated.
• THE LEON VON HOLDEN GRANDPARENT RESOURCE CENTER: The Leon Von Holden Grandparent Resource Center is a place where seniors can gather and learn about their legal rights as grandparents. It was designed to help older adults understand their rights to visitation and custody of their grandchildren.