New England Pension Assistance Project: Ten Years of Advocacy

By Robert Geary

This October, the New England Pension Assistance Project (NEPAP) of the Gerontology Institute celebrated its tenth year of providing free pension counseling to seniors in our region.

In 1993, the Administration on Aging (AoA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services funded seven demonstration projects around the country to provide assistance to those who have questions or problems with their pensions. The Gerontology Institute received one of the demonstration grants and in January 1994 began providing service to individuals in Massachusetts. Directed by Ellen Bruce and managed by Jack Pizer, with the help of four volunteers, the project quickly proved its usefulness.

"This project has shown two things: how incredibly effective dedicated, intelligent volunteers can be and how much people need assistance in understanding and exercising their pension rights. We should have projects like this throughout the country," explains Bruce.

In 1998, based on the success of the project's work, the AoA awarded the NEPAP additional grant funding to expand its services to the six-state New England region. With the expansion came the need for more legal assistance, and Jeanne Medeiros joined the project as its legal coordinator.

Over the past 10 years, NEPAP has served over 2,900 people through individual assistance. Benefits valued at over $13 million have been recovered for clients. Testimonials from clients underscore the difference the project has made in their lives: "It is because of you and your agency that I am able to become more independent, not have to depend on Welfare, or leave the house I have worked so hard to keep," says one.

For many clients, the NEPAP has ended long-standing frustrations: "There is no doubt in my mind that for all my trying to collect a small pension from a multi-billion dollar-corporation, I would never have realized results…But the New England Pension Assistance Project interceded on my behalf, and as a result, I have finally received a check," says one.

The world of pensions and retirement income is a complex maze of government and corporate pension policies, Social Security, federal regulation, and financial investment. Low and middle income elders often do not understand their eligibility for pensions, their benefits, or their rights under state or federal law. It is not uncommon for pensions to be miscalculated, or in some circumstances unfairly reduced or denied completely. Maximizing a senior's pension income can significantly reduce his or her risk of poverty.

NEPAP provides workers, retirees, and their families with personalized pension information and assistance. The project deals with all types of retirement plans, whether sponsored by a private employer, a union, or a governmental entity.

The project uses attorneys, law students, professional staff, and trained volunteer counselors to interview and investigate claims of beneficiaries. Staffers help clients obtain documents explaining their pensions, fill out forms to apply for their pensions, locate bankrupt or defunct plans, and find proof of work histories and any other documents needed to claim a pension.

NEPAP also conducts active and continuous outreach to make more people aware of their pension rights and to make them aware of the fact that the project is the only organization in New England offering free pension assistance.

NEPAP has received support from the University of Massachusetts Boston, and grants from the U.S. Administration on Aging, the Massachusetts Bar Foundation, the Boston Bar Foundation, the Secretary of the Commonwealth, the American Express Foundation, the Theresa and H. John Heinz III Charitable Fund, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs, and the Boston Commission on the Affairs of the Elderly.

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