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1. How do I find out if I can get help for my civil (not criminal) legal problem?

If you live in Snohomish County and are age 60 or older, contact Columbia Legal Services at 425-259-3421 or 800-822-0225. You do not need to be low income to be served. If you live in Snohomish County and are age 59 or younger, contact CLEAR at 888-201-1014. To qualify, you must be low-income or your problem must be about a program based on need.

2. What kinds of problems does legal services handle for senior citizens?

Columbia Legal Services provides legal services for problems regarding government financial assistance (such as SSI, Social Security, Food Stamps); Health Care (eligibility for Medicaid, COPES, nursing home care, and other programs, as well as health care access and quality); Housing problems (such as foreclosures, evictions from subsidized housing, utility shutoffs); and abuse and neglect issues (such as concerns about a guardian ship or power of attorney).

3. What kinds of problems does legal services handle for younger (age 59 and below) people?

CLEAR gives basic information and advice to low-income people about a wide variety of civil legal problems. CLEAR also has a computerized system for identifying whether a free legal services program is currently accepting cases concerning a particular issue. When a resource is available, CLEAR arranges the referral to the appropriate program which can provide the most extensive service available.